Thermaltake Sonic Tower

[2kfire]

So far, really good heatsink. Installed in an Antec Sonata w/ just the case fan moving air across it, and it cools better than the stock heatsink. Best part is that since it's fanless, it makes NO noise! I also put a Zalman VF700-CU on my geforce 6600GT. I expected same temps with less noise, but temps are better, even in "Silent mode". Awesome products.

 

[JBDan]

Welcome 2k Good to hear your results with the tower. Have not seen too many posts about user experience w/ the TT Sonic Twr. What are your temps (room, case, mobo, cpu, & gpu), what fan/s are you using, and are you oc'ing if ya don't mind me asking?

 

[2kfire]

Thanks for the welcome I need some more time to get better readings, but so far, my CPU is running around 5-10 degrees cooler at idle and the GPU is just a couple degrees cooler, but MUCH MUCH quieter than they were before the change. I'll do some more playing around tonight, and I'll post more temps here just as a reference for those interested in this cooler. Right now, I'm not using ANY fans on the cooler itself. I have an Antec Sonata II case with the rear 120mm fan, and that is all that is moving air across the cooler. Oh, and no oc'ing yet... But soon

 

[JEDIYoda]

I also had my eyes on the TT Sonic Tower....Looks nice also!!

 

[solofly]

TT has some nice products out there that don't get credit for. I'm a big fan of Thermalright but my main gaming rig uses TT's Big Typhoon. :thumbsup:

 

[Mrvile]

Hmm Sonic Tower...I would've just gone with the Ninja because it's lighter, smaller, and looks better. But nice to hear that you like it.

Try putting some fans on it and OC TO THE MAX!

 

[2kfire]

*Update: Winnie 3000+ @ stock voltage (1.375) and 2430 MHz (270*9). Ran Prime 95 for 49 minutes, no errors, CPU temp levelled off around 50 degrees. @ idle about 5 minutes after run, dropped to 30 degrees. Room temp around 25 degrees (guesstimate, upstairs is 22, room is a little warmer). Only fans blowing on CPU cooler are GPU fan (VF700CU overhangs my 6600GT a little, so the cooler gets a little air from it) and the rear case fan pulling air from it (comes with case, set at low speed). *Temps are in Celsius. I have a screen pic of idle temps, but don't know how to post pics :S May try to figure it out when I got final temps.
So far so good!

*Edit: Cool n' Quiet enabled, so Load temps @ 2430 MHz, idle temps @ 1350MHz.

 

[Bona Fide]

I would watch it with Cool n Quiet if you're overclocking. Those voltage/multiplier drops could pose some trouble.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: Bona Fide
I would watch it with Cool n Quiet if you're overclocking. Those voltage/multiplier drops could pose some trouble.

Especially if your using a generic power supply......

I perosnally use the OKIA 650 w/quad dual 12 v rails!!

 

[2kfire]

Update #2: Did some more testing. I'll post my settings first, then the temps
Hardware: see signature
CPU settings: HTT: 270 MHz; HT: 1080MHz; CPU: 2430MHz; Voltage: 1.375

Cooling: Thermaltake Sonic Tower on CPU (Fanless)
120mm Antec Case Fan (set on low, sucks air from CPU cooler)
VF700CU on graphics card (set to low, blows a little air over CPU)

Memory timings: (CL/RCD/RP/RAS/MHz) 2/3/2/10/133 (CPU-z says 169 for memory)

and temps (Celsius): After running Prime95 for 2 hours: CPU: 55; MB: 42
After 1 hour idle: CPU: 36; MB: 37

Bona Fide, thanks for the tip... I think I'll just enable CnQ when surfing and such, and disable it when playing games, doing videos etc.

JEDIYoda, I use the supply that came in my Sonata II case, an Antec "Smartpower 2.0" 450 watt. I used to have this setup in a Sonata '1' case, which comes with a Truepower 380 watt supply and never had any voltage issues.

 

[2kfire]

Some pics of the installation:

VF700CU on XFX 6600GT AGP - Notice the clearance between the cooler and VGA card... or rather, lack of clearance!!! It's a close fit, but nothing touches :thumbsup:
Clearance1
Clearance3

Sonic tower and 120mm rear case fan (exhaust)
Angled case view

The VGA cooler overhangs the card and blows a little air over the CPU cooler. This and the case fan are all that cools the sonic tower.
Overhang

There is about 1" clearance between the heatpipes and the side panel... BIG-@$$ Heatsink!!!
Angled case view

Edit: Updated links

 

[JEDIYoda]

The Sonic Tower is Huge!

But man that sucker sure does look sweet!!!

 

[JBDan]

Wow your temps are fine. OMGosh that HS! lol It is quite large. As far as C&Q is concerned, check out RMclock....much nicer control over multi's and throttling and no worries about the "max multi" issue w/ oc'ing in conjunction w/ C&Q. Looks nice.

 

[2kfire]

RMclock? Thanks, sounds good, I'll check it out!

 

[JBDan]

Originally posted by: 2kfire
RMclock? Thanks, sounds good, I'll check it out!

http://cpu.rightmark.org/products/rmclock.shtml

 

[2kfire]

Thanks again, saved me a few clicks

 

[Avalon]

That TT Sonic Tower looks badass