Best passive heatsink?

darknite · 21 Oct 2013 at 14:04

ok OcUK'er's in your opinions what is the best passive heatsink? Trying to build a htpc/nas, ideally just 1 fan so move air around. Everyone low power, 35w cpu, 1.35v ram, fanless psu. Suggestions?

andicole0 · 21 Oct 2013 at 14:08

A Nofan CR-95c, but OCUK don't sell them.

Andi.

darknite · 21 Oct 2013 at 14:40

tad big for a mitx board/box! I do like it though! :-)

doyll · 21 Oct 2013 at 14:41

Any of the big coolers work passively but why? A slow speed fan is silent anyway.

andicole0 · 21 Oct 2013 at 14:45

darknite said:
tad big for a mitx board/box! I do like it though!

Shame, I use one in a mini tower as an HTPC and it is silent, I have a GTX650 with an Arctic Accelero cooler on and have played Skyrim and Ghost Warrior Sniper 2 without issue.

Andi.

andicole0 · 21 Oct 2013 at 14:46

doyll said:
Any of the big coolers work passively but why? A slow speed fan is silent anyway.

Not really silent, but then I get annoyed with buzzing power supplies and water going round central heating

Andi.

doyll · 21 Oct 2013 at 14:48

I can understand that. Maybe something like Thermalright HR-02 Macho or Macho 120? One of them should fit.
HR-02 Macho. There is black/white fan version too
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-082-TR&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=2352
Macho 120
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-102-TR&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=2352

darknite · 21 Oct 2013 at 14:54

What I am planning is a bitfenix phenom mitx with an asus z87i pro, a 35w cpu (not sure which yet) using the 6 onboard ports to run 5x 4tb drives in raid 5 and the last port running an ssd for windows. I like seasonic's fanless psu's. I intend to keep a fan for case air flow. Need to find the best quietest fans. This system is for file store and 1080p playback. Will be on 24/7 so as low power as possible, as quiet as possible as it will live in my front room and I don't want fan noise in the background when watching tv or a film.

cheesyboy · 21 Oct 2013 at 15:10

Xigmatek Thor's Hammer is knocking about pretty cheaply at the moment, as it's been discontinued. Would cope easily with a 35w CPU

doyll · 21 Oct 2013 at 16:12

I think Phenom M has 175mm CPU clearance so height is not an issue, but GPU / RAM are. HR-02 was originally a passive cooler. Macho 120 is a little smaller but in only a couple degrees warmer so should do well passively too. It cooled an i7 920 70c@700rpm.
http://www.ocaholic.ch/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=881&page=6

Deus Ex · 23 Oct 2013 at 10:03

This sounds like a sweet HTPC, NAS box. Definitely post up the build log here!

XE11 · 23 Oct 2013 at 12:50

i have a noctua C-14 with a single fan. but the fan constantly runs at 200rpm (except for pushing hard in bench mark). so i guess you can run it fanless. (if it fits in your case!!)

LurkingWeasel · 23 Oct 2013 at 12:56

Deepcool recently announced the "Lucifer" CPU heatsink which they're advertising as being able to run passively. I know nothing else about it, but it's another one to add to your list of candidates.