How do i chose cooling for an opteron 170?

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RegisteredToPost

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 21, 2004
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I have absolutely no idea which HSF to buy for an optie 170. I might overclock to whatever speed i can get without adjusting voltages....

How do you pick?
 
Pick whatever fits your needs. The larger tower coolers that fit a 120mm fan are the way to go IMO. In that category, I really like the Scythe Ninja. I'm sure others will relate their experience with the xp-90 or 120, zalman , big typhoon,etc....
 
Yes, it blows most of the air across the hs towards the rear fan. But the 120mm fan hangs off the bottom of the hs, which allows a little bit of air to hit the mobo/caps/ram.
 
Was the scythe designed to be fanless, so if you wish to mount a fan it'll require zip-ties?

It's a tossup between the ninja and the zalman. Should i just flip a coin? Which one is easier to install?
 
thermalright heatsinks are damn fine. i haven't bought a new heatsink since i moved over to water/pelt for my own rig, however my old thermalright SP-97 is managing to keep my hot old barton 2600 clocked at 2.4 GHz and about 40 C load, with the fan down around 35 db.

i'm not reccomending that specific unit, but rather that you read up on some of their s939 compatible units.

www.thermalright.com

the newer units do as well with quieter fans.
 
I decided on the xp-120 with a panaflo. The scythe just looks...ugly. Does anyone know if it'll fit on an asus A8N pci-e?
 
I have a Ninja and Panaflo combo, and I absolutely love it. Temps never go past 45C, even under intense stress [dual P95, 3dMark, SP2004]. Or you can get the Zalman CNPS9500. I hear that's a great cooler as well.
 
RegisteredToPost said:
Was the scythe designed to be fanless, so if you wish to mount a fan it'll require zip-ties?

It's a tossup between the ninja and the zalman. Should i just flip a coin? Which one is easier to install?
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The ninja can be run passive, but definately not if you oc. And it does come with one set of wire clips to mount a fan.
 
Well i changed my mind, again. I'll go with the scythe because it seems to be the most cost effective route.

Has anyone ever had this cooler not fit in their case? I have an antec soho file server case, and am wondering if it'll fit... Reading reviews on newegg, looks like some people had problems with that. 150mm isn't that big.

Also, would this fancause problems if i used it to cool the sink? it's 38mm wide...
 
I saw a few potential problems. It doesn't have the 3rd wire for rpm monitoring, so if ou want to use a fan controller....kinda out of luck. Also, one person said that it vibrated alot....if you don't get it mounted good and tight, I can see that being an issue.

The clips that come with the ninja are big enough for a 25mm thick fan, so you would have to make your own, or do some modding. The grooves on the fins of the heatsink look like you could use some 16/18ga wire to strap the fan on with though. When I added the 2nd fan to mine, I used some romex wire I grabbed from work to tie the fan to the nuts on the ends of the heatpipes. (12ga romex is solid copper and very stiff, so it was very secure)
 
RegisteredToPost said:
Has anyone ever had this cooler not fit in their case? I have an antec soho file server case, and am wondering if it'll fit... Reading reviews on newegg, looks like some people had problems with that. 150mm isn't that big.
Click to expand...

If you have a 120mm fan available, set the fan on top of your ram, if you have room between the fan and where you case-side would be, it'll fit. :)
 
I'm buying upgrades, so i can only imagine wether or not it is going to fit on the board with the memory i'm going to buy
 
My case measures over 8". Thanks for the help guys. I feel like an idiot asking all these questions in every forum, about everything. After reading the faq's, i was left wondering what to do next. They're a step in the right direction but opinion is always helpful.

I'd have to say this is the most anticipated upgrade i've ever done. Been out of the circuit for too long. My current setup is horribly dated.
 
SpoogeMonkey said:
I saw a few potential problems. It doesn't have the 3rd wire for rpm monitoring, so if ou want to use a fan controller....kinda out of luck. Also, one person said that it vibrated alot....if you don't get it mounted good and tight, I can see that being an issue.
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quoi? and quoi?

you don't need a RPM lead for a fan to work with a fan controller, depending on the style of fan controller you use. any rheobus or other dial-type controller works just fine with fans that don't don RPM readback.

even then, if you look places OTHER than newegg (which is a TERRIBLE place to shop for cooling gear anyway) you will find that the panaflo L1A is also available with RPM output.

it's a bit of a different story if you want to use the fan with the onboard header and software control, but that's not a using fan controller now is it?

anyone who has a panaflo that vibrates a lot has either done TERRIBLE things to it, or got a defective fan to start with. i capitalize "terrible" for a reason. in my experience, you can drop a panaflo, kick it down the stairs, step on it, clean it out with compressed air strong enough to strip paint off of the wall, and then put it into a computer and expect it to run without complaint indefinately. there are people out there who run panaflo fans for in excess of 10 years with minimal maintenance.

panaflo fans aren't perfect, and they aren't for everyone. they are certainly some of the more reliable and robust fans on the market.
 
I chose newegg because i have yet to encounter problems dealing with them. They ship fast as well. Unfortunately their stock of opteron 170's ran short...

I also don't really know the best places for hardware purchases... Monarch had good prices on opterons but negatives circulate about how fast they are to ship...I probably have atleast 3 days before i can even order, so where is a good place to pluck cooling goods from?
 
RegisteredToPost said:
I chose newegg because i have yet to encounter problems dealing with them. They ship fast as well. Unfortunately their stock of opteron 170's ran short...

I also don't really know the best places for hardware purchases... Monarch had good prices on opterons but negatives circulate about how fast they are to ship...I probably have atleast 3 days before i can even order, so where is a good place to pluck cooling goods from?
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eBay
 
go to the for sale forums and sho around. avoid ebay unless you absolutely love it. svc.com, xoxide.com, zipzoomfly.com just to name a few places to get parts.

i personally deal with all 3 places for a wide variety of things, just compare prices. shipping is prety good with all of those companies. and i've never encoutnered a problem...except one, where iwanted to cancel my order but it was too late because they shipped it (less than 24hrs after purchased), but i love the item i got anyway.

iamspoli's 2 cents
 
What's wrong with eBay? I often from those eBay stores and save money because I often don't have to pay any tax and tax here in California is high(like 8%)
 
{NcsO}ReichstaG said:
What's wrong with eBay? I often from those eBay stores and save money because I often don't have to pay any tax and tax here in California is high(like 8%)
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15% tax for anything that i buy. add duties to get anything over to this side of the border from a US vendor. double the list price of anything that you look at states-side and you have a pretty good idea of what i have to pay.

customs charges duties and taxes for what a new item's MSRP is, as opposed to what is sold for on e-bay, regardless of if it is new or used.

don't complain too loudly about the tax that you pay.
 
DFI Daishi said:
you don't need a RPM lead for a fan to work with a fan controller, depending on the style of fan controller you use. any rheobus or other dial-type controller works just fine with fans that don't don RPM readback.
Click to expand...

Youre absolutely right. I was thinking of the rpm monitoring, not the ability to adjust the voltage..

As far as vibration goes, I've used several 100+cmf 120x38 sunon fans(no panaflows) and those beats are heavy, and would make any lady happy :p Since the op would have to make his own retention clips/zip tie the fan to the hsf, if its not held tight, vibration will definately become a noise issue if nothing else.
 
E-Tailers tend to update their prices more often than not than Ebay stores. A good example: ATX Midtower Cases. Priced much more competetively on e-tailers. I'd say the same for almost anything. Ebay is good for used/refub/as-is items. Other than that, I only use it to sell, or for great deals on auctions no one seems to bid on ...


you're right, ebay is good, sometimes you get lucky, however, I'd rather take my chances with an established business whose been known to be awesome!
 
SpoogeMonkey said:
As far as vibration goes, I've used several 100+cmf 120x38 sunon fans(no panaflows) and those beats are heavy, and would make any lady happy :p Since the op would have to make his own retention clips/zip tie the fan to the hsf, if its not held tight, vibration will definately become a noise issue if nothing else.
Click to expand...
wow. you know, the funny thing is, last time i checked, both panasonic, who used to make panaflo fans, and NMB who now makes panaflo fans, are different companies from sunon. it's the craziest thing, but fans made by different companies are not the same, and have different properties. :rolleyes:

so, just to point out one of the main differences that you can find between a sunon and a panaflo fan, sunon's bearing and hub technology give the fan a good bit of play with respect to the frame. it lets them really cut down on bearing noise, since they can use really loose/free bearings for low friction. it also means that their fans are pretty prone to becoming unbalanced.

the hub on a panaflo fan is a bit more tightly held. the exact technology that they use is propriarity, however they seem to use somewhat stronger permanent magnets to "float" the fan, and their bearings resist twisting more effectively than other fans i have worked with.

delta fans and panaflo fans are my two preferred brands. both companies make fans almost right across the noise and performace spectrum, and both have proven themselves to be highly reliable.

i really wonder if the user who reported vibration on newegg broke off a fin or two in order to make his fan vibrate to the degree that he is reporting.

please see my previous comment regarding what i have done to a panaflo without making it vibrate. unless the fan is defective to start with, it's hard to kill a panaflo.

i have 8x panaflo 120mm fans running in two machines. 4x panaflo 120mm L1As in my sister's rig, 2x panaflo 120mm L1As and 2x panaflo U1As in my own rig.

i also have some smaller panaflo and delta fans rigged up for various other applications around the house. i've tried sunon fans, and they simply didn't last.
 
Not to get this too far ot, but just relating my experiences. With the sunon fan, there is a very distinct "hitch" between blade positions when spinning the fan by hand.....multiply that by 3000-3500rpm, and I hope you can imagine what this thing does. Even @ 5v, set it on a table and it jumps around like a spazmatic cat :D More of the same with the old ys tech 38mm fan I have.
 
i have had excellent results with the Coolermaster Hyper 6. With my X2 3800 at 2.6Ghz 1.41Vcore, i idled at 27C and loaded at 39-40C. I have a fan on both sides running full blast...

00091691.jpg
 
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