Large Air Coolers

SkidMarkKing · 18 Jul 2013 at 20:28

Hello.

Ive been offered a few large heatsinks/fans for my cpu as im looking at upgrading my stock amd phenom heatsink/fan.

The heatsink will cover my DIMM1 slot meaning I can only use 2,3 and 4. Will this be ok for me to just miss slot 1 out? I do have 3 ram sticks and one is the very low profile ram so I might get away with using that one.

What does everyone think to the "Zalman CNPS9900" heatsink?

Heres a shot of the inside of my side.

IMG_0734 by AllmarkPhotography, on Flickr
Thanks

Helios1234 · 18 Jul 2013 at 20:53

The cooler won't stop you from using the RAM slots. It'll just overhang it. If you have normal RAM (i.e without large heatsinks like the tall Corsair Vengeance stuff), which I see you do, then you can still use all the slots.

SkidMarkKing · 18 Jul 2013 at 20:57

Helios1234 said:
The cooler won't stop you from using the RAM slots. It'll just overhang it. If you have normal RAM (i.e without large heatsinks like the tall Corsair Vengeance stuff), which I see you do, then you can still use all the slots.

yeye ok bud. Got a few offers in the "wanted" section but I just have to make my mind up on which one to get. I was tempted to get more ram (larger version) 1600mhz instead of my 1333mhz but for the extra cost I don't think ile benefit much. I must admit the large ones look a lot better

Helios1234 · 18 Jul 2013 at 22:32

You can get large coolers that will accommodate large RAM. I have an Alpenfohn K2 with G.Skill RipJawZ for instance.

SkidMarkKing · 18 Jul 2013 at 22:40

Helios1234 said:
You can get large coolers that will accommodate large RAM. I have an Alpenfohn K2 with G.Skill RipJawZ for instance.

The Alpenfohn K2 is a mean looking thing. Good piece of kit? £60 brand-new so I might find one for £35/£40 second hand?

Been offered a Zalman CNPS9900 MAX Blue LED as well which also looks pretty good.

Helios1234 · 19 Jul 2013 at 00:22

SkidMarkKing said:
The Alpenfohn K2 is a mean looking thing. Good piece of kit? £60 brand-new so I might find one for £35/£40 second hand?

Been offered a Zalman CNPS9900 MAX Blue LED as well which also looks pretty good.

The Thermalright Silver Arrow SBE is on sale currently at £48 but tbh, it's probably overkill for your needs. You'll also be restricted to low profile memory modules.

SkidMarkKing · 19 Jul 2013 at 13:16

Helios1234 said:
The Thermalright Silver Arrow SBE is on sale currently at £48 but tbh, it's probably overkill for your needs. You'll also be restricted to low profile memory modules.

I do use my desktop for gaming bud I will probably overclock it sooner or later. For £48 ide rather add £20 on top and get the corsair hydro I think.

illuz · 19 Jul 2013 at 13:32

SkidMarkKing said:
The Alpenfohn K2 is a mean looking thing. Good piece of kit? £60 brand-new so I might find one for £35/£40 second hand?

Been offered a Zalman CNPS9900 MAX Blue LED as well which also looks pretty good.

I sold mine for £35 second hand. It is an EXCELLENT cooler! I highly recommend it.

Hell it had my 3770k benching SuperPI 32M @ 5.3GHz v1.7 lol.

doyll · 19 Jul 2013 at 14:25

SkidMarkKing said:
I do use my desktop for gaming bud I will probably overclock it sooner or later. For £48 ide rather add £20 on top and get the corsair hydro I think.

Using similar cfm / noise level fans on top twin tower coolers give as good or better results as H100.
As an example:
Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E is -17dBA (less than half as loud) and only 1c warmer than H100
Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E Extreme is +1dBA (you can't hear it) and 7c cooler than H100

i7 3820 @4.75GHz
Temperature is delta.

H100 . . . . . . . . 41c 2500rpm. . . . . . . . 55dBA 2
SA SB-E . . . . . . 42c 1100rpm & 1300rpm 38dBA TY-150 & TY-141
SA SB-E Extreme 34c 2500rpm. . . . . . . . 56dBA 2x TY-143

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6xrsuPwDbo
jump in to 3:40 for results.

And there is no worry about the waterpump making noise or failing.

Helios1234 · 19 Jul 2013 at 15:26

SkidMarkKing said:
I do use my desktop for gaming bud I will probably overclock it sooner or later. For £48 ide rather add £20 on top and get the corsair hydro I think.

I wouldn't. The thick or 240mm radiator units are £30 or more and don't necessarily perform better. What I meant by the cooler maybe being overkill is that it depends on your CPU/mobo and how far you were looking to push it. If you are looking at substantial overclocks, then the SBE is a great choice but if you're only looking at a mild OC, then there are even cheaper alternatives such as the True Spirit 140.

SkidMarkKing · 19 Jul 2013 at 16:42

Helios1234 said:
I wouldn't. The thick or 240mm radiator units are £30 or more and don't necessarily perform better. What I meant by the cooler maybe being overkill is that it depends on your CPU/mobo and how far you were looking to push it. If you are looking at substantial overclocks, then the SBE is a great choice but if you're only looking at a mild OC, then there are even cheaper alternatives such as the True Spirit 140.

Thanks man. Think ile stick with air then. Will look it into later tonight and try and get my hands on one.

doyll · 19 Jul 2013 at 16:45

Helios is right. There are several good coolers that are slightly less efficient 2-7c) but will do a very good job and are cheaper too.

I consider a cooler as a long term investment to be used on at least a couple of builds. Having reserve cooling is also nice because it means instead of running fans at 1500rpm or 1300rpm to have 55-60c under heavy load I can run them at 1000rpm or 900rpm.. Or like now at 900-1000rpm and less than 50c max so system a almost silent all the time.