CM Hyper 212+/Xigmatek S1283 vs. Thermalright Archon or Venomous X?

GoldenTiger

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I'm currently running a Xigmatek S1283 cooler, which I gather is only slightly different (worse) than a CoolerMaster Hyper 212+. I'm running into temperatures that aren't satisfactory to me when trying to pump up my speeds with higher volts on my sig rig (2600k). So, I started looking into beefier cooling, and found people saying, with reviews backing it up, that the Corsair H100 isn't any better, and in some cases worse, than some of the top-end air coolers. Now, my question is: just how much better are coolers such as the Thermalright Archon or Venomous X, compared to a cooler like I have (S1283) in actuality on load temps? Are we talking a 3-5c difference here or much larger to where it makes an actual change?

Thanks for any thoughts.
 
Probably only 3-5C, unless there is something wrong with your current cooler. You might be able to improve the temps by adding a second fan, if you haven't already. If you really want to improve the cooling, something like the Silver Arrow or the Noctua NH-D14 might be needed - the Archon and Venomous aren't that much better than what you have.
 
Thanks... I have been researching a bunch since I posted and it looks like the Silver Arrow is the way to go for a significant boost. Even the 212+ apparrently isn't any better than the S1283 but just the same basically after digging deeper. My S1283 has slightly bent fins on the top which may be hurting performance a little, I'm thinking too. The Silver Arrow's expensive but no moreso than the Archon :D, so... if I decide to go for it, I think that's the route to go. It does appear it should offer a 12c or better change at load if not a little more at higher volts/speeds, so I'm giving it thought due to the cost.

Last question... does this fit in a Coolermaster RC690? It appears it should spec-wise. More importantly, is a cooler this heavy OK to use with the case vertical? I know it should be technically, but... it is pretty damn big :p !
 
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I bet you could do ok with this if you can fit it in your case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018&Tpk=NH-D14

Yeah, I'm leaning towards that as it's the only option I can find that seems concretely best... plus it's on newegg unlike most other options.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?276010-Poor-cooling-with-Silver-Arrow-!-! is an example of weirdness with silver arrow vs archon that has me concerned a bit though. I also thought the silver arrow outperformed the noctua...
 
If those two don't fit then you may consider a Megahalems. A little smaller and only slightly less performance.
 
Interestingly, XBit (whose methods for cooler testing seem decently stringent) found that the Archon tended to out-perform the N-DH14 and Silver Arrow/IFX14 despite being a single-array cooler.

Just for a little perspective, my PC is in my sig. The Archon is using a single TY-140 which is just connected to the motherboard and the fan speed is defined by AI Suite. It's mounted blowing front-to-back and exhausting towards a 120mm S-Flex rev. F.

Right now my 2500K is sitting at 4.5GHz, with offset voltage reaching as high as ~1.36V under light load and usually 1.33-1.34V under stress testing loads. It will boot higher, but 4.3-.4.5GHz seems to be its happy place in terms of voltage and thermals. I expect that my discretionary PC nerd budget will be diverted towards children before the 2500K needs to be replaced, so I opted not to push for the bleeding edge in the name of extending the chip's lifespan.

Prime95 blend testing with default settings will push the 2 center cores as high as 60-63C under certain tests, and the outer cores in the 55-60C range. IBT will push the center cores as high as 68 or 69C. Idling at desktop, my outer cores are usually in the 28-31C range and the middle ones in the 32-34C range. Gaming will bump that up into the low 40s, depending on how CPU-intensive a game is. I didn't make any concerted effort to maximize cooling/airflow (prioritized comfortably quiet), so I'm sure if I swapped RAM to permit mounting the Archon with bottom-to-top airflow, set up push-pull fans, utilized the available spot for a 140mm top exhaust fan, and upgraded the rest of my case fans, I could drop those temperatures significantly.
 
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Thanks Omophorus, that's basically what I was able to glean as well from reviews. The thing that sticks me is I used to be running 4.8ghz easily at 1.395v on this CPU, then I got the motherboard replaced for a B3 revision due to the P67 chipset flaw and ever since I can't get it to go there... I'm not sure if it's settings or what :( or if my newer replacement motherboard is holding me back. I was perfectly happy with 4.8 and wasn't caring about upgrading my cooler before, but now it takes way higher volts it seems like to even get near stability.

I read that 0.925v is stock 2600K VCCSA (System Agent) voltage after replacing the mobo and set it to that; I used to be running 0.950v on it. EDIT: And now googling it seems that may be wrong, that 0.95v IS the right one. Anyone confirm?
 
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You're using PLL Overvolt and set the VRM options to Extreme as suggested in the ASUS P67 overclocking thread, right?

I'm not positive on the stock VCCSA, but I think it's .95.
 
You're using PLL Overvolt and set the VRM options to Extreme as suggested in the ASUS P67 overclocking thread, right?

I'm not positive on the stock VCCSA, but I think it's .95.

Yup, thank you :)... using Extreme on the VRM options, 350khz, as well as internal PLL overvolt enabled. I am having MUCH more success with 0.95v VCCSA... got it going for over an hour of BF3 and 20 minutes of Linx burning, until it finally crashed. That was with 1.42v vcore, I used to run I think 1.405. The PLL voltage seems to have the most stability impact for me, as when I changed it up two notches with nothing else changed at that point, it crashed within seconds of starting Prime or BF3.

So, I think by tuning the vcore and PLL, maybe fiddling with VCCIO a notch either way, I should be really close to having it stable again. I so wish I had written down the actual settings from months ago before replacing that board... it was rock-solid for 12+ hours of prime and linx, as well as 24/7 stable, for months with those. Now I'm back to square one... :). This time I'm keeping notes! 1.85625v PLL voltage is the best for me thus far. I'll have to play with it more in a little bit or tomorrow, though, for now I'm back to 4.4ghz for the afternoon...
 
Archon dominates air coolers. If you wanted something really good and can fit something really huge, I'd go for that.

Also, where has the H100 ever underperformed other air coolers? I haven't seen it beaten in any reasonable reviews.
 
Archon dominates air coolers. If you wanted something really good and can fit something really huge, I'd go for that.

Also, where has the H100 ever underperformed other air coolers? I haven't seen it beaten in any reasonable reviews.

Anand showed the H100 as about the same as an Archon/silver arrow :). I didn't mean to imply it was underperforming, just not much better than/etc.
 
Anand showed the H100 as about the same as an Archon/silver arrow :). I didn't mean to imply it was underperforming, just not much better than/etc.

Ah yeah that makes more sense. But i'm having trouble finding the review you're speaking about on Anandtech. I wanted to see if it was a comparison stock or if they were useing 4 and 2 fan configurations.
 
Anand showed the H100 as about the same as an Archon/silver arrow :). I didn't mean to imply it was underperforming, just not much better than/etc.

If they're "about the same" I'd come down on the side of air every time.

I'm not especially worried about a self-contained water cooling unit leaking, but if it can't make a noticeable impact over good air cooling, it's one less thing to have to worry about.
 
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