X2 3800+ cooling required- need tips on heatsink+fan

[Comdrpopnfresh]

I was expecting the special X2 heatsink with the copper fins and the heatpipes, but got what I would assume is the stock A64 heatsink. It keeps my cpu at 46* C, which is what I would assume to be the ambient temperature in the case. But thats not cool enough, and its too loud when the rpms go above 2000-3000.

After that statement your probably thinking "well how the hell do you expect to lower the cpu temperature below that of ambient with air?"

Well I said my circumstance is special.
My case is an Antec Sonata II. It has a air-duct that comes from the bottom of the case in the back, over the add-in cards, and brings fresh outside air right to the CPU. The only problems right now is that I have it in passive mode, with no fan in it (it can handle a 92mm fan for the cpu slot, and a 80mm fan to cool vga [if the vga fan is in, the 92mm fan must be in, otherwise no air will make it to cpu]). So the air coming through is slow. I'm looking to either add a fan in it (its not a snug fit to the cpu, it just hangs above it, so the air is forced straight down into the heatsink+fan...).

If I get a new cooler, it needs to be quiet and have a heatsink with vertical fins (so the air from the duct can get in there. I'm looking at either the traditional type wit a fan pushing air down into the heatsink, or the vertical-finned heatsink with a fan on the side blowing it towards the casefan which exhausts it.

There are no more slots in the case for exhaust fans, although there is the two slots in the duct (vga and cpu), and one slot near the HDD rails to aid in air coming in the front of the case. The powersupply follows a push-pull system, where a fan on the inside always pushes, and the one on the exterior only pulls when the psu gets too hot.

I want to keep my cpu cool, quiet, and the price of any additions under $40.....
I'm not too worried about cooling anything but the cpu- because theres so much ehat being put off by the mobo and my add-in cards i don't think it can be changed....
Heres a link to my case so you might see for yourself

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129155

any suggestions on what coolers to add? Or what fans to put in that are 120mm (hdd), 92mm(cpu duct) or 80mm(vga duct)? Cool-and-quiet....

Much appreciated

 

[RallyMaster]

Since you don't have a side duct....just about any cooler will work. Tower seems to work better though....so I'm gonna have to say Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

I remember seeing that. The only problem I can think of is that the air from my duct will go striaght towards the back of the fan since the fins on the heatsink are horo.....

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

Sorry, I checked it on newegg, and the manufacturer's website... it seems the fan pushes air thorught he cooler, so it would be great for my use.... is it much cooler than the stock fan on the X2? I'd rather do this than simply adding more fans to my system....

 

[natethegreat]

Taken from an SPCR review:

My biggest criticism about the original P180 was the fact that the VGA duct was noisy, ineffective, and complicated installation. Using somewhat strong language, I advised users to avoid this particular feature: "I cannot think of any configuration where I would not remove the duct entirely." Apparently, Antec (and SPCR's editor, Mike Chin, who helped design the case) was listening. The VGA duct has been dropped entirely in favor of a much simpler and, hopefully, more effective system.

This is the same VGA duct that comes installed in your Sonata2, I would remove it entirely as it is pretty much useless and may even be harming you cases airflow. Do goet a Freezer 64 Pro and a 120mm Yate-loon for an intake fan and temps should be much better.

 

[Ayah]

You should go for the Scythe Ninja (Plus) IMO.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

its not- check out the pictures for mine... it has a 92mm opening above the cpu to provide air ... and a punchout can have a 80mm fan put in it for above the vga and other cards. I'm thinking before I go and get the cpu cooler I'm gonna purchase fans to put in the duct (92mm for cp, 80mm for vga and pci). I have a 5-gram tube of arctic silver 5.... would putting that on my cpu help, even with the stock cooler?

my stock temepratures reported by SPEEDFAN are:
CPU- 47
MOBO- 47 (average, not ambient)
HDD- 39
CORE (CPU thermo, not mobo for cpu..)- 47

I have the 120m exhaust fan on high..... kinda loud, and the stock amd cpu fan on high (asus's q-fan is on, and cool'n'quiet is disabled, so i'm running at 2ghz x2). I was thinking of these fans for the 92mm and 80mm slots.... Is evercool a good company? Or are their stats just hot air?

92mm:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835119073
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835119034
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835129032

80mm:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999149
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835119072

I'm a bit concerned that the low-noise evercool fans don't report how many cfm of air it moves...
any firther input is great, and if anyone would like to suggest anything instead of the a64 freezer- go right ahead with your argument

 

[natethegreat]

Its the same duct, just with some added height so it can reach the cpu area...

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

oh. well I ran out to compusa and bought some cheap fans for the duct to see if they will do anything, if it turns otu tey do- I'll buy better ones from newegg, if not, i'll just return them.... my goal is to get my cpu to idel in the low-mid thirties


any input on the links for fans?
is evercool a good fan company?

 

[acegazda]

the freezer 64 pro is the best cpu cooler for the money @ provantage.com $21 shipped! I don't think it will make a huge difference whether or not the fins are vertical, it will do the job. The ninja is a good choice, though $15 more.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

The fans in my air duct didn't change the temps much- just added a lot more airflow and noise. My graphics card temeprature fell though, just from the cpu fan in the duct.... also, I ran superpi and prime95 at the same time with speed fan up and noticed that the shown cpu temperature took a lot of time to catch up or down to the "core" temp. I guess this means the stock AMD64 cooler is pretty much maxed out.
Yeh $21 is great...... below what I was looking to spend. I think i'm gonna get that cleaning kit (two types of drops) from the maker of arctic silver 5.... Just to return my CPU to how it was when i boguht it (to get off the thermal pad completely), and to remove any flash corrosion from the copper heatsink of the A64 Freezer...... Any qualms or ideas there?
really hoping this cooler does it- I'm running at 49*C stock...... which I believe is quite lousy....

should i stick with the Pre-applied MX-1 Paste or use my AS5? How can paste be preapplied anyhow? If its in a tube, I'll use it for my videocard if i run out of AS5....

 

[imported_Sincity]

Freezer 64 PRO is your best bet for the money. Similar performance of the Zalman 9500 for half the price.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

I bet getting the heat out of ym case, and off my mobo will help with vga temps too. After putting the fans in my duct, and with cool'n'quiet enabled, vga temps are 56 idle and 67 load.... not what I used to expect from my x800se.... but this is a lot more card here.... and its among a lot of other cards (as opposed to the comp with the x800)

 

[natethegreat]

Hey check this link out:

geekbanter's AMD64/Sonata II/Ninja Rig

and this one:

SonataII rig

 

[cmdrdredd]

I still find the Zalman CNPS9500 to be better cooling at the extreme limits of overclocking your system. Other than that the Freezer 64 will serve you well.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

thanks for the links nate. that crazy guy used a package to make a duct... Yeh, i definitly have too much stuff iny my case. I have no clue what my ambient temps are ebcause my mobo's temp is reported as an average of a few..... I guess I'll throw a thermometer in there and see. I definitly need to get a fan to put in the slot near the harddrive. I think the more ventilation I get into the add-in cards the cooler the whole thing will be. I'm thinking an antec trispeed, or one of the really quiet evercool ones- I just some air in there, nothing fast or anything.
I also returned the fans to the store. Now that I know they'll help a bit I wanna get the A64 Freezer and put it in, then if it needs it add them bac k in tandem with that 120mm hdd-cage mounted fan. This way I can get quieter ones then the crap compusa carried...
I think I'll keep the duct in- with the A64 Freezer in there, (its a tller, tower type, right?) I'll get airflow from the duct straight to the heatsink.....

so is evercool an okay fan company in terms of noise?

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

bump

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

am I being too stuborn to expect 30*C (in the 30's) temps from the X2 3800+ with this cooler? Right now I have the duct out and just about idling at 44*C with cool'n'quiet on (speaking of, can cool'n'quiet be turned on when overclcoking, or will it cause problems on an overclcoked system?). I thought maybe the air-duct was the way to go, but regardless of whether i put it in or not, I pla on putting in a 120mm fan to help pull in air better, and the A64 freezer. With those things can I achieve 30's? (no one ever said if i should use the thermal paste set on the A64 Freezer, or if I should wipe it off to put on AS5).

 

[cmdrdredd]

It depends on the temperature of your room. In florida in the summer it's very warm so I don't get down to good temps like the 30s. If it gets cold overnight during the winter then sure it can happen.

 

[smopoim86]

I have built 3 machines in a sonata II and have tossed the air duct in all of them, still using stock coolers and the temps went down when i tossed the duct(i think it was bringing the hot air from the vid card back in)
Stupid duck breaks the rules of airflow, you dont put an intake right beside your hot exaust.

anyway, I would toss the duct and get a good tower heatsink, prolly the ninja unless you can find the 9500led on sale for $50(was this week on the egg)

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

thanks for the advice. the ninja, however, is a bit to expensive for my budget. Yeh; I can see what your saying. If you have a dual-slot graphics hard with DHES your ruining airflow with the duct. My card, is a single, so I'm still a hopeless romantic when it comes to the thought of using this duct. I am goign to start with the tower cooler (A64 freezer) first, and then maybe add in some more fans.... The tower might do it on its own. If I do have the duct in, I need to have both the fans in, because I have an x-fi sound card, graphics card, and two 550pro tv tuners (hot running processors, tuners, and ram on each); everything puts otu so much heat that puting something right in front of them will stop the airflow. I also thing adding that 120mm fan tot he harddrive rack with help tremendously- just by getting air in from the front, and pushign it right into the cards.... I'm moving into a dorm soo, without carpet, so I think the duct may help there, I noticed when I moved the computer into a room with a larger pile carpet that temperatures went up (also its closer to the wall)- I think this is exactly what your talking about with the duct picking up exhaust..... I'll let everyone know how my moddifications work next week, as I'll be away this week. Thanks everyone for the great advice and tips thus far!

 

[pkrush]

I would suggest removing the slot covers directly above and below your graphics card to provide vents for heat to escape out the rear - doing this dropped my graphics temps by about 3C.