The Official Cooling Thread!

Yeah, that'll work. I was just hoping to use some of those unused fan connectors on my motherboard.

 

There are loads of fans that come with those connectors too, I don't know of any PCI slot ones that do, but you could always buy an adapter for like 1 dollar off ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Molex-4-pin-M-F...25QQihZ019QQcategoryZ3673QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

I'll probably just link a couple more fans together. Does anyone know roughly about how much hotter my cpu/system will run if I OC my E6600 to 3.6ghz?

 

from stock? If you're using the standard cooler it won't be possible before the CPU overheats, you'll need a high power cooler like a Zalman CNPS9700 or Thermalright Ultra 120 to manage that. Ensure you've got good case fans too.

 

I have an Arctic Freezer 7 pro on my cpu but it still hits 48-50C under full load. I haven't run two stress tests at once yet, but I don't think that would raise my temps more than a couple degrees if any. My main concern right now is that my NZXT case fans(stock) don't seem to be working too well(my identicle 120mm exhaust fans run at differnt speeds even though they're not variable speed fans), so I'm thinking of replacing them with higher quality/performance ones.

 

The NZXT case fans that came with my case were excellent, but for the fact one of the LEDs stopped working, hardly a big gripe.

 

does anyone know how truthfull the specs are for this fan?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835220014

thanks.

 

The given specs aren't bad, but such high speed fans cause high vibrations. In a well made and/or Steel case, you're looking at maybe 20-43dB, in a cheap or aluminium case perhaps 22-46dB.
It's incredibly fast, but there are quieter fans out there. I recommend the Scythe S-Flex 1600rpm, that's quieter than the Silverstone at the same speed (and about the same airflow), has a lower (and therefore not so annoying) pitch sound because of the 7 blades versus 9, and is also compatible with a normal fan controller, rather than requiring one 3.5" bay PER FAN, or not working properly with other controllers.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185006

 

Hey guys is it ok if I use hand sanitizer to clean off thermal paste?

 

Don't know, depends what's in it. I keep safe by always having some Akasa TIM remover or Arcticlean nearby.

 

Yeah but I dont have any of that. It has 62% ethyl alcohol and in inactive ingridients it has isopropyl alcohol listed. I ran out of rubbing alcohol some time back but didnt really need it again so I never bought some more. I was wondering if there are any around they house things I can use to clean off old thermal compound.

 

All I can say is try it, see how effective it is. Just make ABSOLUTELY sure there's none left sitting anywhere before doing the rest of the process.

 

It evaporates quickly, but you dont think it will do any damage do you? Maybe I should just go out and buy some rubbing alcohol.

 

if that's easy to do, I'd recommend it.

 

the sounds levels are not really that important tbh, firstly because i can change the speeds with my fan controller and secondly because compared to my 2 kids no 120mm fan stands a chance of drowning them out (i wish i could some days ). what im more interested in is the rated airflows, with the s-flex having 63 and the silverstone claiming 110.

 

No you can't, it's really difficult to do, because the fans are current-pulse based, not voltage based. They work, but trust me they get annoying, and even if you don't care about sound levels, being able to hear the PC through two solid walls with closed doors is loud!

The Scythe fan can actually provide around 70CFM versus a little over 100 for the Silverstone, and I assure you, you will never need more than 70CFM, even if your case only lets you hgave one 120mm fan.

 

i have just been doing some looking and although the silverstone fans do shift more air and are only slightly louder than the s-flex ones i think i will get the s-flex because they dont require a molex to power them. its not that i dont have any spare but i dont want to mess up the wiring on my case by having to run 2 more power lines all around it. its mainly the side panel that i dont fancy running a molex to.

i think i shall get the sff21f version as like i said the noise aint an issue.

 

The noise level of the high speed S-Flexes really isn't that bad anyway, it's lower than pretty much all CPU coolers at full speed.

 

i have 3 (3) pin connectors for fans . power fan >channel 1 >channel 2 . does it make a difference where i plug a fan into ? now i have one pluged into pwr fan.

 

Not really, as long as you don't plug in very high power fans into the 3 pin plugs, but you shouldn't use high power fans anyway.