i7/P182: Questions on cooling and graphics

tknaps · Post by **tknaps** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 2:59 pm

Hi all!

Been lurking for quite a while and have found a great deal of useful information on SPCR, and now I'm hoping to get some input on my new i7/?182 build. I've mined through similar threads already and modified my parts list accordingly. Here's what it looks like at the moment.

Case: Antec P182 (minus the stock fans)
PSU: Corsair HX 620
Mobo: Asus P6T SE
CPU: Core i7 920
Graphics: Sapphire 4850
Memory: OCZ Platinum PC3-12800 (6*2 GB)
Storage: 2*Spinpoint F1 750GB (lower bay) + 1 WD Caviar Green 1 TB (upper bay?)
DVD-W: Samsung SH-S223F

And for cooling:

CPU: Scythe Mugen 2
GPU: Accelero S1 rev2
Casefans: 2*Slip Stream 120 800RPM + 1 S-FLEX 120 800RPM

The slip streams will go in the front and back of the case and the S-Flex is for the top vent. I'd like a Modu82+ instead of the HX 620 but can't find any retailers in Norway (and the M12D is twice the price), but it seems a decent choice from what I've read. Anyway, now for my questions

1. I was planning on mounting the Mugen fan on the bottom, blowing through the cooler and towards the top vent. I'm unsure if I can fill all the DDR3 slots without the fan interfering if I place it over those and blow toward the back of the case (anyone with P6T/Mugen2 experience?), but then I started wondering if the bottom->top arrangement would just create a lot of turbulence instead of proper airflow?

2. Should I get Fanmates or something similar to tune the fan speeds, or are those 800RPM fans quiet enough as is? On a related note the Slipstreams provide 40 CFM of airflow each and the S-Flex is at 33 CFM. Will that give me enough of a breeze running through the case or am I aiming too low here?

3. I'm having trouble choosing the right graphics card. Ideally I'd like something that I can run passively with the Accelero, but at the same time get decent 1920x1200 gaming performance for stuff like Left 4 Dead (I can sacrifice AA/anisotropic filtering/some detail if needed). Does the 4850 fit the bill? Are there other options I should consider? I have considered two 4830's in CF, but with the current local prices, t hat will come close to doubling the price so I don't think it's worth it (currently there's only a $20 price difference between the 4830 and the 4850 here - I expect price drops on the 4830 if I procrastinate some more with this build).

Hope you guys can help me out with this, thanks in advance!

stromgald · Post by **stromgald** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:49 pm

Welcome to SPCR!

I can't answer much for items 1 or 3 since I've been out of my gaming habit for awhile now, and I've never used anything close to the size of a Mungen 2 (I'm always scared of those heavy, giant heatsinks ).

Just a couple notes about fans . . .

Since you're using Scythe sleeve-bearing fans, having them horizontal rather than vertical could have adverse affects. There may be more info on this in the forums, but I didn't look very deep. This thread summarizes the issue: viewtopic.php?p=41228 .

For #2, I'd avoid buying fanmates for now. At 800 rpms, fans are usually already very quiet. In addition, most ASUS motherboards come with their own fan monitoring/speed control. They usually only ramp the voltage down to 6-9V, but that might be enough for a fan that spins at 800 rpm at 12V.

tknaps · Post by **tknaps** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 12:12 am

Thanks for the welcome stromgald

I was already aware of the horizontal issue from a comment in the thread below which is the reason for the S-Flex for the top exhaust (the S-Flex is a Fluid Dynamic Bearing fan):
<spcr>/forums/viewtopic.php?t=52654
(sorry about the link, seems I'm not allowed to post them yet...)

Thanks for the tip on the Asus MB fan control. I just checked the manual and it looks like you can perform quite a lot of adjustments in their "Fan Xpert" software, so I'll just ditch the fanmates. Cheers!

Tephras · Post by **Tephras** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 6:14 pm

tknaps wrote:1. I was planning on mounting the Mugen fan on the bottom, blowing through the cooler and towards the top vent. I'm unsure if I can fill all the DDR3 slots without the fan interfering if I place it over those and blow toward the back of the case (anyone with P6T/Mugen2 experience?), but then I started wondering if the bottom->top arrangement would just create a lot of turbulence instead of proper airflow?

Xbit-labs used the Asus P6T Deluxe in their test of Core i7 heatsinks and the fan on the Mugen2 was blocking two of the memory slots when the cooler was mounted to have the fan blowing towards the back of the case. I would guess the same will be true with the non-deluxe version of the P6T mainboard.

tknaps · Post by **tknaps** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:33 pm

Ah, that's what I was afraid of. Thanks for the tip Tephras!

After a bit of googling on the subject I came up with this link which gives a good description of how the P6T mobo's and the Mugen 2 play together (link in the next reply, can't post url's yet)

I'll just try the bottom to top airflow and see how that works. If it's crap I guess I can ditch the metal clips and just mount the fan a bit higher up with some rubber bands or something.

Still looking for info on graphics cards though, basically the best performance I can get and still run passively with an Accelero... any suggestions or links on the subject?

tknaps · Post by **tknaps** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:34 pm

And then the link to the P6T/Mugen 2 tips:

http://www.scythe-eu.com/forum/mugen-se ... tails.html

i7/P182: Questions on cooling and graphics

i7/P182: Questions on cooling and graphics

Re: i7/P182: Questions on cooling and graphics