SI-120 vs. Ninja vs. Big Typhoon

[Bona Fide]

Simply put, which is the best?

[Will be strapping on a 120mm Sunon low-speed fan (69cfm@35.5dBa)]

My girlfriend's brother is a self-proclaimed computer "whiz kid", and claims to have gotten his X2 3800+ up to 2600MHz (260x10) with the stock HSF. But he says load temps ramp up to 62C and he's currently pushing 1.5V through it. He wants to stay air, but hopefully lower the temps and voltage.

Which should he go with? Parts will be ordered from svc.com, so prices are just about the same across the board.

 

[Remedy]

What kind of chassis does he have? The air flow of positive and negative can alter this choice and the performance of the heatsink. The Typhoon being the chepeast would be my first choice. The other 2 are tall and may need situate themselves differently depending on the design of the chassis.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Depends on the case.

 

[JEDIYoda]

of`t times the case is the weakest link......

 

[andrewbabcock]

Its basically impossible. He didn't do it.

 

[Bona Fide]

Originally posted by: andrewbabcock
Its basically impossible. He didn't do it.

And you're basically a troll?

The case is an Antec P180. He has both the exhaust fans mounted, as well as the lower chamber one and an intake fan in the front. This would give the Ninja the advantage of having a push-pull effect across the fins. But any other HSF would have a double-pull effect, so it's a hard choice.

 

[JBDan]

They would all be soooo close in temps though. I give the edge to El Ninja!, pero yo amo mi XP120.

 

[JEDIYoda]

As I have stated so often in the last few weeks....I am thouroughly impressed with the Scythe Line of coolers!!

 

[seanp789]

I personally ordered the big Typhoon. With the stock fan its definitely got the best performance to noise ratio as well as excellent performance overall. As far as your 120mm Sunon low-speed fan (69cfm@35.5dBa)] I cant imagine too many people have tested that specific fan with all those heatsinks. I would say that the big typhoon and SI-120 would be very comparable based on reviews i have read and their overall design while I can not comment on the ninja. One thing I can say for sure is that the the big typhoon has a smoother polished base than the si-120 and also has more actual fin surface area than the si-120.

I've actually taken a class at CMU that covered heatsink design so from that perspective i can give you the break down, note this is purely in my educated opinion.

Ninja has 12 heatpipes, which is 6 more than the SI 120 and the B.T. The ninja does not have its 23 fins soldered to the heatpipes (a negative).

I would say that the B.T. woudl be the ideal choice up until the most extreme temps. At a certain point in temperature (which I can not specifiy) the ninja would do better simply from its 12 heatpipes moving the heat to the top instead of staying near the CPU. At that point your would need a powerful fan to remove the 12 heatpipes worth of heat which would probably not be a "low speed" fan.

So for your choice of fan I would have to once again recommend the Big typhoon as the overall best choice do to weight/noise/performance.

For the absolute diehard temps try the ninja.


another thing to note is that the Ninja is very heavy compared to the other 2. If you move your PC around alot this would a concideration.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: seanp789
I personally ordered the big Typhoon. With the stock fan its definitely got the best performance to noise ratio as well as excellent performance overall. As far as your 120mm Sunon low-speed fan (69cfm@35.5dBa)] I cant imagine too many people have tested that specific fan with all those heatsinks. I would say that the big typhoon and SI-120 would be very comparable based on reviews i have read and their overall design while I can not comment on the ninja. One thing I can say for sure is that the the big typhoon has a smoother polished base than the si-120 and also has more actual fin surface area than the si-120.

I've actually taken a class at CMU that covered heatsink design so from that perspective i can give you the break down, note this is purely in my educated opinion.

Ninja has 12 heatpipes, which is 6 more than the SI 120 and the B.T. The ninja does not have its 23 fins soldered to the heatpipes (a negative).

I would say that the B.T. woudl be the ideal choice up until the most extreme temps. At a certain point in temperature (which I can not specifiy) the ninja would do better simply from its 12 heatpipes moving the heat to the top instead of staying near the CPU. At that point your would need a powerful fan to remove the 12 heatpipes worth of heat which would probably not be a "low speed" fan.

So for your choice of fan I would have to once again recommend the Big typhoon as the overall best choice do to weight/noise/performance.

For the absolute diehard temps try the ninja.


another thing to note is that the Ninja is very heavy compared to the other 2. If you move your PC around alot this would a concideration.

These are my purely educated (not attending college or grad school already been through both..hehee)opinions....

The Scythe Ninja without a fan weighs in at 665 grams!
The SI 120 without a fan weighs in at 370 grams!
You take a quality 120 mm fan and it will weigh in a 125 grams.....
You do the math....
The Big Typhoon on the other hand w/fan included weighs in at 813 grams.....

You logic and statements concerning the Ninja just do not play out!
Ninja has 12 heatpipes, which is 6 more than the SI 120 and the B.T. The ninja does not have its 23 fins soldered to the heatpipes (a negative).

Not really a negative at all!!
The manner of contact doesn`t mean a whole lot.
What matters is that they do make contact!
When dealing with heatsinks what matters is the result as far as temps and for some people noise...
Look at the zalman9500 its all copper i seriously doubt(by the way I own one) Those copper fins are soldered to the heatpipes.
Most likely they are bonded to the heatpipe using some sort of bonding agent.

In conclusion-- all 3 of these heatsinks are top quality and I really cannot give the nod to the big typhoon due to as you stated.....weight/noise/performance....

1-wieght-- its the heaviest of the 3......hmmmm
2-noise--depending on the fan you use noise can be equal or better than the Big Typhoon.
3-Performance-- alot of variables yet 1 on 1 the Ninja would bring home the bacon(in my opinion).

Yet on several sites I have read with fascination these final comments on the SI120--
The SI-120 maybe as close to perfect as you can get when it come to air cooling and what's not to like about it, it looks fantastic installed, performs great, easy to install, and quite thanks to the 120mm fan. Just buy one your computer will thank you.

Who knows...it all boils down to personnal preference and the ever increasing variables that are unique to each computer....

Have a nice day!!

One more thing.....my Zalman 9500 idles at 27c........with an ambient room temp of approx 23c.

 

[INM8]

another thing to note is that the Ninja is very heavy compared to the other 2. If you move your PC around alot this would a concideration.

Correct me if im wrong, but isnt the Typhoon even heavier than the ninja? I think i remember the last review on read on that saying it was in the 800g + category.

Dunno if thats right & i dont have time to check, but im 95% sure. Also, subjectivly speaking, thd Bt would put more cantilever stress on the motherboard because of its elevated heatpipe design. The ninja on the other hand looks like most of its weight is at the base, which makes its 700g + weight even more irrelivant.

PLEASE remember, that i am only going what i have seen,read, and heard about the coolers in these forums and by other independant reviewers. As to which one is better... im sure all of them are good, just depends on which one suits the buyer, but the Big Typhoon certanly shouldnt be chose over the Ninja in terms of weight.

I havent tried any of these three coolers, and i havent tried the zalman 9500 as yet either. I am in the market for one though, and it looks like ill be going for the 9500, or simply putting a 80mm to 120mm duct on the stock x2 4400+ cooler. The typhoon was automatically struck of my list because of its weight weight, but i guess that wouldnt matter if you didnt need to move your pc around much Not saying the ninja is light either though, i was going to get that too, but im concerned about the weight.

 

[JEDIYoda]

INM8...you do the math..lol

The Scythe Ninja without a fan weighs in at 665 grams!
The SI 120 without a fan weighs in at 370 grams!
You take a quality 120 mm fan and it will weigh in a 790 grams grams.....
You do the math....
The Big Typhoon on the other hand w/fan included weighs in at 813 grams.....

 

[Bona Fide]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
INM8...you do the math..lol

The Scythe Ninja without a fan weighs in at 665 grams!
The SI 120 without a fan weighs in at 370 grams!
You take a quality 120 mm fan and it will weigh in a 125 grams.....
You do the math....
The Big Typhoon on the other hand w/fan included weighs in at 813 grams.....

Following that, the SI-120 would be the lightest and would also be within the "acceptable limits" for HSF weight at 495g. The Ninja would weigh in at 690g, just over the acceptable range. And the Typhoon would still be the heaviest...

From what you guys are saying, the cooling is going to be very similar. SPCR praised the Ninja+P180 combo because of its alignment with the exhaust fans. Of course, this may be dependent on CPU placement in the mobo. And then there's the matter of weight. oOo this is a toughie.

I'm gonna recommend to him the Ninja

 

[INM8]

My post wasnt in response to yours Jedi Just general observations, and a little comment for seanp789.

Ill probably end up with the zalman 9500 by tomorrow, seems like a good compromise between weight and power.

btw: 665+125= 790 Still less that Bt. And i bet the first thing anyone would do who bought it is change the fan, which probably means more weight.

 

[seanp789]

INM8 and jedi yoda are correct to an extent. As i said before I have never used the ninja. I currently own the big typhoon (aka bias opinion) 800+g is the correct weight, however it feels relatively light for its size and is really not an issue as far as installation goes. On, my asus sli board i didnt even have to take the mobo out to install, took all of about 40 seconds. As far as the fins not being wielded, the big typhoon is also not wielded. Although I do still consider this a negative, its effect on performance must be close to null as both coolers appear to be very high performers. Why this is a negative is the same reason u use thermal grease on teh cpu. Just because the metal is touching doesnt mean its the best heat transfer. However in the case of the fins, there are 23 chances to transfer that heat where as there is only one cpu surface making contact method on the core much more critical than contact at the fins.

Overclocking wise I have a X2 4400 running at ~2.6Ghz maxload temps 52C @2.5GHz max load temps are only 45C. for reference, i live in the south and its hot as hell down here. Honestly if you bought any of these coolers you wouldnt be making a mistake, I prefer the big typhoon. Ninja would be my second choice as weight is not an issue for me.

 

[aigomorla]

my room mate is running the TT at 290x9 which is 2.6ghz and his temps' peak at 45 loaded. btw, 2.6 for the x2 3800+ isnt very hard. goinch had his at 2.9ghz with only 1.37V which is amazing. mine is 311x9 at 1.43V. just letting u know. :]

 

[foodfightr]

I like the ninja.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Go with the Ninja..you won`t be sorry!!