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Replace a SuperOrb with Volcano II or Alpha?

chansen

Golden Member
Had to literally throw a new system together for an accountant whose old computer died. At her request, went all out - 1.2GHz (133/266) Athlon for an accountant?!? Anyway, in my haste, all I could find was a SuperOrb. The top fan on that thing is unacceptably loud, and the temperatures on the A7V133 are very high. I'm running it at 900 MHz (9x100) until I fix the cooling. Still, it's 50C with both fans engaged and 60C with the top fan unplugged.

Options include Volcano II, Alpha PEP66T w/YS Tech fan, Taisol CGK742 or trying to mount the YS Tech or similar fan on the existing SuperOrb - though I've only recently heard of people doing that, and it doesn't sound like a good solution to me. Can't find the SanyoDenki fan in Toronto.

Any thoughts?

Regards,
Craig

Edit: I need this thing soon, so Taisol may be out of the question. No overclocking required, just 1.2GHz operation as quiet as possible. Noise is a big concern.
 
I recommend the Alpha PEP66T over the Volcano II. Don't worry too much over the temp readings from the A7V133 because this mobo uses compensation so the readings are usually higher than the ones from other mobos.
 
I had a Thermaltake Chrome orb on my Tbird 900 for about three days. It ran at 61 C idle, and sometimes up to 66 C while processing! I tried everything from thermal paste, arctic silver, and remounting. Also ran it without the case on. Nothing worked well, so I replaced the cooler with a Volcano II. Runs at 47C now. I would definitely recommend the volcano II, as it moves quite a lot of air because of it's big fans. The best part is that the fan only runs at about 5400 rpm, so the cooler is very quiet.

Don't get any orb fans (super or chrome). They suck horribly. Most reviews on the web tell you this. Orbs are just for looks, they aren't very efficient. The Volcano II is a good buy at 20$ or less, and it has great cooling power.
 
If u got $$ get the Alpha. But if u don't got $$ or are cheap (like me), I'd get the Volcano II. It'll perform well, better than any orb, and cost very little. It's also relatively quiet.
 
If you don't mind using the TIM included with the Volcano II, I'd go that route. If you wanna use Arctic Silver or another paste, you may have to lap the bottom of the V II because 90% of them are not very smooth on the bottom. The Alpha's are incredible - best choice if she wants to pay for it, and not be bothered by noise, IMHO.
 
I would go for the alpha. Its a bit more expensive but you get what you pay for. Also the volcano fan is overrated in my opinion.
 
The Taisol heatsinks are one of the best IMO, but their stock fans doesn't move that much air. Replace their fan with one of the YS-Tech fans or Delta Fan (used on FOP-38) and you'll have a heck of a solution. If you want to get one of those fans for a decent price, go to FrozenCPU website
 
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