The Official OC (OverClocking) Thread!

Russ,

nicely put~ haven't been on AD for awhile, but your statement stood out to me, i'm not even going to bother going back a few pages in this thread, the issue at hand (Ace_2) def. sounds like a crappy PSU, i would trash it and get something even worth the cardboard it's sold in! as for Powmax, you are lucky you only fried ONE single system using that piece of $h1t, among my close builder friends and me, we've had at least 1/2 dozen build go to HELL (about 4-5 years ago) because of that worthless piece of trash they call a powersupply. i'm sure the Raidmax's aren't much better, but for the #1 spot for "worst of the worst" in terms of powersupplies, my vote definitely goes to Powmax...their customer support is ALSO NON-EXISTENT, when i tried to get an RMA for a 60 day old PSU, not once did they answer ANY of my emails nor pick up the phone when i called. in my experience, one of the worst/shadiest companies i've ever had the displeasure of dealing with....

docTY

 

Based on silentpcreview, your silverstone fan at 1600rpm is going to be somewhere around the 33dB mark, and you say that's quiet!
As for the PSU debate, when a Qtec fried half fof my system:
"please send all the hardware (damaged and undamaged to our labs for analysis" The address was in Germany. No thanks. If I didn't trust their PSU with the equipment top start with, why trust them with what surived?

 

Sammorris,

I think Silentpcreview is all wet on this one! It doesn't come close to that much noise! At least not on mine. Not at 1600 rpm anyway! The loudest thing on my computer is the new 80mm 31 cfm side fan that I just put in it and that's no where near 30dB loud. I can't even hear the speed change from min to about 1800-1900 rpm on the Silverstone over it. I could easily hear the CPU cooler when it was running at full chat. I think the video card makes more noise than the Silverstone! I'm not saying that it doesn't make any noise, but nothing like 30dB, and certainly not annoying! The fan aside, would you buy an all aluminum CPU cooler? I know I wouldn't! Not when I could get one with a copper heatsink, that's quieter and costs less!

I'm going to replace the 80mm with a Silverstone FN83 which is 31 cfm and a lot quieter. I may replace the 80mm in the front of the case at the same time with one as well.

rvinkebob,

Glad to hear that it worked out well for you. You've got it overclocked about 35% so that's good. Should be a good deal faster! BTW, what kind of cooler was on it before? I'm curious because of the 4500 rpm speed.

Best Regards,
theone :}

 

Not forgetting Russ that noise measurements are relative. Thermaltake will say 21dB for something that by SPCR's standards is 37dB. Since I read most of the stuff I know about quiet PC parts from SPCR, I usually express things in terms of their numbering scheme, and that noise level makes sense, for me it's a bit more, perhaps 33 or 34. Unfortunately the vibrations are most intense for the FM121s in the mid-band, where all the useful noise to airflow ratios are found. Never mind eh? The Scythes will be going in soon.

 

Hey Sam,

I just don't see or hear any vibration. At minimum to 1600 rpm there isn't any vibration I can hear. No harmonics, nothing. Trust me when I say you wouldn't care much for a 30dB noise in your room at 4 AM! LOL!! It's pretty loud.

I went to SPCR's site and looked through all the 120mm fan tests and didn't find anything on the Silverstone at all. I personally find these guys to be obsessive about noise, even to the point of being a little fanatical about it. Quiet is a good thing but they take it way beyond the norm. They seem to split hairs that have already been split! LOL!! The EAR plugs I use when driving a motorcycle would work pretty good and cost a bunch less. They filter out all the harsh stuff, yet you can still hear normal conversation.

Before I changed the 80mm side fan, my PC was a lot quieter. When I get the 2 80mm Silverstones and install them I fully expect it to be even quieter than it was before. All I hear now is air moving. I don't even hear the motors noise like I did with the stock Cooler Master. Before I changed the side fan, I could barely hear the computer over the slight noise my 34" ceiling fan makes, and you know how quiet those relatively slow moving fans are! Mind you, my ear is about all of 3 feet away from the computer. Even in the dead of night with the door open, you can't hear the computer running in the next room. Hell, you can't even hear it in the hall right outside the door! The Refrigerator makes more noise than the computer!

Best Regards,
Russ :}

 

afaik there isn't an SPCR article on it, but I'm doing it semi-subjectively. The Scythe 1600 is given 31dB, and at 1600rpm, the Silverstone is louder than the Scythe, so that's where I based my readings from.

 

sammorris,

That's what the SPCR says! Anything that is mass produced has allowable tolerances. Some may be higher and some may be lower. A + or - of 10% would yield 27.9 on the low end to a high end of 34.1dB for the Scythe. That's a variation of 6.4dB from one end of the spectrum to the other. Trying to calculate differences between fan designs based on theory is almost impossible to do as there are way to many variables that come into play. Even the density of the air moved and the moisture content of said air are factors. Altitude makes a difference as well as the air gets thiner the higher up you go. Less wind resistance = less noise. The blade design comes into play as well. How much surface area x how many rpms and the angle of attack all contribute to more or less noise.

I listened very carefully to the sound bites you sent me, and none of them sound anything like mine, other than the Silverstone at full chat! I get the noise, but what I don't get it the rrrrrr noise your's makes, or the surge you seem to get. As you pointed out, noises are different in a aluminum case. I can clearly hear some of the harmonics you get, and you are right, they are annoying and some of them would drive me right up the wall!

It all boils down to a person's particular tolerance for noise. Certain frequencies bother some people more than others. I was blessed with perfect pitch, so something off-key drives me crazy. A friend of mine challenged me on that at one time. I walked over to the turntable and put a record on and turned the electronic speed control to manual. I told my friend to slowly adjust the knob until I told him to stop. I nailed it about a dozen times where the strobe had the little lines on the edge of the platter standing perfectly still! You and I could walk into a Piano store and you could say to me, "give me an A" and I would nail it every time. It's just something I was born with. It's not something you can develop!

I'm sure that once I replace both 80mm fans with the Silverstones that my computer will be quieter than it was with the old 80mm side fan. More than quiet enough for me that is!

Best Regards,
Russ :}

 

As far as I can tell, it's something I was born with too, I've been told a few times "how can you just do an A like that?"

 

Sam,
LOL!!!
I just point to my head and tell them it's up here! It's always been there for as long as I can remember and always will be there! You and I could drive them crazy in a piano store! LOL!!

Clock On,
theone :}

 

docTY,
Good to hear from you! Thanks for the kind words.

Yes, I think their President is the "Invisible Man"! If they had put as much effort inside the black Chrome case as they did for the finish, it would have been a better PS. It was 450 watts and managed a stout under 200 watts in the real world on a load tester. The one that really threw me was a Cool Max 450 watt. The first one, the fan died! Newegg didn't even want it back! That should have told me something right there!LOL!! when the second one went up in a shower of sparks and smoke in my roomies machine, Newegg again sent me a replacement without me sending it back. Newegg cut me a deal on the Thermaltake for $46 and still didn't want the un-opened new one back. I threw it in the bin! LOL!!

What really gets my goat is that there are some manufacturers that make both good and bad power supplies. Aptiva comes to mind. They make a really highly rated high end PS and most of the rest of their line is junk!

I just got a Compaq Presario, 2.80 Celeron D to work on and it had a whopping 250 watt PS and no case fan. PS went south and burned out everything. Tried a new PS and and all that would run is the CPU cooler fan! LOL!! Even big companies make junk!

Have a Happy 4th,
theone

 

theone,

I used to think/say no way but that was before the thermalright ultra 120 became top dog for CPU cooling. granted the plate that contacts the CPU and the cooling tubes are copper but the cooling fins are all aluminum. the good reviews can't all be wrong besides what DocTY and NuckNFuts have to say about thermalright CPU HSF's.

I don't doubt that the arctic freezer CPU HSF's are good especially for the money but the one thing that turns me away from them is their mounting configuration. same as an oem hsf. I want a backing plate on mine even if I do have to remove the mobo to install a different make. however you don't have to remove the mobo just to remove the HSF or to access your CPU.

I'm sure I'm babbling as it's late and I'm beat.

 

Check out what Alcohol is telling me my cpu frequency is at!!!!



I wish..ROFL!!

Anyone else get this quirk when running Alcohol?

 

Mort81,

I've never had any difficulties with any of the mounts for the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro. As many times as I've transported mine around it's never come lose. The mount with the backing plate is better but I don't want to have to pull my MB just to change one. I went through that with the Zalman, thank you very much! UHG!!!

My apologies to all, as I went by the specs at newegg for the Ultra 120 and the Ultra 120 Extreme which list the heatsink as aluminum! I stand corrected as it is indeed copper, but plated with nickel.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835109125

I like the Freezer 7 Pro for my purposes. The Thermalright Ultra 120 and the Extreme models won't even fit in my case as it's too tall. At 855 Grams with the fan it outweighs the Arctic by 335 Grams, plus the fan adds $10 or so to the price. I think it also sucks that you have to buy a mounting kit for sockets 478 and AM2 in order to even use it, and while they are cheap, they still should have been included with the cooler! It is however, a very good cooler if you have the need for a monster like that!

I do find that the Arctic Freezer series are excellent coolers, both for the money they cost and the function they perform. They will do an extremely good job for all but the most "Extreme" overclockers!

Clock On,
theone :}

 

Mine, however, has and I know it was securely attached beforehand. This is why I want to move to a backplated cooler, probably the standard Thermalright Ultra 120.

 

sammorris,

Yes, I remember you mentioning that. The last time I transported mine I had to stand it upright on the back floor because of lack of room. Even though we went up some pretty bad roads getting to my friends ranch, all was OK when we got there. Same thing with the return trip.

This is a new cooler from Cooler master that looks very promising. It's only 105mm tall so if it will clear everything else, it should fit in my case. I'll see how the E4400 does when I get it. My goal is 3.4 to 3.5GHz, so we will see if I need more cooling.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103016

marsey99,

Again my appologies! I got the wrong info on the Thermalright. It is copper, not aluminum as stated in the Specs on Newegg!



I'm curious as to what cooler you are saying is lighter??? It can't be the Thermalright Ultra 120 as that weighs some 855 Grams with the fan. Thats 335 Grams more than my Freezer 7 Pro! Doesn't matter for me anyway, as it won't fit my case! LOL!!

Clock On,
theone :}

 

Don't remember mentioning weight, I'm simply after something quieter and more powerful, and something that doesn't fall off. That and something that doesn't exhaust the CPU heat into the Power supply.

 

Have a look at the big typhoon.

 

theone,

don't take this wrong but you are whole heartedly sold on the arctic freezer 7 pro huh, and with good reasoning too. they have suited your needs very well.

after looking at the mounting configuration for the thermalright ultra 120 and the ultra 120 extreme, I'm not too sure but what you don't have to mount the backing plate and the hs all at the same time while the mobo is out. this differs from the way the zalmans mount as you can mount the hsf after the mobo is fitted with the backing plate and installed in the case or remove the hsf to clean it or access your cpu without removing the mobo.

if that is the case with the thermalright ultra 120 and ultra 120 extreme then that's not such a good deal afterall. I think I'd rather stay with my zalman mounting configuration so that I can remove the hsf for cleaning or to access my cpu without removing the motherboard from the case. maybe I'll just upgrade to a zalman cnps9700led since it will mount to my existing zalman cnps9500led backing plate without removing the mobo. or I could always upgrade to the old king of the mountain, a sunbeam tuniq tower.

I'm broke at the moment so I won't be doing anything in the near future anyway.

crowy,

who makes the big typhoon? ya gotta link?

 

Thermaltake. I was under the impression it cooled well but wasn't very quiet.