New to overclocking .. putting together cooling equipment

AlexJJ

AlexJJ

AlexJJ

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31 Mar 2006
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5
Hello, I have recently bought the Zalman VF700-CU VGA cooler for my XFX 6600GT and although I can't fit all the mini RAM heatsinks on due to the XFX's crazy diagonal design I'm very happy with it's results. This has enabled me to over clock it only by a smallish amount but enough to guarantee stable FPS on my current TES IV:Oblivion settings :D

So what I want now is to overclock my CPU (AMD Athlon 64 3200+ ClawHammer) but I think I will need to buy a new CPU cooler and a 120mm Fan for the rear of the case (as I only have 1 80mm fan at the front of the case at the mo).

My question is: Is this a good choice - the Scythe Ninja Plus Heatpipe CPU Cooler? Is it compatible with my CPU, should be as it's a socket 754.

Secondly, as it (the Scythe) comes supplied with a 120mm fan can I use that as my rear case fan rather than putting it on the Scythe Ninfa Plus as I don't think my CPU will require it OR should I buy a different 120mm rear case fan and if so which one?

Thanks for reading and any responses.
 
If you want to overclock then I think you should put the 120mm on the Ninja and then use an Akasa amber 120mm OR an Akasa AK-174BK-S as an exhaust fan.
 
Mikey1280 said:
If you want to overclock then I think you should put the 120mm on the Ninja and then use an Akasa amber 120mm OR an Akasa AK-174BK-S as an exhaust fan.
Click to expand...

Funny enough this is exactly what im about to do (just ordered all the bits :) ).

I need to do something about the cooling on my X1900XTX's. Tried overclocking them a little bit last night and they ended up running at 80c!!! Dont want to start replacing the HSF on them though as they are brand new and i would prefer not to end up with some very expensive paper weights if they fail later on and i cant return them.
 
Ok thanks I think I'll take your advice and buy another case fan aswell as the Scythe if it fits of course I've gotta go measure :D

Cheers again, but if it doesn't fit can you recommend a different 1? the Arctic Pro 64 maybe? Thanks.
 
Yeah Artic Cooling Freezer 64 pro would be a great and cheaper alternative.
Barney you should get some more fans in there if you're concerned about temps, if you're feeling adventurous cut a nice hole in your side panel and put a fan in there.
 
Mikey1280 said:
Yeah Artic Cooling Freezer 64 pro would be a great and cheaper alternative.
Barney you should get some more fans in there if you're concerned about temps, if you're feeling adventurous cut a nice hole in your side panel and put a fan in there.
Click to expand...

At the moment i have an 8cm at the front pulling air in and 8cm at the back pulling it out. Plus two 8cm in the side panel pulling air in over the graphics cards. (and the 12cm PSU fan which seems to pull out a LOT of air).

Have ordered the Scythe ninja (which will be with me today :) ) and a couple of 12cm fans. Going to add a 12cm to the front pulling in more air, remove the back 8cm fan and replace it with another 12cm fan then have a 12cm fan on the ninja. This should keep me going until i can pick up a cheap phase cooler :)
 
Mikey1280 said:
Sounds good, phase already?
Click to expand...
Yeah, but only if can pick one up for around £100-150. Was going to get water cooling but I just cant bring myself to start pumping water around my expensive kit, at least if a phase cooler is going to damage anything it will just be the CPU and motherboard.
 
Right well I just installed an Akasa 120mm Amber fan as a rear exhaust fan and now have 2 questions:

1) Concerning the new Akasa am I supposed to line it up so that the arrows on the fan are pointing up towards the roof of the case and out of the rear of the case so that is the airflow direction? As the front fan is pulling air IN to the case am I right?

2) Am I going to see a big improvement from buying a Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro or Scythe Ninja Plus Heatpipe CPU Cooler over my existing CPU cooler - Akasa 855 AMD cooler.

Cheers people.
 
One arrow which is parallel to the casing is the blade rotation direction, this doesnt matter. The other arrow is flow, this is at a right angle to the casing, for the exhaust you want this pointing OUT of the case, for the intake you want this pointing IN to the case (going to the mother board, gfx card etc), both fans should infact have the flow arrow in the same direction.
As for your CPU cooler I reckon you probably would see a noticeable difference by buying a Freezer 64 pro or Scythe Ninja, if you have the money get the ninja.
 
Great thanks my arrows are lined correctly then.

Think I'm gonna take your advice and get the Scythe as I recently came into some money due to a certain birthday yesterday :D

Cheers Mikey
 
Well installed the S.N. tonight and mounted up the other 12cm in the front of the case (in the spare optical bays) and it has knocked about 5-8C offf my full load temp (sits around 38-40 now). Idle temp is about 2C cooler.

If you do get the scythe ninja a couple of words of warning. this thing is VERY big and the edges are VERY sharp (i have the multiple cuts on my finger to prove it!!!). Depending on how big your case is and how much you have in it getting the fan on can be a pain in the arse. Also the Akasa blue glowing 12cm fan i got to sit in the front of my case seems to have better airflow then the fan that came with the SN so i swapped them round. Just a shame i couldnt get the other 12cm fitted up at the back.
 
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Not enough space to fit in in sadly. There is only space/holes for a 8cm and 9cm fan so i need to use an 8cm-12cm bracket, with that and the fan together there just isnt enough space between the back of the case and the HS. I will mod my case at some point to add a little more space to the back to fit a 12cm fan in. At the moment though it seems to be running cool enough and i cant be bothered with the hassle of cutting my case up even more :)

One other quick tip i worked out last night to fit a 12cm fan in the cv/dvd drive bays. If you get 4 fairly small length (but thick) elastic bands, thread one end through a screw hole, then through the screw holes on the fan and back out another screw hole in the case then put the two loops you have together (i used a paper clip). Repeat this on all 4 corners and you can suspend the fan in the middle of the bay with very little hassle. Also as the fan isnt in contact with the case it seems to be a LOT less noisey (and once its behind some meshing it looks pretty cool :) ).
 
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