Thermalright SK6 (regular)

[Phantum]

Somtimes, like right now, my idle temp is above 50C so youy're fine, don't worry about it.

[liquidzyklon]

I'm not really worrying about it now, but when summer comes the case turns into a oven. :p So being a cheeze that I am, I was just asking if the CFM from the Vantec Stealth would be enough to cool it? If not would changing the thermal compound help? Or how about lapping the heatsink, since most people see at least 1C to 8C difference depending on the lapping skills.

[heyheyhey]

mine idles at 55.... you aint gonna hurt it at 46.. i can assure you of that :p

[ST|FFY]

a good lapping wont hurt it and some better thermal grease wouldnt hurt it either

[liquidzyklon]

Originally posted by ST|FFY
a good lapping wont hurt it and some better thermal grease wouldnt hurt it either The thing is that it should but since the fan is pushing so little air I'm not sure whether the fan can actually cool down the heatsink fast enough. So what do you guys think? Is 27CFM really enough? I want to keep it quiet and more cool than what it is now.

[ST|FFY]

you should be fine with those temps
dont worry about it

[Grizzy]

Those temps are fine

If you really want cool and quiet, go pick yourself up a Volcano 12 HSF - keeps my 1800+ about 28 IDLE and 32-33 load in my 20C ambient room while still letting me hear :D

[liquidzyklon]

Thanks for your input ST|FFY, it is reassuring to know that my temps are good :).

Grizzly, you make a pretty good point but I've checked out some reviews and it cools around that same as my current setup with the Vantec stealth when the Volcano 12 is on low, but for high I don't think I can hear again. I think your 1800+ runs cooler than my 1.2 TBird, not sure though.

Alirght, going back and forth. Everyone tells me I am fine with those temps and I know that. But my question was concerning airflow that affects cooling. By that I mean if I have 27CFM fan would a bigger copper heatsink improve my temps or not? (NOTE: I already know the temps are good, but lower is always better :P) The same idea with lapping my current heatsink or applying new thermal paste, would that improve my temps if I am using this "weak" but quiet fan? (NOTE: Again, I know the temps are decent, but lower is better :P) So if anyone know an answer to this? or maybe know some how to calculate all of this and tell me if there will be improvement or not.

[liquidzyklon]

Also, what's the lowest temp anyone can get on a T-Bird with practical air-cooling? I can't search :mad:

[ST|FFY]

just b/c you have a low CFM fan doesnt mean you wont drop a few C from a better Heatsink or better thermal grease

if you were to get a better Heatsink then you SHOULD get better temps and if you were to lap your current heatsink then im pretty sure that you would get a few C less.

i dont have much knowledge on T-Birds so i cant help you with your last Q

[liquidzyklon]

Now I need to find some time to lap this baby, cooler is better. :) I'll trust ST|FFY on this one, but I always thought if there wasn't enough air the heatsink would cool crapily. Like having a heatsink without a fan (low to no CFM) being compared to a heatsink with a delta (38CFM for 46 dBA). I will try it anyways. Thank you all for your suggestions.

[ST|FFY]

your current temps are like 41C load, after your lapping and AS3 then it WILL improve

but the improvement is not going to be a super duper one, you should see improvements at about 1-3C lower so that makes about 38-40C eh, cooler is better rite?

[liquidzyklon]

Cool is better :) , but my current idle temp is 41C and load is 46C. If I can get 41C load, I will be jumping with joy :p