Cooling An i7-920

Ph4lanx

Ph4lanx

Ph4lanx

Associate
Joined
19 Apr 2010
Posts
474
Location
Surrey
OK, so I have a Titan Fenrir that is slightly damaged, so my idea is to remove it and put it in my server which is pretty unstressed and replace it.

Problem is, there are SO many options out there, I'm not sure where to start...

Titan Fenrir v2
Noctua NH-D14
Akasa Nero-S
Prolimatech Megahalems
Zalman CNPS10X
CoolIT ECO
Corsair H50

I just can't figure out which one seems to be the better performer. I'm not overclocking at the moment, but I intend to in a month or two, hence my hesitation in purchasing one of these, and they've all been recommended to me in one form or another.

I just can't decide :( Anyone know perhaps a benchmark review of the lot of them? Like a comparison review? I can't find one.
 
I suppose the best three around at the moment would be:

Noctua NH-D14
Prolimatech Megahalems Rev B
Thermalright Venomous X

If you don't o/c you could use a single Akasa Apache 120mm fan (on the Prolimatech/Thermalright), or if you do, use 2 in push/pull setup...

Probably the best of those 3 is the Noctua NH-D14...
 
I would want to overclock in about a month or so I reckon. So you think these three are above things like the Titan Fenrir then?
 
Thank you Helios, I have read some of your reviews, very thorough and helpful :)

Would you replace the fans on the coolers with something better or just use the stock fans for overclocking?

Edit: Actually Helios, looking at the table there, it shows the H50 as the lowest. Am I missing something or is it really that far ahead of the air-cooled systems?
 
Last edited:
Ph4lanx said:
Thank you Helios, I have read some of your reviews, very thorough and helpful :)

Would you replace the fans on the coolers with something better or just use the stock fans for overclocking?

Edit: Actually Helios, looking at the table there, it shows the H50 as the lowest. Am I missing something or is it really that far ahead of the air-cooled systems?
Click to expand...

The stock H50 setup is about as good as the better air cooling solutions (keep the stock paste as it's high quality stuff) but it can't match the VX or the Noctua.

Which cooler were you referring to in the first comment?
 
Wow, OK. I think I'll be grabbing the Noctua cooler in that case. I was referring to the fans for the Noctua or Thermalright coolers. I see you're using Coolink SWiF2-12P fans in your test, is that right? Do you replace both fans on the Noctua with them?
 
Pay the extra and get a single rad bulit in resi+pump setup for £120 would perform much better and allow a higher overclock and longer life.
 
I've never done watercooling to any extent, and to be honest would not know where to begin. The H50 is about as far as I'd go, if anything with water.
 
It's honestly very easy Basically resi + pump > Cpu block > Rad then back into the resi and with barbs you just push the tubing over the top of the barbs and then you can even nothing to hold it on or use cable ties it's actually so easy todo.

Its like a H50 cooler only you have to screw barbs in and push pipe over them and fill the resi up, Its so easy i were able to build a watercooling kit on my husbands PC with 1 Cm fake nails on it doesnt get much easier.
 
water1n.png

I'm not 100 sure if the barbs come with the CPU block but if they do you save £6 there and ofc free shipping is £-10 so you should be able to build one for £124 which is good for the performance you would see.

Edit hubbys facebook runined my upload ><
wrong tubing as well ><
 
Last edited:
Considering a 920 clocks to around 4GHz on air cooling, I'm happy to bypass water cooling this time around, again thanks. Maybe on my next machine in the future, who knows.
 
I'd stick with the Noctua fans if you go with the NH-D14. I only used the Coolink fans to see how well it compared with the regular fans and to the Thermalright VX using the same fans. As you can see, it's not worth investing in other fans when the two bundled with the NH-D14 are already high quality ones. Plus the Coolink fans are very loud!

Btw where abouts are you in Surrey? lol
 
I'm in Walton mate :) I know Camberley, I used to work for the NHS as an IT Engineer, and I covered Camberley Health Centre :) Small world!

Edit: Thanks for the information on the fans btw. So do the standard fans do as good a job as the SWIF2 fans or better? I was just looking at the new Sharkoon Silent Eagle SE fans (with the stippled golf ball effect), what's your opinion on those? Or are the Noctua fans just that good!? :)
 
Last edited:
Ph4lanx said:
I'm in Walton mate :) I know Camberley, I used to work for the NHS as an IT Engineer, and I covered Camberley Health Centre :) Small world!

Edit: Thanks for the information on the fans btw. So do the standard fans do as good a job as the SWIF2 fans or better? I was just looking at the new Sharkoon Silent Eagle SE fans (with the stippled golf ball effect), what's your opinion on those? Or are the Noctua fans just that good!? :)
Click to expand...

The Coolink fans are no doubt slightly better but it sacrifices a quiet running system. I think the main attraction about the NH-D14 is the fact that it comes with 2 fans already, which on their own would cost around £40 in total! I'm not sure how they compete against the sharkoons but the NH-D14 is quite pricey as it is so I wouldn't bother spending more on top for fans.

Unless you really don't like the colour of the fans or something, I'd stick with the default setup. Noctua have done a tremendous job optimizing the fan for the heatsink. Also you can check out the Noctua review for a more in depth look if you want. The only thing I'll mention is that if the size puts you off, the Thermalright is the next best thing. I know some people might complain about heatsinks putting a lot of stress on motherboards compared to the H50 or ECO but the mounting system on both the Noctua and Thermalright have been very well designed to take that into account so don't be put off by their weight. Hope that helps :).

And yeah, small world indeed! :p
 
Helios, thanks for that mate. I was just reading your review of the Noctua NH-D14 and was wondering a few setup questions:

1. 2 x P12 fans and 1 x P14 fan. Does the NH-D14 come with the clips for a third fan on the other side?
2. Can the cooler be mounted to face any direction or does it have to be a specific way? (ie. back-exhaust or top-exhaust or either?).
 
Last edited:
I quite like the Zalman one, i'm going to be using it for my i7 build if the Titan v2 isn't in stock.
 
Last edited:
Ph4lanx said:
Helios, thanks for that mate. I was just reading your review of the Noctua NH-D14 and was wondering a few setup questions:

1. 2 x P12 fans and 1 x P14 fan. Does the NH-D14 come with the clips for a third fan on the other side?
2. Can the cooler be mounted to face any direction or does it have to be a specific way? (ie. back-exhaust or top-exhaust or either?).
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, it doesn't come with a third set of clips. You could probably contact Noctua and they'd be happy to send you some. They're good like that. I didn't see the point myself in my case because the exhaust cooler was quite close anyway.

The cooler can be mounted both ways no problem at all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom