But the nice thing about the HR-01 is that its only 6cm thick vs 11.2cm for the Sonic Tower and 11cm for the Scythe Ninja

imo you'd have to be pretty bold and not care much for your rig if you're shipping a setup with any one of these coolers still on. Not only is it likely that they'll be ripped apart from their support but they'll take a few components with them almost guaranteed.

but the nice thing about the Ninja is it's actually balanced and bottom heavy.

actually what is incredibly annoying to me personally is the fact that to this day thermalright have not figured it out that their pcb mounting bracket needs to allow the user to mount the HS in any 90 degree angle. frankly i don't see WHAT the big deal is, just make another bracket, put the same holes for the arms of the HS and u're done.
the HR 01 would be very interesting, since it's more lightweight. it would be even more interesting if it would be distributed more to the base of the unit, and it would be perfect if it had a mouting bracket that allowed you to rotate it....oh well guess we have to wait until it becomes a serious marketing plus before we can get it.

uhm.. no that's "in idle"; it was Folding 24/7 .. 100% CPU usage!

I noticed this myself; mike must be working too hard! In his defense, I think this quote in the article "It's well known that AMD CPUs run cooler than Intel-based CPUs, so naturally they are better suited to passive cooling." suggests he is talking about modern post Socket A processors since it in generally agreed P4 northwood and P3 coppermine (intel's socket A competition) ran cooler than durons/athlon(xp)s. Still, your 76c with a "cheap alu heatsink" on full load duron 900 does seem incredibly low with no other system fans and assuming stock voltage of 1.65 so I'm not completely suprised mike saw 76c passive 900 duron and immediatly assumed idle temps - I mean I would too if you didn't mention folding.

In my experience, mike prefers meager amounts of air over no air at all. For example a 80mm L1A at 5v is inaudible in all but the most extreme quiet conditions yet can reduce cpu temp by 15 or 20c over passive. With any other source of noise (even a quiet suspended 3.5hdd) the noise advantage of fanless over extreme low airflow which is small to begin with, becomes even more negligible. I have had this plan in my head since I got my P180 that if I upgrade, my next system will be FULLY fanless and use the quietest notebook drive available enclosed and suspended and anything else to reduce noise as much as possible. In my mind there is only one way modern processors can be run fanless (noiseless) practically, and that is with underclocking/undervolting (besides perhaps VERY low noise watercooling, such as the zalman reserator?). The P180's top blowhole can be used for convection, yet the single quiet notebook drive could go in the lower chaimber, avoiding a direct noise path from the drive to the top blowhole. I myself do not believe in fanless PSU or CPU heatsink practicality unless the rest of your system is lower in noise than an extreme low airflow fan (such as nexus at ~4 or 5v). If you are going to use case airflow to assist cooling, the noise advantage of running your cpu heatsink fanless is GONE. Might as well have the fan right on the heatsink decoupled or something to get better cpu temps. So in most ways, if mike still believes meager air over no air, I agree with him still.

Getting back to WC, I wonder how VERY VERY quiet watercooling compares in noise to the quietest fans? (Such as zalman reserator). Perhaps this is one option I overlooked in cooling a modern processor effectively without exceeding the extremely low maximum noise level of a very quiet notebook drive with all muffling/reduction techniques.

-Ken

The disadavantage of watercooling, not related to noise issues, is cost.

Zalman Reserator 1: £170

Quiet CPU cooling fan: £10 (maybe a bit more for a Nexus)

Also, I would be uncomfortable having large amounts of water so close to expensive electronics; it rings the "this is not a good idea" alarm bell (especially when air cooling can be just as, if not more successful at quiet cooling).

Back on the HR-01...

Does the stock K8 retention clip work with the stock plastic frame? If so, I like it...the cam lock arm would seem to make it uber-easy to install!

Yes!

I'd probably get this, mainly because of its dimensions, except that if it retails at the same price as the XP-120, then it will be $30AUD more expnsive than the Ninja.

To me, it looks like more of a go than the ninja without a fan. IMO, right under a 120mm PSU fan should be adequate looking at the figures you were getting there.

It may be a tight fit inside some case sidepanels being 160mm tall.

I haven't even seen any for sale online here in Oz, are they available yet?

Also, do you think it'll be worth the AU$99? You could get the Scythe Ninja and a Nexus (if needed) for that same amount

If somebody really wanted to put a HR-01 on a socket 775 board, then I dont see why he couldn't buy a Thermalright LGA 775 RM retention bracket and the socket 478 bracket.

I haven't seen them for sale here either.

Personally, I would rather spend the extra $30 and get a CoolerMaster Aquagate Mini R120.

So yeah, I wouldn't bother with this one probably, I'd either go cheap and get the ninja, or go more expensive and get the aquagate mini.

Just noticed this HR-01 accessory on the webpage.
I know a lot of MB's will have the HR-01 'facing' the PSU fan but for those that don't (and maybe even Ninja owners) it might just work.
There are downsides I can foresee but it's only US$7.....

Mike, I am curious, what thermal paste was used for the Scythe Ninja and the HR-01?

By the way, is there any possibility that the cantilever effect can be overcome on a 478 motherboard if the "P4-478 Metal mounting bracket" was combined with the "P4-478 Heatsink Retention Kit?" Can they be combined? Also, if they can be combined, would you prefer a Scythe Ninja or a HR-01 with the "P4-478 Metal mounting bracket" and "P4-478 Heatsink Retention Kit" in your PC?

Arctic Silver Ceramique for both, same as for all of our heatsinks.



Well, the cantilever effect certainly isn't going to go away unless some clever manufacturer produces a bracket to support the top end of the heatsink. I do think there are good and bad mounting systems though, and this may be what you're thinking of.

A metal mounting bracket will certainly address one problem related to the excess weight: It should make it harder for the heatsink to break loose during transport. However, it doesn't address the bigger problem: High cantilever places a lot of stress on the motherboard itself, which could cause it damage (cracking, for example).

To a certain extent, the metal backplate that is included can help this (i.e. it's better than the stock retention bracket without a backplate), but all you're really doing is distributing the force over a slightly wider area.

I'm not going to make a call between the HR-01 and the Ninja ... I'm sure you can figure it out for yourself based on what you think is important in a heatsink. My opinions (such as they are) are already in the review itself.

Hey Mike, wanted to ask... do you guys plan on retesting using the Plastic Duct that ThermalRight has for this ?

Thermalright S-type heatsink clip

HR-01-K8 installation

Jab-tech

To elaborate on Winguy's post, the S-type heatsink clip that he linked to (a separate accessory, costing US$5) is a separately available mounting clip for K8 systems that allows the heatsink to be mounted in a 90° rotated orientation for motherboards that need it. This should help users deal with compatibility problems and / or help make system planning easier.

ZOMG SUPER MASSIVE BUMP

Its just that some of the info is a bit out of date:

-Fan clips are now standard
-compatible with socket775
-s-clip is standard, allows for rotation on k8 platforms

The fan duct is now standard, too:
http://www.thermalright.com/a_page/main ... t_hr01.htm

I would like to add that I am using this for my girlfriend's PC. It is running, fanless, on a stock Sempron 3200+ (or maybe 3000+... the 1.8GHz version, I believe) and using the AM2 bolt-thru kit from Thermalright. This mounting system is VERY secure and easy to install, though it does obviously require the motherboard to be removed. This clinched it for me over the Ninja, Also note that while the bolt-thru kit did require that the airflow from the heatsink be pointed at the PSU, the PSU does not seem to ramp up. I am very, very happy with this cooler. Admittedly, it cost almost as much as the CPU itself...

Any chance this review could be updated with a review of the HR-01 / ducting combination on LGA775?

Orientation limits don't seem to effect LGA775. Do they still effect K8?

I agree the review should be revisited if possible. Especially given the lower thermal output of the C2D cpus vs the old P4s.

i'd liek to see the fan duct addition...

is it worth it?

i guess i can have 1 less fan in my machine if i sue the duct....what are the downsides?

Here is a review comparing the Thermalright HR-01 with fan duct (vs without the duct vs the XP-120 and Ultra-120).

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=28 ... pert&pid=1

Quite surprising the passive/duct system is cooler than the XP-120 with a fan!