The review site has been really helpful in my transition to a much quieter PC. I'm new to CPU cooling, and in reading the heatsink review I'm trying to figure out if something more than the stock fan is really needed or worth it for my set up:

AM3 (95w Phenom II X3 720BE unlocked to X4 on a Gigabyte MA-970X-UD4P board, 6 GB RAM)
Sapphire Ultimate HD 7750
Kingwin LZP-550 PSU
60GB Corsair SSD + 3 HDDs
Nexus 120 rear case fan
Cooler Master Elite 335 case
Win 7/64
No overclocking or heavy duty games

Looking at the AM3 possibilities the review poses at the end, I see that the Xigmatek HDT-SD964 is no longer available. The closest seems to be its dual-compatible SD963. Anyone know if it's the equivalent for these purposes? Thanks,

Afterthought: The potential trade off of another CPU fan is that this case comes with a 3" (7cm) side panel air duct directly over the CPU. It is easily removable, but seems like a handy ventilation feature for a fan that faces upward. Product sheet:

That SD964 is quite an old heatsink: moreover, I don't think it would easily fit in your actual setup (166mm - 70mm = 96mm, if I'm not wrong).

If you want to go with a low profile cooler, maybe the finest available right out-of-the-box for a silencer could be the Scythe Big Shuriken/Shuriken 2. Well, there's also the Thermalright AXP140 (95mm or so about) which according to me is substantially better, but usually it's kinda pricey: so it's up to you. If you wanna buy another fan, there are a few more, like the now EOL CoolerMaster GeminII S, or the Prolimatech Samuel 17.

But I would stress that quietness is more than picking some parts, it's most an operating procedure.
Just for example, IME any 120mm running above the 800rpm mark is noticeable, and at 1500rpm it is loud, so you have to calibrate its speed using a fan controller (like a Scythe Kaze Server), or a software (like SpeedFan, or maybe your EasyTune) accordingly to your thermal needs.

Whether or not the stock heatsink and fan may be good enough is IMO mainly a matter of personal tastes and expectations.
In my experience, stock heatsinks are just crap (both Intel and AMD). Even if sometimes it can be conveniently dialed down to an acceptable noise level.

Eventually, about the duct, it's an outdated thermal solution, IME of dubious effectiveness (at least with aftermarket heatsinks).

If I were you, probably I would get rid of it and choose some relatively cheap but good tower heatsink, like a Cooler Master or a Xigmatek, swap their horrible sounding stock fans, and then pick something like a lower speed Scythe PWM.
If you still want a duct, you can still duct the heatsink to the back-panel fan.

Hope this helps.

A cheap solution would be the Scythe Samurai ZZ. Blow-down design with 92 mm fan, so not that big. Very good at performance at low speed according to SPCR:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/silent-spirit-samurai-zz

If your case has enough space, then perhaps a Scythe Katana 3 which I believe is just a tower-version of the Samurai ZZ. I'm a bit biased towards Scythe. I like how their stock fans can be dialed down to 300 rpm with good PWM-control!

Then there's always the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo which performs a bit better than the mentioned Scythe coolers. The upper limit would be the Scythe Mugen 3 and the Thermalright HR-02 Macho.

Thanks for your thoughtful replies. When I started this project, I had no idea how quiet things could get. And after installing the Nexus 120 case fan yesterday, even running off the mobo at ~700 rpm, I discovered how loud a CPU fan uptick could seem. So yes, a new CPU cooler/fan seems in the cards. OTOH, I have noticed that the Sapphire fanless GPU is running running a little warmer with the Nexus fan, though the room temperature has barely changed (think summer).

Before your suggestions, I had already been considering the Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. C, which would seem to (barely) fit with the hood pulled (pulling it is now ok by me). It's a fair amount more expensive, but not so much when thought of as a long term investment (I'm not one to buy the tablets-will-replace-PCs propaganda). I'm also taking a look at your good suggestions (I'm not clear if the overhang on the Samurai-ZZ would work, even with low-cut RAM).

A side thought: As I've been pursuing this PC-quieting project, it's made me wonder if a site like this or this kind of project disproportionately attracts folks who fall in the category of what's called "highly sensitive people" (http://www.hsperson.com/index.html). No, that's not a pejorative, but a term to describe that ~20% of the population born with a nervous system genetically designed to be more sensitive to subleties, more prone to reflect on inner experience, and thus more likely to be overwhelmed by outer events. One of the common characteristics of such people is liking quiet, whether when working or as an escape. Just a thought.

This is Noctua's version of that same style / form factor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835608022

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835608016

It looks like you case can easily take a bigger cooler. Why are you particularly looking for this size of cooler?

Thanks for your thoughtful replies. As this little project of a quieter pc got to installing the Nexus 120 fan, and got it running 750-800 rpm off the mobo header, the upticks of the stock cpu fan became more and more noticeable. After posting, I decided that keeping the hood isn't necessary and had already started taking a look at the Megahalens Rev. C., which would seem to fit vertically (158.7mm), though barely. It's a bit more money than the mid-range ones, but this can be seen as a long-term investment. Thanks for your other ideas, including the Scythe PWM fan.

As I've been looking at them and a bunch of others picked up from various reviews, it's clear that there's not only a variation in prices and results (cooling, noise), but also in how well each unit fits in the case in all dimensions and how good the instructions provided and ease of installation are. It hadn't dawned on me that I'd have to pull the mobo to attach either a plate or some nuts on the bottom. From these standpoints, the Megahalens seems to stand out, although a fan will make it close call with the first RAM slots (short ones there). Still, something that monstrous feels like overkill for my needs and it'd be nice to go a bit smaller if the results and ease of installation would be similar.

Btw, in Speed Fan what do Temp 1, Temp 2, Temp 3 refer to? I assume they are not the CPU, because its cores have shown as 0C since I unlocked the X3.

You may use an Armageddon or a Genesis, to stay with Prolimatech, or a TR Archon or an TR Macho, in order to clear some taller RAM heatspreaders.


It's rather difficult to say from here. IME there are always some inconsistencies with sensors readings and any monitoring software.
When I cannot understand which temp I'm reading, usually I load a bunch of sw: HwInfo, Open Hardware Monitor, Aida and the likes: then, crossing the relevant data, I'm often able to understand what any reading stands for.

And if you will attach some screenshots from those sw, MAYBE we could tell you a bit more.

Here's a screenshot. Just turned on the computer, so running cool - but not zero

You should post also SpeedFan readings, but more important is to post readings under load (use Prime95) to see what may change.
Another thing you may do is to post readings with the extra core locked (I wanna see if core readings are still zeroes).
Eventually you might give a run to HwInfo (32 or 64) also, as it often shows different readings than the others two.

No, they're not zero degrees running as X3. I can check what they are later. Here's Speed Fan. HD2 is an SSD. My question is what those three Temp1-3 readings refer to. Thanks.

Unfortunately I'm not able to infer anything crossing those data: perhaps, loading separately CPU and GPU, we may derive some useful clues to name the various sensors (we'll wait for your data).

Besides, within the locked core scenario, maybe your could also check whether or not those "TMPIN#" are related to currently zeroed cores sensors (even if it should be just one on AMD, not four).

As said, HwInfo may call differently those sensors, check it if you mind.

Eventually, I don't know Gigabyte EasyTune (rev. 6, I guess): does it read anything more meaningful?

Three core after reboot, system settled down:

There's no evident correlation to me, between mobo sensors and CPU's one.
It might be a potential problem.
Using the 3 cores setup, you should post the load figures.

3-core:
[img]Speed%20Fan%20exotics%20X3%20-%204-6-12.jpg[/img][img]Speed%20Fan%20readings%20X3%20-%204-6-12.jpg[/img]

This looks like a decent heatsink, basically the same as the one I have, and has a standard size 120mm fan that can be replaced and will keep a 95W CPU cool with minimal effort (e.g. a fan running at 1,000 rpm with all cores loaded, or 600rpm with low loading (e.g. 2-cores loaded whilst playing Skyrim), you really don't need anything more than this if you are not overclocking or using a 120W CPU.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... ubcat=1395

Also it will fit in that case Coolermaster case (which I have used many of and is a good case), if you are going to use a tower cooler I would suggest covering both of the holes in the side for better airflow/noise. You can also add another 120mm fan at the front which will might improve temps and noise as it will improve overall airflow that should allow you to reduce all fan speeds a little compared to just having an exhaust fan alone.

You might want to experiment with removing 2-3 slots at the back of the case below your graphics card before you bother adding a front fan as this will allow more cool air to be sucked past the graphics card keeping that cooler as the front fan option wont do anything for your SSD as they simply don't need any cooling at all and may not help the rest of the system much due to the distance from the front fan to the components that require cooling - that is the setup in my system which work perfectly, but I have 2x dedicated exhaust fans whereas you have one + the one in the PSU which is less effective for general heat removal.

Remember that air (just like water) always follows the path of least resistance, so covering the holes in the side of the case means that air will come in from somewhere else, its up to you to decide whether it should be the back below the graphics card, the front, or the front via a fan, but the side is pretty useless as it will not go past any hot components, it will get close to the graphics card but wont go directly past it, the CPU is ironically of little concern once you get a decent cooler as it has its own fan so airflow is guaranteed, its the rest of the components (but not the Force 3) that is of any concern at all (Graphics card, chipset and power circuitry on the motherboard).

I notice that your system has 6GB of RAM, either you have 2x1GB and 2x 2GB or you have 1x 2GB and 1x 4GB, if its the latter then you wont be running in dual channel mode which can hit performance.

As far as the temps are concerned, many of them are bogus or not calibrated correctly, I have removed most of mine including my SSD, and I only have one fan controlled by speedfan as the others are fixed at 5v.


Andy

Here is a decision that you can make without a lot of thinking. It is a high performing downdraft cooler that will not only cool your CPU but pretty much everything else connected to your motherboard. It has a wide range of fan options... but even using both fans... and setting them on high... it is going to be fairly quiet:

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.c ... cleID=2562

AMD Test Results
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.c ... 562&page=4

Intel Test Results
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.c ... 562&page=5
(notice that even when set to low its pretty darn powerful)

As new CPUs come out they also provide you with new mounting kits for free... all you need to do is keep your receipts as proof of purchase.

Thanks, I'll think about your ideas. Actually, while I started asking about coolers, later on I was just trying to figure out what the Temp1 to 3 refer to.

The latter is about to become moot. I've decided to go over to the Intel side: Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 and i7-2600K with 8gb (2x4) on the way. In the meantime, I picked up a Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. C. It appears to fit and hopefully will do a good job, especially with a Nexus 12 fan, which seems to run very quietly (at least as a case fan).

I hadn't seen that cooler test table you reference, so thanks. Its results there are a bit strange because I've read a ton of indie cooler reviews and practically to the person they consider (and have found) the upright coolers to be much more effective for temp than the flat fan blowing down ones (e.g., Noctua NH-C14, which I read up on). Not sure about noise, though, and I doubt that a sideways 140mm would work well in my set up. The other thing I notice is that the comparative reviews come up with very different test results, quite often substantially different between the same coolers. Methodologies and test rooms and test equipment, I suspect. While the Megahalems is not installed yet, I chose it because it comes out very well or better in the reviews, and it's easy to install. The Thermalight and a couple of the others in the same class were a little too tall or $$.

There are a lot of variables... but the top coolers generally come out on top... just with slight differences in ranking. If you stand back and look at them all I think you will find a lot of consistency. See:
viewtopic.php?p=557298#p557298

All problems solved via a cash injection, the only things that are left are the case and PSU.......... the silence bug has bitten, good luck removing the poison.


Andy

I was going to wait to see what developed with IB, but stumbled into a special deal of sorts at Micro Center for the mobo/i7.

PSU: the Kingwin LZP-550 is passive, well-reviewed and already installed. Good luck finding reviewer agreement on quiet cases (mine isn't bad); choosing a cooler is many times easier. About the choice among coolers reviewed, the pool can be as large or small as one wants. For my purposes, I found relatively few vertical models (side fan) across surveys that tested well on both temp and noise, and most of those were either too tall/large, water cooled or quite expensive.

I'm sorry, probably I've not stated it clear: you should post the *full* load figures.

(deleted for now)