AC Freezer 64 Pro + Abit NF-M2 nView + Antec Solo

[truckman]

I needed a reasonably priced AM2 HSF that has decent thermal and acoustic performance, so I took a gamble on the AC Freezer 64 Pro. The CPU is one of the 65W TDP Athlon64 X2 processors, the motherboard is the Abit NF-M2 nView, and the case is an Antec Solo.

Most importantly, everything fit.

It looked to me like it would be easiest to install the motherboard in the case before installing the HSF to give myself clearance to install the upper motherboard screws and the 12V PSU connector, so that's what I did. With the motherboard installed, hooking the second side of the retention clip to the lug on the retention bracket proved to be quite difficult because the tight spacing between the heat sink and the PSU makes it difficult to simultaneously push down on the lever and try to observe the alignment of the hole in the clip with the lug. I solved this problem by rotating the clip 180 degrees so that the lever is on the side of the socket next to the expansion slots. In this orientation, the lever just clears the first DIMM socket. I'm not sure if this orientation would work if a thick PCI Express graphics card is installed.

Tip: there are some thin plastic posts on the base of the heat sink that are used to positively orient the retention clip. When installing the heat sink, it is easy to misalign the clip with the posts, and if this happens, the retention pressure will be way too high. Visually check that the posts are sticking through the holes in the clip before closing the latch.

The two DIMM slots closest to the CPU can be easily accessed if the fan is unclipped from the heat sink.

The fan on this heat sink is one of the new four-pin PWM fans, which allows it to be speed controlled by this motherboard. With my current BIOS settings, it is running at around 1100 RPM.

My first impressions are that this HSF is reasonably cool and quiet. In the BIOS, the CPU temperature is just barely above ambient. I'm hearing very little noise from the fan, but it's difficult to judge the absolute level because of noisier systems in the room (the noisiest of which this new system will replace). I'm not yet at a point where I can really crank up the CPU to see how the system performs under load ...

[rei]

I'll be attempting to put this HSF onto the same mobo into a NSK3300 case. From your experience, do you think it's doable if I mount the CPU and it onto the mobo (usually on the mobo's cardboard box) beforehand?

[truckman]

I think it should be doable, though more difficult that doing this in the Solo. The top-center motherboard screw will be the hard part. Leaving the fan off until the motherboard is installed will probably help a bit.

Getting to this screw is a bit easier in the Solo because the motherboard tray is cut out in this area, which allows access to see and hold the screw from the right side of the case while inserting the screwdriver from the left side. Also the Solo doesn't have the NSK3300's upper chamber hardware getting in the way, and the PSU wires are easier to move out of the way.

It turns out that I had to remove and reinstall all the motherboard screws after I installed the motherboard in my Solo case because one of the fingers on the I/O plate flipped the wrong way when I installed the motherboard and blocked access to the Ethernet port. It turned out to be easier to correct this with the HSF installed than I had originally expected.

[rei]

What are your temps? Mine seem high at 50 idle.

[truckman]

What are your temps? Mine seem high at 50 idle.

That sounds high. I'm running an older Linux kernel that doesn't recognize the sensors, so I don't the operating temperature, but in the BIOS, the CPU temperature was just a little above ambient.

[rei]

That was without CnQ. Now it runs 35-40 idle at 61 load with the fan at 50% in BIOS.