Air Cooling for under $100

M

Malec3

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Mar 6, 2009
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I´ve been battered & bruised on Trubitar´s & 3dGameman for my decision to attempt to watercool a Koolance 350 with a Thermaltake 760is so I´ve decided to start off the system with an air cooling heatsink. I´m only budget $100 dollars for this heatsink for my i7 build & would hope to get recommendations on which one I should get.
 
The Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme is the best air cooler available right now. There is a kit that comes with the i7 bracket and a fan, so that would be your best bet.
 
But I should run my rig horizontally with that, right? Never seen one in person but that Thermalright looks huge.
 
Pretty much any air cooling solution will be less than $100. Maybe try lowering that value....like to $50. BTW, my votes for a Vendetta 2 or a Xigmatek S1283 w/ a bracket. If you got money to splurge....which it seems, go for a true or noctua.
 
all the coolers mentioned are great candidates

S1283 and Vendetta 2 are on the lower price of the spectrum while the TRUE and Noctua are on the higher end price wise, if you are talking bang for the buck, the S1283 or Vendetta 2 are going to be your best bets, if money is not an object then there are the TRUE and Noctua but whether you are getting value for the extra money spent is debatable

another cooler to keep in mind is the V8 which fits in the middle in price around $50-$60, i've been using it no complaints, got a good stable overclock and good temps. and it looks great which is a plus in my book
 
The TRUE is the best I have used so far. It did require lapping to perform its best. It is also available in Black. The copper version is very heavy and you would have to be careful moving your machine around.
 
Malec3 said:
But I should run my rig horizontally with that, right? Never seen one in person but that Thermalright looks huge.
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You don't need to orient your PC horizontally with the normal TRUE. It'll be fine standing up, as long as you mount it properly.
 
lollerskater69 said:
if you have 100$ to spend get a TRUE Copper. lol
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The TRUE copper is a waste of money, its only if you want the "bling".

Zero82z said:
You don't need to orient your PC horizontally with the normal TRUE. It'll be fine standing up, as long as you mount it properly.
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Indeed.

The TRUE is without a doubt a tall cooler, but its by far not the heaviest, and far from the limits of a mobo's strength. I carry mine around all over the place when working on it and can be at times a bit rough on it, yet the mobo shows no sign of bending, no less breaking.

And for 100 bucks not only can you get a TRUE but you could have it and your CPU lapped and pick up a good fan or two.
 
The TRUE is only as good after you lap it, and buy a good 100cfm scythe fan for it, and buy another same fan for push pull. Lapping is where you polish the base. If you want something that works really well out of the box I would recommend the new Cooler Master V8, Zalman 9900 or Cooler Master V10. The V8 is a badass engine, the Zalman 9900 is pure copper cooling madness, and the V10 beats every air cooler out there once you use the Core I7.
 
Icejon said:
The TRUE is only as good after you lap it, and buy a good 100cfm scythe fan for it, and buy another same fan for push pull. Lapping is where you polish the base. If you want something that works really well out of the box I would recommend the new Cooler Master V8, Zalman 9900 or Cooler Master V10. The V8 is a badass engine, the Zalman 9900 is pure copper cooling madness, and the V10 beats every air cooler out there once you use the Core I7.
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i agree. v10 coming soon =]
 
I personally am enjoying my new Xigmatek HDT-S1284-EE

One more heatpipe than the Well recomended s1283 and the pipes aren't all in a row making it where all 4 pipes stand to breath well. Definately an improvement in design (IMO FTIW) i have not however seen any type of comparison between the 2.

If you buy either of the xigmatek's be sure to get the appropriate bolt through kit.

Kit for the s1283

kit for the s1284

or buy the Dark knight edition S1283 that comes with the kit.
 
Icejon said:
The TRUE is only as good after you lap it, and buy a good 100cfm scythe fan for it, and buy another same fan for push pull. Lapping is where you polish the base. If you want something that works really well out of the box I would recommend the new Cooler Master V8, Zalman 9900 or Cooler Master V10. The V8 is a badass engine, the Zalman 9900 is pure copper cooling madness, and the V10 beats every air cooler out there once you use the Core I7.
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The TRUE is a great cooler before lapping, as it beats out just about every other cooler without it, lapping just makes it that much better. And a 100cfm fan is just loud over kill, no less TWO of them, you have got to be kidding me. I ran 2 Deltas, and there was NO temp change when I added the 2nd, at a point it becomes less about the air you are pushing through it and more about how fast the HS can conduct heat. One or two 1,000-1,200 RPM fans are more than enough to cool the TRUE very well.
 
BlueFireIce said:
The TRUE is a great cooler before lapping, as it beats out just about every other cooler without it, lapping just makes it that much better. And a 100cfm fan is just loud over kill, no less TWO of them, you have got to be kidding me. I ran 2 Deltas, and there was NO temp change when I added the 2nd, at a point it becomes less about the air you are pushing through it and more about how fast the HS can conduct heat. One or two 1,000-1,200 RPM fans are more than enough to cool the TRUE very well.
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Perhaps this is true when you bought the TRUE, I believe you. I think now since CM released the V8, V10 winter and Zalman introduced 9900 this spring the cooling status quo just changed in a few months. Most websites show the V8 equal to the TRUE with a single fan. Other websites show V10 beating the TRUE by 10C on core I7 high overclocks. The TRUE is a great cooler, but can no longer be unchallenged especially when it isn't available in as many local stores around me.
 
Icejon said:
Perhaps this is true when you bought the TRUE, I believe you. I think now since CM released the V8, V10 winter and Zalman introduced 9900 this spring the cooling status quo just changed in a few months. Most websites show the V8 equal to the TRUE with a single fan. Other websites show V10 beating the TRUE by 10C on core I7 high overclocks. The TRUE is a great cooler, but can no longer be unchallenged especially when it isn't available in as many local stores around me.
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The TRUE and the V8 are close, but you have a wider range of fan choices (and the option to mount two), the TRUE is quieter wile providing the same amount of cooling. The 9900 is just not even in the same class, I think SPCR said it best: "It's a big, lumbering giant, that pound for pound and dollar for dollar, just does not keep up with the competition." It is an old dated design that Zalman just needs to lay to rest. And then there is the V10, for the size and weight of this thing and the fact it has a TEC it seems to perform very poorly. I got 10C lower temps just by lapping my TRUE, and lets not even get into the cost of the thing.
 
bigwooly said:
I personally am enjoying my new Xigmatek HDT-S1284-EE

One more heatpipe than the Well recomended s1283 and the pipes aren't all in a row making it where all 4 pipes stand to breath well. Definately an improvement in design (IMO FTIW) i have not however seen any type of comparison between the 2.

If you buy either of the xigmatek's be sure to get the appropriate bolt through kit.

Kit for the s1283

kit for the s1284

or buy the Dark knight edition S1283 that comes with the kit.
Click to expand...

I have no personal experience with it, but I remember reading that adding the fourth heatpipe spreads the layout. This makes it not work as well, since the outer pipes aren't actually over the hot area where they're needed.

I like my Dark Knight 1283.
 
Thanks for all the feedback, fellas. Its likely the TRUE or the Cooler Master V8 for me.
 
what about one of the v12 or v10 etc? i saw the v10 on provantage for around 100
 
MaximumPc gave the v10 a 4 basically said spend your money on anything but this.
 
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