Q6600 in NSK3480 - single fan

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nemo
Posts: 66
Joined: Sat May 13, 2006 6:45 am

Q6600 in NSK3480 - single fan

Post by nemo » Mon Nov 19, 2007 4:06 am

Hi guys,

I am planning to get this system:
Case 3: Antec New Solution NSK3480 Mini-Tower µATX 380W ATX 2.2 http://geizhals.at/a269492.html
Motherboard 3: Gigabyte GA-G33M-S2H, G33 (dual PC2-6400U DDR2) http://geizhals.at/a270831.html
Video card 2: Sapphire Radeon HD 3850 passive Ultimate, 512MB GDDR3, 2x DVI, TV-out, PCIe 2.0, full retail (11121-01-50) http://geizhals.at/a294903.html
Ram: Corsair ValueSelect DIMM Kit 2048MB PC2-5300U CL5 (DDR2-667) (VS2GBKIT667D2) http://geizhals.at/a189620.html
Harddrive 3.5": Samsung SpinPoint T166 500GB 16MB SATA II (HD501LJ) http://geizhals.at/a224182.html
CPU Cooler: Scythe Ninja Plus Rev. B (Sockel 478/775/754/939/940/AM2) (SCNJ-1100P) http://geizhals.at/a219559.html
CPU2: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 95W, 4x 2.40GHz, 266MHz FSB, 2x 4MB shared Cache, tray (HH80562PH0568M) http://geizhals.at/a276281.html
Fanmate: Zalman Fan Mate 2, Lüfterdrehzahlsteuerung, Molex auf Molex (bei Noctua included) http://www.geizhals.at/a110625.html
Case fan: Noctua NF-S12-800, 120x120x25mm, 800rpm, 59m³/h, 8db(A) http://geizhals.at/a213017.html
DVD: LG Electronics GSA-H62N SATA schwarz bulk (H62NBBLK) http://geizhals.at/LG_Electronics_GSA-H ... 61802.html

I am planning to make a fan duct from the ninja to the case fan. That will be the only fan except for the one in the psu.

What do you guys think?

Will the computer explode? Or will it be the coolest system ever built?

edit:
oh i forgot to write what i need the computer for: i will use it mostly for listening to music, browsing the web, computer graphics and 3d rendering, hence the quad core

thanks for your help!

Jools
Posts: 48
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2003 10:59 am

Post by Jools » Mon Nov 19, 2007 5:34 am

I've been looking into a building a similar system.

I would have thought adding a fan duct to the Ninja will prevent any heat escaping from the motherboard & video card.

I've tried passive video cards in the past, and found they aren't worth it. You just can't cool them well enough, except by placing fans near them - which defeats their purpose.

The regular 3850 is supposed to be borderline with it's tiny fan as it is, despite not being too greedy on the juice, so a passive one is likely to have problems with no other air movement in the case. The 3870 would be better, as it exhausts directly out the back of the case. It's not a terribly efficient cooler, by all acounts, but it does the job. Watch out for custom HSF designs and 1GB versions coming out.

Or you could pick up an 8800GTS 320MB, especially if they get reduced in price due to the 8800GT's arrival. My 640MB GTS is very quiet.

Doubling the RAM to 4GB would be a cheap option.

You might want to investigate the WD "Green" drives. They have capacities of 500GB, 750GB and 1TB. They operate between 5400-7200rpm, use only four platters, are frugal with power and have lower heat emissions - which would help in a small case, especially if you install it in the top bay, where it could be cooled by the PSU.

I've seen pics of the Ninja fitting the 3480, but it's a tight squeeze. After searching far and wide, I found the relatively unknown OCZ Vendetta side-blower. It uses three wide "direct touch" copper heatpipes, and is very efficient. It's also relatively compact. The included fan isn't very good, so you'd need a PWM replacement, such as the Scythe Kama 92mm, but it is soft rubber-mounted - unlike the Ninja which just has metal clips, I believe.

The Noctua's don't seem as quiet or efficent as they're made out to be. Try listening to mp3 records from the SPCR review. I've tried Nexus 120's in the past, but this time am leaning towards the Scythe S-FLEX, with it's Sony FDB motor. There are 800/1200/1600rpm models. My other candidates are the golf-ball Sharkoons or Zawards.

Erssa
Posts: 1421
Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2005 9:26 pm
Location: Finland

Re: Q6600 in NSK3480 - single fan

Post by Erssa » Mon Nov 19, 2007 8:03 am

nemo wrote:Will the computer explode? Or will it be the coolest system ever built?
Probably closer to explosion. I wouldn't worry though. I think I'll put the same card in my 3400 as soon as it's available.

Moogles
Posts: 315
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2007 10:28 am

Post by Moogles » Mon Nov 19, 2007 8:47 am

I think you're really pushing it with this idea. Remember a one-fan setup isn't necessarily gonna be quieter than a multi-fan setup. In fact, 3 600RPM fans will provide much better airflow than a single 800RPM fan, and probably at a lower dB level. You can always give it a shot and add more fans if you think it necessary.

nemo
Posts: 66
Joined: Sat May 13, 2006 6:45 am

Post by nemo » Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:11 am

hi guys,

i just got all the parts together and everything works fine except for the sflex fan.

when i attach the sflex 800 to the motherboard (CPU or SYSfan plug) it doesnt move at all. that is it moves an inch, then stops, then moves back and so on.

if i attach it directly to the psu it works.

i would like it to connect to the mb for all the speed regulations things. what am i doing wrong?

Jokoto
Posts: 99
Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2007 8:52 am
Location: Finland

Post by Jokoto » Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:55 am

One fan may indeed be louder than two slower fans, as the only fan will have to work harder to exhaust all the heat. I just built my NSK3480 system with a G33M-DS2R, E6600 and a Ninja and I used two Nexus 120mm fans. I haven't yet really tested what would really happen if one of the fans was stopped, but the remaining one would have to speed up from the inaudible <600rpm - I don't even want to let them speed up to 800 rpm. Now they don't ever need to speed up at all to keep everything under control. The Ninja fits quite nicely actually, considering how cramped the case is. The floppy drive mount should be gotten rid of though - if there's a drive in there as well the cables very nearly interfere with the fan blades, possibly stopping them. This made me finally give up the floppy drive. I guess I'll get a USB one for those rare uses.

If the fan doesn't move at boot up, I wouldn't worry. It was the same with me with one fan or the other - it's just the motherboard controlling them. Your fan should start turning eventually when the temperatures have risen a bit. A slight nudge got mine spinning, so it's just feeding such a low voltage initially that it doesn't turn. Mine are 1000 rpm though, so I guess yours may start moving properly even later. After the system is up and running, I have SpeedFan taking over - change the pwm control method from the Advanced tab from 'SmartGuardian' to 'Software controlled'. The mobo controller didn't offer a way to set the speed so I couldn't have them running at 600rpm otherwise.
Jools wrote:I've tried passive video cards in the past, and found they aren't worth it. You just can't cool them well enough, except by placing fans near them - which defeats their purpose.
Actually, a passive card enables you to choose the right fan or airflow setup that you need. Stock video card fans can't beat 'SPCR-approved' ones. Some stock passive heatsinks aren't very good though, you are right if that's what you mean. My passive XFX 7600 GS has quite a dinky heatsink and it almost requires a fan near it, which I did have in the P180 I was using last month, but in the NSK3480 with negative pressure airflow it works acceptably without one. Still quite hot though, and I'm not yet sure how I'll approach the problem with a hotter card I may add later. Experimenting will be in order.

VanWaGuy
Posts: 299
Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:01 am
Location: Vancouver Wa USA

Post by VanWaGuy » Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:12 am

If you do build a system like this with a single fan, what do you power the fan from? With a huge sink like the Ninja, and a CPU that will protect it's self, maybe it is not a big deal, but would it be best theoretically that if you have a singel fan, and it is vented to the CPU sink, that you should use the CPU fan output to drive the fan?

To me, seems intuitively better to be monitoring the CPU temp, and still use that to make the fan speed decision. I would hate to have a fan ducted as described, and have it not turn on because of too big a time delay for the heat to get from the CPU sink to the motherboard sensor for the case fan.

Jokoto
Posts: 99
Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2007 8:52 am
Location: Finland

Post by Jokoto » Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:41 am

VanWaGuy wrote:I would hate to have a fan ducted as described, and have it not turn on because of too big a time delay for the heat to get from the CPU sink to the motherboard sensor for the case fan.
The CPU would have been throttling long before the system temperature increased that much. One would need to do some real world testing on how the temperatures behave and set the fan speed accordingly - it wouldn't work well to let the fan be controlled by the motherboard based on just one reading and hope the other components never give up the ghost. Letting the CPU throttle would be just wasting its capabilities and you might as well pick a slower, cheaper and cooler running model.

With SpeedFan you could configure the fan to speed up due to any temp reading(s) you like, of course.

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