The Official Cooling Thread!

Alright so Normal is NOT stock voltage, right?
EDIT: Wow Core temps are down to 41-43 Degrees.

 

Should I run orthos now that I have lowered the volts?
EDIT: BTW so if I read a review about a HSF and they mention temps at 100 Watts and if my CPU is rated at 100 Watts then the temop should be the same?

 

abuzar1,

I'm not a big fan of either Orthos or OCCT. I'm not sure about Orthos but OCCT puts a much higher load on things that any application or game ever will. I usually check things out with Prime95 until I'm satisfied that things are working smoothly and then run OCCT. I know I'll get some arguments on that but I don't like stressing the hell out of my components any more than I have to. I save OCCT for the acid test! Lets face it you will never see a load like OCCT puts on it in real life so why strain the hell out of everything. It's like a burn in! I burn it in at stock speeds overnight and never run the burn in again!

You may have heard people in other forums telling you that they were running OCCT, burning a DVD and playing a game on line! I'm here to tell you that's BS. OCCT uses almost 100% of both cores, so what do you have left for all the other stuff? Either that or they have OCCT running at a low percentage, which makes it pretty meaningless! I've cooked a couple of motherboards and I have no intention of doing it again!

The answer to your second question is not necessarily! You can have the greatest CPU cooler in the world, but the heat still has to be removed from the case. That's why I worked so hard on my airflows and their directions. The results speak for themselves! Just stick your Freezer 7 Pro in there and smile! It should do an excellent job in your case, as long as you have enough cfm to begin with. You should have a nice gentle breeze being drawn in the air vent that cools the video card and a nice stiff breeze blowing from front to rear. Should work just fine!

Clock On,
theone :>}

 

So Prime95? For how long?

 

abuzar1,

I usually run it for 8-12 hours once I've got everything set the way I want it. I just run short tests in between adjustments in the setup. You are going to find that at some point in all of these adjustments a spot where everything seems to run very smooth and be very comfortable to use. That's generally the CPU's sweet spot. For mine, I discovered that it was 3.2GHz. It will run a lot faster, but it does everything well at 3.2. The benefit I get from another 196 Mhz isn't enough in the real world to matter to me. This way it runs more relaxed and at 30,000 MIPS with a nice fat memory bandwidth it's plenty fast enough! It should be good and solid for the next 3 years at least the way it is right now. If you wring out the last bit that you can get out of it, you'll only have to back it down at a later date anyway as the components will wear out in time, so I choose to run it this way. It's still almost twice as fast as the D-940 I had OC'd to 3.71Ghz before, and I don't have to sit and watch the temps constantly!

Clock On,
theone :>}

 

Ok so I'll start buying what I need tonight. How is this website for the Freezer 7 pro: http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=FAN-AC7PRO&c=pw

BTW I need to know what fan I should get for my north bridge, Russ I guess you probably know since you already did this. It is as simple as screwing it on?

EDIT: According to this the BT-90 runs a bit cooler than the Freezer 7 PRO, but it looks like a butterfly. What do you guys think, performance or looks? I don't think I want a butterfly in my case, but this is also cheaper at newegg.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article645-page5.html

 

abuzar1,

You can only use 2 of the 4 screw holes but a couple of self tapping screw will work. You will see when the fan's in place what I mean. Make sure you install the Freezer 7 first, then you will get the idea. Make it blow down and not up to keep the heat away from the CPU cooler fins.
This is what I used and recommend. 3000 rpm and very quiet
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835191002

Very good price on the Freezer 7 Pro BTW, and free shipping to boot! Nice!!

If you are going to replace the CPU air duct with a fan, make sure it's 25-30 cfm and blows out! It takes away a goodly bit of heat from the top of the CPU cooler. Between that and a good fan in the rear there will be plenty of fresh cool air to cool the video card. These are what I use, and would use again!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999344

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835220023
They are dual ball bearing so there won't be any surging noises and vibration in a steel case like yours and mine, practically silent. 1400-1500 rpm on the rear and 1300 (slowest speed) for the side. You could install both fan controllers in the expansion slot bracket that comes with the FM-83. It can hold 3! Do Not Use A 3rd party fan controller! These are electronically controlled and need the controller that comes with them. All the electronics are incorporated into the fan itself so there's no heat at the control at all. The DS3 only has 2 fan headers and I plugged the pick up for the rear fan into the 3 prong one so I can set the rpms and the CPU fan into the 4 prong on under PWM control in the setup. Let the front fan be as it won't come near to matching the cfm of the other two fans so cool air will be assured at the side vent!

EDIT: I would go with the Freezer 7 Pro. The feedback on this and other forums has all been good and I doubt that anyone has used one of those butterfly things. I've been using the Arctic Freezer series in all my builds for a good while now with no problems! $30 and free shipping! I don't think you could get a better deal for a quality product like the Arctic!

Good Luck,
Russ :>}

 

What about the butterfly HSF? Six degrees is quite a difference and it just might look good if you can't make out the little butterfly body in the middle. Mostly good reviews on Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887002&Tpk=ZEROtherm+BTF90

 

abuzar1,

I don't much care for open un-protected fans inside a computer. Your choice, of course but I'll stay with what I know works well! and I don't believe that six degrees for a minute. The Zalman 9500 wasn't that good and it's a better design! I've used both on my D-940 and the difference in performance was slight. The Arctic wins hands down in the low noise department, and weighs over 150g less! If you get yours to run like mine you will be rewarded with "Blessed Silence" and a cool computer!

Clock On,
theone :>}

 

I went with the freezer. Did you keep on the thermal paste? I heard that kind was better than Arctic Silver.
BTW does the chipset even have places for screws? I don't see any.

 

abuzar1,

With 2 self tapping screws on one end it will contact the fins and hold itself in. If they fit through the holes, they'll grab. They don't have to be very tight. I may have squeezed the 2 outside fins together on each side, but I don't remember. I used a couple of old fan screws from an old AMD CPU cooler and they worked fine.

The Arctic installs with what's on it. I've tried both it and AS5 and there's no difference in temps! Mine has Arctic Silver and the D-940 has the thermal pad that comes with the Freezer 7 Pro. Both work fine! I'll give you a tip on installing it. Start with one arm and hold it flat to the MB and then push in the lock pin. Go cross corner to the opposite one and do the same thing. Repeat with the other arm. I've heartd of them popping off but I've never had it happen to one of mine, including the one I built that came in for a DVD burner yesterday, on a bicycle from about 10 miles away! LOL!!

Clock On,
theone :>}

 

What was the last bit about the bike? I didn't quite get that.

 

abuzar1,

Guy calls me up yesterday and tells me he wants a DVD burner for the C2D I built for him. I told him to just drop it by anytime. He went completely across town on a bicycle carrying the computer. San Bernardino doesn't have the best of roads so it had to be a jarring ride and the cooler didn't pop off! I almost fell over when I saw the bike! That's why the LOL!

Best Regards,
theone :>}

 

lol what is this Denmark? Man when I went to Denmark I was so surprised that everyone was riding bikes!

Best Regards(From now on I announce that all my posts automatically have best regards so I don't have to type it again lol),
Abuzar.

 

Abuzar: The Zerotherm was compared at the threshold of ambient noise, if you're willing to put up with more noise, the freezer will probably cool better.
About the silverstone fans - they should cool your case adequately at the minimum speed, don't be put off by the absurd racket they make at full speed.

 

abuzar1,

Quote from sammorris

If you need the full speed of these fans, buy a refrigerator to put the computer in it! LOL!! At 1400 rpm there's a pretty stiff breeze coming out of the back of my computer. The noise they make at full speed would drive you out of the room! Fortunately there should never be a reason to have to run them at full speed. Not when the CPU fan is only turning about 1000 rpm or less, most of the time! The FM-121 moves about the same amount of air at 1400 rpm as the Thermaltake Thunderblade does at full speed and is a whole lot quieter doing it. I can't understand how Sam thinks that the Butterfly would be quieter. It makes exactly the same amount of noise as the Zalman 9500, which is more noise than the Freezer 7 Pro makes! I should know, I've had them both installed in the same case and I can hear the difference! My roomie said the same thing after I replaced the 9500 with the Freezer 7 Pro in the D-940! The 9500 was annoyingly loud!

Clock On,
theone :>}

 

At full speed they are, but SPCR runs them at the same decibel level to get a noise-based comparison.

 

sammorris,

So, according to SPCR I should get a ZeroTherm Butterfly thing because they say it makes less noise? Hm, let me think. The Arctic performs well, is easy to clean, has a fan that can be replaced in seconds, has 3 times the warranty (6 years vs 2), and is a good deal lighter by more than 150g with the fan attached. Is there a question here??? LOL!!

I have noticed that the Silverstones have gotten quieter with use. My guess is that the dual ball bearings have bedded in the contact surfaces of the bearing races, so they run quieter. I'm now seeing a variance in rpms of only 3-7 rpm, so there's no surge at all. Everything's working according to plan, and it runs cool and quiet! Nice!!

Clock On,
theone :>}

 

Russ,

we've been through this before and I don't doubt that the AF 7 Pro is quieter but my 9500 is by no means annoyingly loud. believe it or not, I honostly can not hear my 9500. maybe if I open my case and put my ear by it but otherwise the other fans (case fans and X850XT fan are louder) and the only one of those I consider excessively loud is the fan on the X850XT.

I can't hear any of the fans over the tv in the other room or the house ac fan when it is running.

 

I'm used to my P4 Prescott's fan at full speed. With that fan my computer desk used to VIBRATE a lot so I'm not concerned with noise.