Quietest non-tower heatsink for Intel C2D?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Quietest non-tower heatsink for Intel C2D?
Call it a personal preference, but I don't like the really tall towers. What's the next best thing?
I'll be buying a C2D E6750 and probably will not overclock. My initial research came up with a Thermalright SI-120 paired with a Scythe 120mm (800rpm) fan. Fan is 10.70dBA.
Is that enough to cool this processor under load? I plan on keeping it peaked at 100% for hours doing video encoding.
Motherboard with be ATX, P35 chipset. Any other good HSF recommendations?
-Robert
I'll be buying a C2D E6750 and probably will not overclock. My initial research came up with a Thermalright SI-120 paired with a Scythe 120mm (800rpm) fan. Fan is 10.70dBA.
Is that enough to cool this processor under load? I plan on keeping it peaked at 100% for hours doing video encoding.
Motherboard with be ATX, P35 chipset. Any other good HSF recommendations?
-Robert
Yes, the Thermalright will adequately cool your processor, especially if it's not overclocked. I have a Scythe Andy and it does a very good job of keeping my OC'd processor cool (E4400 @3.2GHz, 1.35v), but it has the hated push-pins and with the fan on top, it's basically just as tall as a tower heatsink.
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Here are some quiet non tower heatsinks, lower values are better with the Scythe Andy leading the pack.
Heatsinks Compared at ~20 dBA@1m:
Height is heatsink/combined height or if centered the fan doesn't add to height. For the ones with a / you will want an additional 25mm or greater clearance for airflow.
* http://www.nexustek.nl/120mmcasefan.htm lists the Nexus 120mm fan at 123g
http://www.nexustek.nl/92mm_real_silent_case_fan.htm lists 98.5g
http://www.nexustek.nl/80mmcasefan.htm lists 85g
Since I'm in the US I just grab sleeve bearing fans by Scythe or Yate Loon that are nearest the rpm of a Nexus and I usually do so buy buying a few at a time from sites that sell them around $2-6 each plus S&H.
120mm Nexus = 1000 RPM
92mm Nexus = 1300 RPM
80mm Nexus = 1500 RPM
Heatsinks Compared at ~20 dBA@1m:
Code: Select all
Heatsink/Fan Noise Fan V °C Rise °C/W MP Height Weight
Thermalright XP-90, Nexus 92 ($40) 20 12 22+ 0.29 75/96 460 (360+fan)
Asus Triton 75, Nexus 120 ($45) 23 9 20 0.27 90/115 473* (350+fan)
Thermalright XP-120, Nexus 120 ($??) 20 9 26 0.33 63/88 493* (370+fan)
Thermalright SI-120, Nexus 120 ($??) 20 9 ?? 0.?? 90/115 523* (400+fan)
Thermalright SI-128, Nexus 120 ($45) 20 9 26 0.33 92/117 633* (510+fan)
Thermalright SI-128 SE, Nexus 120 ($60) 20 9 ?? 0.?? 92/117 633* (510+fan)
Scythe Andy with stock fan ($45) 20 9 20 0.26 100/125 685 (???+fan)
* http://www.nexustek.nl/120mmcasefan.htm lists the Nexus 120mm fan at 123g
http://www.nexustek.nl/92mm_real_silent_case_fan.htm lists 98.5g
http://www.nexustek.nl/80mmcasefan.htm lists 85g
Since I'm in the US I just grab sleeve bearing fans by Scythe or Yate Loon that are nearest the rpm of a Nexus and I usually do so buy buying a few at a time from sites that sell them around $2-6 each plus S&H.
120mm Nexus = 1000 RPM
92mm Nexus = 1300 RPM
80mm Nexus = 1500 RPM
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What's a push-pin, and what are the alternatives?tehfire wrote:Yes, the Thermalright will adequately cool your processor, especially if it's not overclocked. I have a Scythe Andy and it does a very good job of keeping my OC'd processor cool (E4400 @3.2GHz, 1.35v), but it has the hated push-pins and with the fan on top, it's basically just as tall as a tower heatsink.
My stock intel fan is very quiet, and runs at about 800-1200RPM most of the time. However, I want to overclock, so i'm looking for an AM cooler that is easy to install. I don't want blood (literally) from sharp fins, nor do i want to break any motherboards in this process!
The pushpins are the mounting system on most (if not all) stock Intel heatsinks. Unlike other sockets that one mounts the heatsink to a retention bracket of some kind, the push-pins connect directly into the motherboard. These are nice for simplicity, but quite a few people have had trouble either getting them fully installed, or even if they do correctly install it, they have noted sub-par performance.
You can go with a Thermalright heatsink, which comes with its own (and much better) retention system, or you can get the Scythe Andy and also buy the Thermalright LGA-775 to Socket 478 adapter. If you did the latter, this should do the trick, since you are doing away with the push-pins. I think the Thermalright is an easier option, but may be more expensive as the Scythe Andy is selling for $35 at Newegg right now and comes with a pretty good fan.
You can go with a Thermalright heatsink, which comes with its own (and much better) retention system, or you can get the Scythe Andy and also buy the Thermalright LGA-775 to Socket 478 adapter. If you did the latter, this should do the trick, since you are doing away with the push-pins. I think the Thermalright is an easier option, but may be more expensive as the Scythe Andy is selling for $35 at Newegg right now and comes with a pretty good fan.