Cooling my Pentium D 915.

Nocontact · Post by **Nocontact** » Thu May 15, 2008 7:59 am

I've pretty much given up on the idea of keeping the temps on my CPU down, no matter how many times I apply thermal paste or change my bios settings.

But I can't take the noise of the stock fan. My question is, if I were to install something like a Scythe Katana II, would I still face the noise issue if it has to spin at 2000+ rpm to keep my CPU at 65 degrees?

I can live with the heat at this point but not with the noise.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:07 am

Pentium D is 775 if I am not mistaken. Then I suggest you get Thermalright Ultra 120 or Ultra 120 eXtreme with Slips strea 1200 rpm / 1200 rpm S-flex with Mobo control. That will decrease your noise and temps.

Nocontact · Post by **Nocontact** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:12 am

Thanks for the feedback, but I can't find these models in my area. That's why I was looking at the Katana.

Any other suggestions?

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:16 am

Welcome to SPCR!

Another possibility is the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 (or it's KingWin twin). Here's the SPCR review:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article818-page1.html

Nocontact · Post by **Nocontact** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:23 am

Wow, thanks. The Xigmatek is available!

So I'll read the review too.

You think it'll make a difference because I'm seeing now that my RPMs are up in the 3500 neighborhood!

That's what I have to do to maintain temps in the 60s. This chip just runs too hot.

But if this fan helps I'm getting it today!!

Thanks again.

Nocontact · Post by **Nocontact** » Thu May 15, 2008 10:21 am

Hmmm, now I'm wondering because the review does say that the stock fan does run louder than it should.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Thu May 15, 2008 11:24 am

Xigmatek fan can easily be changed to anything standard 120 mm fan. Scythe Slipstreams or S-flexes should be fine.

Nocontact · Post by **Nocontact** » Thu May 15, 2008 11:30 am

Admittedly new to quiet cooling, does a 120mm fan make a difference in terms of noise?

seraphyn · Post by **seraphyn** » Thu May 15, 2008 1:35 pm

Like night and day. If you compare a Scythe Slipstream (800-1200 models) with your generic 92/80mm fan the latter would sound like turbines in comparison.

FartingBob · Post by **FartingBob** » Thu May 15, 2008 1:41 pm

Nocontact wrote:Admittedly new to quiet cooling, does a 120mm fan make a difference in terms of noise?

Basically the bigger the fan (all things being equal) the less rpm it has to do to shift the same amount of air (measured in CFM). Lower rpm is the simplist way of reducing noise.
And 120mm fans have established themselves as the default for high performance, and all the developments in reducing noise tend to go into 120mm fans. There are some 140mm fans, but because they are pretty rare still its often the case that a good 120mm will be better. Anything much bigger becomes unwieldy inside a case.
Check out the Recommended list on the SPCR homepage for the best fans, although personally i recommend Scythe's Slip Stream series. Can get 5 different speeds ranging from very high to very low, and they are cheaper than alot of their rivals.

Nocontact · Post by **Nocontact** » Thu May 15, 2008 1:51 pm

Thanks very much for the help.

The place I'm looking as Scythe slipstream fans but they're under the category of Chassis fans. Could I use one of these or are CPU fans different?

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Thu May 15, 2008 2:32 pm

Well, there really is not Heatsink fans and Case fans really. Scythe delivers Slipstreams in their newer revisions of Ninja and Andy Samurai was it? So no, they're same thing. You easily can use Slipstream in there. I intend to favour S-flex on Heatsink due it has higher impedance than slipstream, albeit slightly more noisier and tonal. But I use SI-128 SE on my game rig, which has very narrow finspace. I believe Xigmatec would work well on slipstream.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Thu May 15, 2008 2:37 pm

i'm running a pentium D 940 and a scythe ninja rev A took a large battle axe on my temps, by at least 10 degrees C, and the noise is just incomparable.

Pentium D's aren't terrible, but they're far too hot for what they are....like Socket 462 AMD processors.

Nocontact · Post by **Nocontact** » Thu May 15, 2008 7:04 pm

FAR too hot. Idling at 62 play some video, get up to 70+!! Crazy, but it was all I could afford at the time.

But it'll be ok if this 120mm fan works out.

Now my only concern is fitting it in the case.

Plekto · Post by **Plekto** » Fri May 16, 2008 2:52 pm

I have a Pentium D940. It's HOT HOT HOT.

Ninja plus a fan at 7V gets it to where it should be at stock speeds(50 idle, ~60C max) with hardly any noise. I suspect that anything smaller wold just not work - it's a very hot line of processors.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Fri May 16, 2008 8:42 pm

plecto, what's your system? i have a D940 with a Scythe Ninja and a fan at 7v but i seem to get much better temps than you....what are you doing with your system?

bgavin · Post by **bgavin** » Sat May 17, 2008 7:18 am

The TDP on your 915 is 95w. My P4 Prescott 530 is 84w, so I do understand your situation.

These high TDP processors draw high power from somewhere, and that somewhere is the VRM. My Prescott runs the VRM temps way up due to power draw. You MUST consider VRM cooling when choosing a cooler.

The tower super coolers will keep a hot processor cool, but they offer almost nothing for VRM cooling. IMO, you should consider a top-down cooler rather than a tower for this reason.

In lowest cooling order:
Scythe Andy Samurai
Thermalright SI-128SE
Scythe Zipang

The first two use a 120mm fan standard. This offers a wide variety of fans speeds for your choice. The Zipang uses a 140mm standard fan, and can accept a 120mm if you want to Mickey Mouse how it is mounted. 140mm fans are much more limited, with the Yate Loon being the fastest of the bunch. I use 140mm Red Scorpion fans on my Zipangs.

I put a 120mm Panaflo 12H on the Zipang, and it cooled my hot VRM down to ambient. It is noisy, but can be undervolted. See my other thread about Zipang in this section.

Nocontact · Post by **Nocontact** » Sat May 17, 2008 10:16 am

Even if I can keep the temps in the mid 50's to 60's I'm willing to live with that but it's the noise that's getting to me.

I don't know if I can use the Xigmatek though. My case is only 7.5 inches wide so it may just be too big to install.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Sat May 17, 2008 11:36 am

my Cooler Master Elite 330 isn't even 7.5 inches wide and i have a Scythe Ninja with 120mm fan, and an Accelero S1 seated comfortably inside, maybe 1/8" gap between the top of each cooler and the side of the case.

Nocontact · Post by **Nocontact** » Sat May 17, 2008 2:04 pm

Are you using the fan that came with the Ninja or something different?

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Sat May 17, 2008 3:07 pm

i'm using a Ninja Rev A, it didn't come with a fan. instead, i have an NMB 120mm fan on the ninja. I've got some work left to finish, but maybe later tonight or tomorrow i can post the fan model.

Nocontact · Post by **Nocontact** » Sun May 18, 2008 10:52 am

Do you know how the size of the ninja compares with that of the Xigmatek because from most things I'm reading it doesn't sound like it'll fit in the case that I have.

Nope the ninja is smaller. Maybe I'll go with that one.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Sun May 18, 2008 11:04 am

Scythe dimensions: 110(w) x 110(D) x 150(H)mm

Xigmatech dimensions: 120(W) x 50(D) x 159(H)mm

The difference isn't that much, but the Xigmatech will probably fit. its only a ~1CM difference in height.

Nocontact · Post by **Nocontact** » Sun May 18, 2008 11:12 am

The case is `190mm wide so if you include the mobo and the cpu that doesn't give me much room to play with if any at all.

I was going off this link:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/25013 ... k-s1283%5C

FartingBob · Post by **FartingBob** » Sun May 18, 2008 11:47 am

You dont really need any clearence on a tower fan between the top of the heatsink and the side of the case, so as long as their not touching (bad vibrations) it'll be fine, and i suspect you'll have enough space unless the mobo sits much further out in your case than most others.

Nocontact · Post by **Nocontact** » Sun May 18, 2008 11:57 am

No, the mobo sits like any other, I checked the space with a tape measure and it doesn't look like it'll be touching but by the slimmmmmest of margins.

Oh man, your nick had me wondering how I could take your post seriously!!

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Sun May 18, 2008 12:14 pm

I'd probably go for the Ninja either way. more heatpipes, wider fin spacing...you fan doesn't have to be blowing hard to have a large margin of a difference in cooling.

either cooler though, get the Thermalright LGA775 bolt-thru kit. it is compatible with both the S1283 and the Scythe Ninja. The pushpins on the Xigmatech seem to be loose or crappy on a lot of them, so i wouldn't trust them with anything.

Nocontact · Post by **Nocontact** » Sun May 18, 2008 12:21 pm

I think the xigmatek will just fit and the reason I'd lean towards that is the noise issue. For me that's the biggest thing and the ninja has a 90mm fan as opposed to the 120mm fan.

Thanks for the bolt suggestion but I can't find thermalright products anywhere around my area.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Sun May 18, 2008 12:23 pm

the ninja has a 90mm fan as opposed to the 120mm fan.

i dunno what you're reading, but only the Ninja Mini has a 90mm fan. the full sized Ninja (which is what you'd want) only uses a 120mm fan.

you could also improvise a bolt-thru method, as a few people here have done...they have more even pressure, and are better than pushpins by leaps and bounds.

Nocontact · Post by **Nocontact** » Sun May 18, 2008 12:32 pm

Well I went with the Xigmatek so hopefully I can get it to fit.

Anyone know if I should apply thermal paste to the heatsink itself (and if so where exactly) or just on the CPU.

Thanks for all the help.