Quiet yet effective CPU cooling...decisions, decisions....

[zippy]

Okay, here are my options:

Cooler Master HHC-L61 (Heatpipe) - - - or the -001 with the faster fan - either way I would get a shroud and put an 80mm Panaflo L1A fan on there (it's ~2dB quieter than the quiet one and has a higher CFM)

Alpha PAL8045 - - - and I would add the Panaflo L1A (I don't need a shroud for this HS to put an 80mm fan on right?)

Swiftech MCX370 with Pabst Fan - - - it says it is a high speed Papst fan (probably not one of the expensive, but great quiet ones ) so I would get the L1A for this as well (again, any shroud needed?)

I don't want to break the bank on this one (no swiftech MCX462 ) but I want good, quiet cooling. I have an Athlon (Thunderbird) 1.4GHz right now and it is not really overclocked (1.425GHz - 9.5x150). I would like to try for 1.6GHz, but it's not really necessary. Also, I am considering getting an Athlon 1600XP+; will this be significantly cooler than my current T-bird?

Thanks all!

 

[dew042]

the coolermaster looks cool. get it.

the other two are on par as far as performance, a statical tie overall. i think the alpha looks cooler.

http://www.overclockers.com/articles373/ <---- heatsink rankings for you....

dew.

 

[muddocktor]

I own and use both the Alpha PAL8045 and Swiftech MC462(original) and the 8045 is close to the performance of the Swiftech, but not quite as good, IMHO. I'm using the 68 cfm Delta fans on both of them but they are probably too loud for what you want. However, I don't think you will be too satisfied with using a Panaflo L1A for cooling as they don't move nearly enough air for the 8045 to work effectively. You will need a fan that moves at least 39-45 cfm for more efficient operation on the 8045 (or MC462, for that matter). I would suggest a minimum of an 80mm Sunon in the 40-45 cfm range. Also, you can get the Enermax manually adjustable 80 mm fan and adjust the fan speed to where you can get an acceptable compromise between cooling and noise.

I presently own a couple of Panaflo L1A fans, so I know what I'm talking about as far as cooling the 8045. They just don't push enough air at a high enough static air pressure for the 8045. BTW, the 8045 natively mounts 80mm fans; the shroud that comes with it is to help channel air into the heatsink as it is designed to suck air through the heatsink.

 

[mechBgon]

I'm using an 8045 with an L1A to cool my 1700+. It's working quite well for me. I'm not overclocking, though. If you wanted another fan to try, either the YS Tech adjustable-RPM fan or a Panaflo M1A might be good to try.

Max heat production at stock speeds, for a frame of reference:

• Thunderbird 1.4: 72W
• AthlonXP 1600+: 62.8W
• AthlonXP 1700+: 64.0W

 

[RalfHutter]

Back in the day when I was running a 1.4 (non OCed) Tbird I was playing with HSFs to get a quieter system. I used the Swiftech MCX370 with the Pabst fan and it cooled just fine but I thought it was a little too noisey so I got an Alpha 8045 to play with. Tried a Panaflo L1A first and it certainly was quiet but it ran hotter (3-4C maybe, it's been a while) than the Swiftech. I ended up with a 36CFM Sunon on it before it would cool as good as the Swiftech and by then it was just a little bit quieter than the Swifty. The Alpha sure does look cool though!

BTW - don't bother with 60mm-80mm adaptors, they don't work too well. I ended up running a 50CFM fan on it to cool enough and by then it was as loud as the 60mm Papst.

 

[zippy]

So what am I hearing? Don't bother with the 80mm on a 60mm frame (Coolermaster) because it doesn't produce enough air pressure or something to effectively keep things cool?

Should I just get the Coolermaster L61 heatpipe one with the quiet fan and make do?

Or should I get the Alpha + L1A?

Looks like that old Swiftech is out of the running pretty much?

 

[cheapgoose]

i got my 462U from svc for 45 bucks.

 

[muddocktor]

If you can wait to get a fan until October, sidewindercomputers should be getting in some more of the 80X38 mm 47 cfm Delta fans. They are rated at around 35dB of noise and are a focused flow fan with decent static air pressure. Also, the 80X25 mm Enermax Adjustable fan is a pretty good deal at Newegg and they even come with a gold grille, look nice.

Also, as mechBgon posted up, the XP procs use a bit less wattage to run and also have more contact area than a Tbird, so they are easier to cool. I get the same temps with my XP1900 running at 1690 mhz as what I used to get with my Tbird at 1400 mhz.

 

[zippy]

35dB is too much for a machine that I intend to make virtually silent.

 

[RalfHutter]

Originally posted by: zippy
35dB is too much for a machine that I intend to make virtually silent.

I really don't want to come across as an Intel fanboy but "1.4 Tbird" "accceptable Cooling, and "virtually silent" are mutually exclusive. I've tried this in a good case (Antec SX1040) and it wasn't quiet enough for me. I ran the Alpha/L1A combo but it ran too hot for me. By the time I had a fan that cooled enough (the Sunon 35CFM #KD1208PTB2) it was the loudest fan in my case. This was running an IBM 60GXP, an ATI Radeon with no HSF, an Enermax Whisper PSU and a few L1As as a case fans.

A quiet computer is one of the main reasons I went to a P4 Northwood system. It's way quieter than I could get with my Tbird and it's faster [/me ducks and runs away]

You might want to spend some time doing some research at
Gizzo's Fan Page. There's lots of great data there. Maybe a Panaflo M1A would work. It shows that it's 32CFM at 28dB. That might work. I don't remember if I used that or not.

 

[zippy]

Thanks for the input - I agree by the way. I'm just not sure I want to plunk down a few benjamins on a P4 machine. I would get an XP1600+ or XP1800+, something that puts out a lot less heat than my 1.4GHz Tbird. I would also be purchasing a large heatsink for my northbridge so I don't need that fan as well as a large heatsink for my video card so I can ditch that one as well. Hrm.

Problem with the P4s is that they're a lot more $ than the Athlons, the motherboards are a lot more expensive, and I would have to get PC2700 (how could I not run at DDR333?! Although, I am at DDR300 with my Crucial PC2100 at the fastest timings).

Plus, the problem with getting a P4 rig for myself is that I would effectively be replacing a lot of my rig, so I would probably end up going all the way and giving this rig to my mom. Argh. I'm so conflicted.

 

[CIVILIZEDGORILLA]

I am using a PAL8045 with a Papst 8412NGL, which is a great little fan, but a little hard to find. This fan is made in germany and is a sleave bearing fan which is balanced by hand. Plycon.com carries it and actually recommends it with this HS. Also, Anandtech 2001 cooler roundup article recommends this combination also.

 

[zippy]

Originally posted by: CIVILIZEDGORILLA
I am using a PAL8045 with a Papst 8412NGL, which is a great little fan, but a little hard to find. This fan is made in germany and is a sleave bearing fan which is balanced by hand. Plycon.com carries it and actually recommends it with this HS. Also, Anandtech 2001 cooler roundup article recommends this combination also.

Awesome - unfortunately a $20 fan. Nonetheless, what CPU are you cooling this combo with?

 

[zippy]

I just cleaned all of the dust from my computer for the first time in waaaaay too long (it was AWFUL) and took out my 1 80mm Sunon case fan. System is a lot quieter now, but still audible of course.

I'm getting an ATI AIW 8500DV - would a decent sized Zalman VGA heatsink be sufficient for that? I'll also put one on my north bridge and get an Panaflo L1A to put in my PSU. Think that quiet Coolermaster would be good enough for this Tbird? Maybe I'll get an Athlon XP1800+.

Heh, my CPU is idling at like 50`C...just running IE and AIM. Not cool - no pun intended.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: zippy
Heh, my CPU is idling at like 50`C...just running IE and AIM. Not cool - no pun intended.

Excuse me, but, uh, what are you expecting...?! My 1700+ idles at 56C with the Alpha/L1A combo, and that is 4C below the 60C target point that Asus designed the board to run at (Q-Fan target temp that it tries to maintain is 60C at the socket thermistor). Granted, temperature ranges vary from brand to brand and model to model, but I can't really think of a board where 50C idle would be any cause for concern with a Tbird 1.4...

 

[zippy]

Geez, that seems kinda high for idling. I put the 80mm case fan back and it idles at 47`C now.

So I don't need the extra speed afforded by a P4, I don't do anything that requires it, so should I get a 1600XP+ or 1800XP+? I'm also getting a new case (the popular black chieftec/antec/chenming case) w/ 420W PSU, some round cables, and a few L1As (or should i go for these: NMBs?), and the Coolermaster quiet HS/fan - I don't have the 4 holes for an alpha or swiftech on my Epox 8K7A. Oh yeah, and I would get one of these for my north bridge and one for my (future) AIW Radeon 8500DV.

How does this plan look?

It's a lot cheaper than getting a P4 for power I have no use for - especially considering I can sell this 1.4GHz Tbird and TaiSol CK760092.

I'd rather spend the money from getting a P4 on an iPod.

EDIT: Btw, case-mod.com has some really nice prices and VERY reasonable shipping. Saves me a pretty penny!

 

[mechBgon]

What would be interesting is to smack a Panaflo L1A onto your Taisol... it is 80mm long. Got any L1A's and zipties on hand...?

I got a batch of the NMB's to try out in computers I'm building at work. They're pretty "gentle" on both noise and airflow. I used five of them in my Antec PPlus880 (two exhaust, three intake) and it is very quiet. I replaced the NMB in the HDD cage with an L1A, however, for a bit more airflow over the hard drive (SCSI), and I use an L1A on the heatsink.

 

[zippy]

This is true, the taisol is big enough (I noticed that too ) and I do have a bag of zip ties...hrm.

Are the NMBs and L1As both about as quiet as the other? Which would you estimate has a higher air flow? I know what the rating is, but you've used both.

I would have to get the Coolermaster from a 4th store anyway (case-mod.com for the case, cables, and vga/north bridge HS) and newegg for the Athlon XP, nexfan for the L1As, so if I decide I need it, I could just order the CoolerMaster at a later date.

I really wish that there was 1 store with all of this stuff...oh well.

BTW, anyone know if one of those Zalman heatsinks will be adequate for an 8500DV?

Thanks!

 

[mechBgon]

The L1A seems to have good "suction" for a fan of its CFM rating. I did an experiment where I tried both an L1A and an NMB on my GC-68 heatsink, cooling my Duron. There was a big difference in temperatures, in favor of the L1A and its forceful airflow.

edit: oh, and the L1A is louder, yep.

 

[zippy]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
The L1A seems to have good "suction" for a fan of its CFM rating. I did an experiment where I tried both an L1A and an NMB on my GC-68 heatsink, cooling my Duron. There was a big difference in temperatures, in favor of the L1A and its forceful airflow.

edit: oh, and the L1A is louder, yep.

Thanks for the info. So perhaps get an L1A for my HS/fan and NMBs for the intake at the front of the case, output at the back, and maybe an L1A or NMB (which one?) for the PSU?

Anyone know how many fans are in this PSU? 1 or 2?

By the way, I'm running prime95 torture test now and my temp is 55`C (case temp is 29`C).

Thanks.

EDIT: I'm sure an L1A would be better on this CGK760092 - the current fan is a 10mm thick one that has a noise level of 36.5dB yet only moves 21.19CFM. I'm not sure why I got this heatsink/fan combo last year...every review said it was quiet...wtf?! It's so inefficient! Why not use a 25mm fan that will move more air and cause less noise? Oh well. The L1A pushes more air and is much more quiet.

 

[krackato]

I'm running an Athlon XP 1700+ with a Dr. Thermal HSF combo, and have been running Seti 24/7 for about 7-8 months. I don't know how to accurately gauge the cpu temperature, but using SpeedFan, it says that on full load it is 63 degrees Celcius.

Is this too hot? I think a lot of people would say so, but like I said, I run the damn computer 24/7 with almost no down time, almost always at full load.

If anyone can tell me how to get a better temperature reading, I'd appreciate it. BTW, I'm using an ECS K7S5A motherboard. I only ask because I'm going to switching to a different heatsink and a much quiter, 12dba Papst fan in about a week and I want to make sure that my system doesn't hit 85 degrees celcius and burn my house down.

 

[zippy]

Took my 80mm Sunon case fan and stuck it on my CPU (it's actually larger than the TaiSol HS) - I zip tied it in two places in my case - it's pretty ghettofied. It's been up a few minutes, before I changed fans, it was at 55/56`C running Prime95 - so I'm running it again now. Stay tuned...



EDIT: It's been about 7 minutes since I put on Prime95...CPU is at 52`C...case is at 38`C (up from 30 before when I had the original fan on the HS and the exhaust case fan).

EDIT 2: Been about 14 minutes - still at 52`C for the CPU - up to 39`C for the case.

EDIT 3: After about 17-18 minutes, the temp finally rose to 53`C. Case still at 39`C.

EDIT 4: Half an hour later, CPU is still at 53`C and the case is at 40`C.

EDIT 5: 50 minutes and it just got to 54. Wait, now it's at 53 again. Weird. It was at 54 for about a minute.

 

[Insane3D]

I think it's kind of funny all you guys saying a silent Athlon system is not possible. I just setup the following...



Epox 8K5A2+
Athlon XP 1600+ @ 1.75ghz (166mhz FSB, Default Vcore)
Alpha PAL8045
512mb (2 x 256mb) Crucial PC2100
ATI 32mb Radeon DDR ( Passive Cooling)
Onboard Sound (ALC650 5.1)
Antec SX840 Case
Antec 400W PSU (Replaced fan with a 80mm Panaflo)
Lite-On 16X DVD



The only fans in the system are the Panaflo on the HS, and the Panaflo in the Antec PSU....no other case fans..at all.

The system crunches Seti@Home 24/7 and runs around 48C - 52C under load. Since the in-socket thermistor is nothing but a big joke, I usually add 15C to the thermistor reading. So, my CPU runs right around 65C at worst in the core...well below the top of the normal operating range of the core.(95C)


See this thread for complete details...

Project "Silent Athlon XP System"...Success!

 

[zippy]

The 8K5A2 doesn't read the Athlon XP's internal temp and relies on the thermistor?! I didn't realize that...

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: zippy
The 8K5A2 doesn't read the Athlon XP's internal temp and relies on the thermistor?! I didn't realize that...

It does and it doesn't. Because so many people freaked when their 8K3A series boards showed them temps in the 60's because it was reading from the core, they got a ton of RMA's just because the board "ran too hot".

The board does read the diode, but it won't display temps from it. It solely monitors it for emergency shutdown reasons. The temp in the bios and windows is from the socket thermistor.