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Just bought the SI-120

K

kenshin9

Member
I've been using the Zalman 7700AlCu for a little while now, and my temperatures have been around 41-43 celcius idle. I thought it was kinda high, so I decided to get a new heatsink. The sound of the Zalman was also bugging me. While it wasn't exactly loud, it wasn't pleasant to the ears either. And it wasn't even on the max speed. So I got the Thermalright SI-120, and it is great! My idle temperature right now is 35C and maybe it'll go lower after the AS5 settles in. I also lapped the heatsink, so that probably helped too. I used the S-Flex fan from Scythe. It's the 1200rpm one. I know some people around here have been wondering how they are. This is a very quiet fan! As far I can tell, it also has a pretty decent airflow. It works for me. I don't even need Qfan, I just run it on full speed. I should be getting the 800rpm version tomorrow. I don't use an intake fan, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to use this one because it's so quiet. Better than nothing.
 
Good choice of cooler! What CPU / temps are you getting?

If you don't know either of those, google for CPU-z and download that to get all the CPU information you could want, and try Speedfan v4.27 for temp readings.

Have you had any experience with other quiet fans (coolermaster LED, nexus that kinda thing) to compare the Scythe 1200 to? I'm really interested in it, thanks for putting it in your topic title, helped me spot it!

belated welcome to AT aswell 😀
 
Nope, sorry. I haven't used the other quiet fans before. I just got the 800rpm version today. The airflow doesn't feel strong, as it's only 800rpm, but when I mounted it to the front of my P160 case, I could at least feel cool air coming it. It's extremely silent with no clicking. I couldn't tell the difference between having it and not having it.

EDIT: I have an X2 3800 and just overclocked to 2.4ghz. My temps idle and load are 40C and 52C.
 
Have the Zalman 7700Cu with the fan set at 970 rpm max. CPU is an 3100 Sempron Paris core (similar thermal envelope as your X2 3800) overclocked to 2.44GHz @ 1.54 V. The Zalman fan is OFF when the CPU temp is below 40C. Maximum CPU temp is 46C (Prime95 max heat and Super Pi at the same time) at 73F room temp.

The Zalman fan is OFF about 95% of the time. The nominal idle temperature is between 31C and 37C.
 
There could be a lot of other factors though, such as our case and motherboard. Some motherboards will report lower temperatures, and some cases have better airflow. I'm just saying, on my hardware, the SI-120 appears to be better than the 7700AlCu I owned.
 
Obv i don't know much about your setup. You could be in a hot country with no aircon etc, but the temps seem a little high? well, 40 idle anyway, especially with such a good cooler?

How's the case airflow? might be worth tidying up the wires a bit if they're inhibiting airflow?

Just a thought really, thanks for the info on the Scythe 🙂
 
Yeah. I actually think my temps are still kinda high also, although it's still lower than before. I'd overclock some more if the temps weren't so high. If furballi's processor really is the same thermal envelope as my X2 3800+, then I'm jealous. Haha. I was going to buy some rounded IDE cables and tidy up the inside tomorrow. With my side panel off, the idle goes to 36C. I dunno what the deal is, but sometimes I read people staying under 40C on full load with air cooling. I wish I could achieve that.

Edit: By the way, I use an ASUS A8N-Sli Premium. As I understand it, ASUS boards tend to read higher temps? Since the board is passively cooled, it seems to get a little hot too. Probe reads it to be about 48C on load. Would a higher motherboard temperature lead to a higher CPU temp?
 
Higher mobo would push up case temps definately, and if it's hot around the CPU etc then that will all have an effect. Aim a big 120mm fan at it, that'll sort it 😀 I'll be getting a 140mm fan delivered (prob monday now 🙁 ) and I'll post how it sounds/pushes air. I've got an akasa amber 120mm to compare it to sound wise, and what I think is a pretty quiet 1,000rpm aerocool 120mm, so a good comparison shuld be forthcoming.

cleverly jigging a 140mm fan into your case could solve your problems! 😀

Good tips for wiring tidying, hide stuff behind the mobo tray, behind the hard disks, that kinda thing. Def get rounded cables, although, the flat ones can be laid flat under the mobo/behind mobo tray, so it may be better just to hide them altogether, depends on mobo/case configuration. If you've got the time/motivation, take everything out, and just have a good think about where stuff is going to sit in the case, and what cables are going to be around, and basically, just try to keep a big tube of free space running through the case.

Also, check your fans aren't pushing against each other. You want them sucking in from the front (preferably at the bottom) and pushing out at the back(at the top...PSU etc...)
 
Nope, at the moment, I've got an Akasa EVO120, that's what the amber 120mm is mounted on. I've found it to be a good CPU cooler, but not at the level of the SI-120 etc. I'm getting a scythe ninja next, when I upgrade my board to a DFI.

i've got high hopes for the fan, as it is quoted at the same sort of noise level as the 120mm one i've got by aerocool, so hopefully even it their nubers are false, they're consistently false, in which case I know that it's going to be quiet 😀 and it should push a lot of air, whether 57CFM or not i dno, but still, airflow is airflow 😀

EDIT:

Have you got any pics of the 'rig' atm? Could do before and after shots of the cable tidying and the temp changes too? 🙂
 
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