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Socket-A cooling choices.

C

cyclone3d

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Aug 16, 2004
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Here are the choices I currently have to use on Socket-A.

1. Zalman CNPS 5100-Cu (with an 80mm fan adapter)
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/zalmancnps5100cu/

2. Thermaltake Silent Tower (dual 92mm fan)
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article201-page1.html

3. Thermaltake Big Typhoon (120mm)
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Thermaltake/BigTyphoon/

I am leaning towards the Big Typhoon, especially for the super huge cooler that can cool an Q6600 up to 3.6Ghz. Was also good enough to cool an i7-920 up to around 3.2Ghz.
 
Cooling an i7 920 @ 3.2GHz is nothing to brag about. Not much heat there. A good top tier cool can do that passively. After testing an AXP-100 on mine at stock clocking I bumped it up to 3.5GHz at 2000rpm it runs 70c in 21c room. ;)

What is our CPU clearance and where on Earth are you? I ask where because location determines what cooler are available at what prices. ;)
 
I'd be afraid of both the Tts chipping the die. they're VERY heavy for a Socket A cooler. The Zalman was one of the best for its time. I'd go with it.
 
doyll said:
Cooling an i7 920 @ 3.2GHz is nothing to brag about. Not much heat there. A good top tier cool can do that passively. After testing an AXP-100 on mine at stock clocking I bumped it up to 3.5GHz at 2000rpm it runs 70c in 21c room. ;)

What is our CPU clearance and where on Earth are you? I ask where because location determines what cooler are available at what prices. ;)
Click to expand...

I am in the US.

I actually have these coolers on hand... and I think I remembered wrong about the Big Typhoon. Pretty sure I was actually using it to cool the Q6600 when it was running at 3.8GHz and the i7-920 up to about 3.6Ghz (with RAM running at 2000). That cooler was not ever meant for the 1366 socket and I special made a bracket so I could use it.
(Here is the compatibility list)
Intel P4 LGA775
P4 478 Prescott FMB1.5
AMD Athlon 64 / Athlon 64 FX
Athlon XP up to 3400+
Sempron up to 3400+

Those are the coolers I have on hand. Nothing worthwhile is going to be available new for Socket-A, and for both of the Thermaltake ones I have on hand, I am going to have to mod the bracket so it won't cover one of the motherboard mounting holes. They both use the same mounting system, except the top bracket that originally came with the Silent Tower will clear everything on the CPU side of the board.

Did you look at any of the old reviews I posted links to?

All 3 of those were top tier coolers when they were released.
 
Jorona said:
I'd be afraid of both the Tts chipping the die. they're VERY heavy for a Socket A cooler. The Zalman was one of the best for its time. I'd go with it.
Click to expand...

I thought about the weight issue.... I do have a couple of those copper shims that go in between the CPU and heatsink in order to prevent chipping the die.

Back in the day, I used the Silent Tower on a socket-A system and didn't have any trouble with it.

The Big Typhoon is quite a bit heavier though, but it also has a lot more cooling capacity.

The only real "tests" I have are that the Silent tower can cool an E5300 up to about 3.5Ghz, while the Big Typhoon can cool a Q6600 up to around 3.8Ghz or an i7-920 up to about 3.6Ghz.

It has been so long since I used either of them, that it is kind of hard to remember all the details.
 
cyclone3d said:
I am in the US.

I actually have these coolers on hand... and I think I remembered wrong about the Big Typhoon. Pretty sure I was actually using it to cool the Q6600 when it was running at 3.8GHz and the i7-920 up to about 3.6Ghz (with RAM running at 2000). That cooler was not ever meant for the 1366 socket and I special made a bracket so I could use it.
(Here is the compatibility list)
Intel P4 LGA775
P4 478 Prescott FMB1.5
AMD Athlon 64 / Athlon 64 FX
Athlon XP up to 3400+
Sempron up to 3400+

Those are the coolers I have on hand. Nothing worthwhile is going to be available new for Socket-A, and for both of the Thermaltake ones I have on hand, I am going to have to mod the bracket so it won't cover one of the motherboard mounting holes. They both use the same mounting system, except the top bracket that originally came with the Silent Tower will clear everything on the CPU side of the board.

Did you look at any of the old reviews I posted links to?

All 3 of those were top tier coolers when they were released.
Click to expand...

Kind of a tradeoff whichever way you go. The Typhoon is probably the best, but much harder to keep it's heated exhaust separate from cool intake air. Reversing the fan usually helps. The Silent Tower might be the best way to go.

I would avoid shims as they will only lower the heat transfer from CPU to cooler. 920 @ 3.6GHz is making some heat. :p
 
doyll said:
Kind of a tradeoff whichever way you go. The Typhoon is probably the best, but much harder to keep it's heated exhaust separate from cool intake air. Reversing the fan usually helps. The Silent Tower might be the best way to go.

I would avoid shims as they will only lower the heat transfer from CPU to cooler. 920 @ 3.6GHz is making some heat. :p
Click to expand...

The shim I am talking about doesn't actually touch the die. It is just keep the cooler from tipping to much to prevent chipping the die.

It is similar to this one.
http://www.newegg.com/global/nz/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835999116
 
the big typhoon is 'da bomb on 462, go [H]ard or go home
 
jojo69 said:
the big typhoon is 'da bomb on 462, go [H]ard or go home
Click to expand...

I may actually have to mod my case a little bit for the Big Typhoon to fit.

As it is, I am pretty sure that the fan is not going to clear a brace.

I ended up using the Zalman to do testing since it is was the easiest to install. The fan (A SAN ACE 32) is super loud.
 
Well, just verified that I am going to have to trim a brace as well as make the hole in the motherboard mounting plate larger in order for the Big Typhoon to fit.

But it does cool a whole lot better and is way quieter than the Zalman cooler.

I also changed the fan from the stock one to one from a Big Typhoon VX (way higher CFM). I have some even higher CFM Rosewill fans, but I really doubt that they will make it run any cooler.

The brackets that hold the Big Typhoon cooler in place support it just fine. I am actually using two of the small brackets instead of one bigger and one smaller since the big one would not clear everything on either the back or front of the motherboard.

A few years ago, I also slightly modified the bolt mounting system by replacing the lame brass nuts that tighten down on the top of the board with nylon ones that don't have the problem of coming loose like the stock ones did no matter how tight you tightened them.

Also gone is the foam spacer for the rear bracket. It has been replaced by plastic washers instead.

The really bad thing about the foam is that if it compressed far enough it could cause shorts across pins in the CPU socket. And it was nearly impossible to remove the bracket and foam from the back of the board as it had sticky on both sides of the foam.
 
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