Help finalize Cooler/fan and case fan decision for LGA1155

[frny]

I read a lot of reviews for the coolers and fans. I need help to finalize my decision.
I need a cpu cooler and fan plus a case fan.

The case fan to replace is a 120mm fan for the back of the case that has started clicking (FYI this is a lian li A77F with 2x140mm at the top of the case as well)
The cpu is a Xeon E3-1230 v1 (80 W TDP). Stock cooler right now (howling sound) that is probably failing after 3 years. cpu temp at rest is ~40C, goes up to 90+ under load which has triggered the overheat beeps from the motherboard.

I am leaning toward the 212 coolermaster evo after considering the Mugen 4 and noctua NH-u12s.
I took out the Mugen 4 due to the weight and size and the noctua due to price and not needing the top cooler for 80W with no overclock

The 212 is small, light a cheap and would be paired with a silent fan.

Would the 212 be sufficient and provide much better cooling than the stock cooler?
Which fan to use for cpu and case? scythe slipstream, glidestream, noctua or the reference nexus?
the noctuas are expensive ($18 for the p12 and $23 for the s12 I would use in the case). I have noctuas 80mm and 90mm in another case and am very happy with them, but I'd rather find silent for less.

Another question I have for the cpu fan is pwm or not (would the constant rotation be better than the rpm going up and down)?

Please provide the model if possible if advising a scythe (lots of models out there)

Thanks.

[quest_for_silence]

not needing the top cooler for 80W with no overclock

Just a side note: none of the quoted coolers are top ones.

Would the 212 be sufficient and provide much better cooling than the stock cooler?

Yes, though a Scythe Kotetsu would be more effective within the same dimensions and (probably) overall price: check twice this latter.

Which fan to use for cpu and case? scythe slipstream, glidestream, noctua or the reference nexus?

Glidestream should be EOL (the new Falcon is coming with the Ninja 4), and the retail model should be slightly different from the SPCR tested one.
Nexus is always a solid choice, Slipstream are still among my favourites, for any of your vertical mounting personally I'd pick the cheapest. You can pick the Slipstream even as PWM CPU fan if you'll stick with the 212. Another cheap option is the Arctic Cooling F12 for both case and CPU fans.
For the horizontal top 140mm mountings, if you don't have an hot GPU or twelve hard disks, I would taper those inlets from inside, rather than populating: if you're going to use them, local pricing matters, but usually Prolimatech Vortex or Antec TrueQuiet are relatively inexpensive and rather quiet (around 13 USD there are also the Fractal GP used on the R5, which should be good).

Anyway, with 5-8 fans I think you need a good and flexible control solution, don't you?

the noctuas are expensive ($18 for the p12 and $23 for the s12 I would use in the case). I have noctuas 80mm and 90mm in another case and am very happy with them, but I'd rather find silent for less.

Nexus and Slipstream are comparable to the various Noctuas/Noiseblockers/Bequiets, noise-wise: just they aren't (supposedly) as durable as the best FDB ones (and more prone to vibration/bearing noise when mounted horizontally).

Another question I have for the cpu fan is pwm or not (would the constant rotation be better than the rpm going up and down)?

It depends (mainly of the control solution of choice): however, if your CPU fan header is a PWM one only, a 3-pin voltage controlled fan would run just at full speed.

[frny]

First thank you for the feedback. I checked the Scythe Kotetsu and it looks like the one for my need.

When mounted, the fan will be horizontal (ram is above the CPU and the PCI cards below, so may not have the space for vertical, and I am thinking it will help cool these components) - so an FDB fan should replace the one provided?

I still have some ULN and ULNA adapters from my noctua fans (80mm and 90mm) - any reason why the should not be used on the back 120mm?

[quest_for_silence]

When mounted, the fan will be horizontal (ram is above the CPU and the PCI cards below, so may not have the space for vertical, and I am thinking it will help cool these components) - so an FDB fan should replace the one provided?

I don't understand your concern: your enclosure is roomy, the Kotetsu will likely not overhang those components, besides neither RAM DIMMs nor PCI cards need cooling, at all.

I still have some ULN and ULNA adapters from my noctua fans (80mm and 90mm) - any reason why the should not be used on the back 120mm?

Their actual values are not calculated for the different 120mm fans voltages, so your mileage may vary. But above all, what's the problem using a proper, decent fans control (either UEFI or software based)?

[frny]

When mounted, the fan will be horizontal (ram is above the CPU and the PCI cards below, so may not have the space for vertical, and I am thinking it will help cool these components) - so an FDB fan should replace the one provided?

I don't understand your concern: your enclosure is roomy, the Kotetsu will likely not overhang those components, besides neither RAM DIMMs nor PCI cards need cooling, at all.

yes the enclosure is big but the MB is http://www.supermicro.com/products/moth ... SCL_-F.cfm (uATX) and the PCI cards are SATA HBAs with cables that go to the hard drives in enclosures in the front from top to bottom (so the smaller profile of a horizontal cooler would be easier to manage) . I need to open the server and measure.

I also looked at this article http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/ ... ler/1815/1 on the best position for a cpu cooler.

I still have some ULN and ULNA adapters from my noctua fans (80mm and 90mm) - any reason why the should not be used on the back 120mm?

Their actual values are not calculated for the different 120mm fans voltages, so your mileage may vary. But above all, what's the problem using a proper, decent fans control (either UEFI or software based)?

I don't have real options in the BIOS, no space for a hardware 5.25 controller and the server is headless on FreeBSD with text based logins (software is still doable though). The front fans are gone and replaced by hard drive enclosures, each with its own fan (stocks replaced by noctuas). So far, having the top and rear fans constant has been fine for the airflow. Noise is background hum (from the hard drives mostly). So I'm just looking to replace the cpu cooler and its howling as well as the rear clicking fan (by a low rpm one or using a uln adapter to lower the rpm)

[frny]

See picture of the current stock cooler

[quest_for_silence]

As you may have noted, posting complete specs help us to advice in a meaningful way (actually I'm a bit annoyed by that).

Well, mount the Kotetsu horizontally, fan facing down, and give a try to the stock Glidestream: if the bearing gives you any noise issue, replace the fan with a FDB one. If you need to cool the mobo, pick a top-down cooler, like the Scythe Kabuto II (or the more expensive Noctua NH-C14), that way you won't also have any fan bearing concern.

About the fan control (I mean, the absence of any), probably the quietest 120mm fan I ever owned is the Noiseblocker PL-1: it has a long-lasting bearing and you won't need any voltage adapter even at full speed (900rpm), given also the constant drives humming. In case you may use it even on the Kotetsu (replacing the PWM Glidestream).

[Abula]

Have you consider a none tower cooler?

On my severs, also micro ATX Super micro motherboard, similar layout to yours, i used a Thermalright AXP-140 (discontinued), but there are others options out there,

[frny]

As you may have noted, posting complete specs help us to advice in a meaningful way (actually I'm a bit annoyed by that).

yeah, I realized that the physical limitations and dimensions of the mobo should have been in my first post. Thanks for being patient.

Well, mount the Kotetsu horizontally, fan facing down, and give a try to the stock Glidestream: if the bearing gives you any noise issue, replace the fan with a FDB one. If you need to cool the mobo, pick a top-down cooler, like the Scythe Kabuto II (or the more expensive Noctua NH-C14), that way you won't also have any fan bearing concern.

About the fan control (I mean, the absence of any), probably the quietest 120mm fan I ever owned is the Noiseblocker PL-1: it has a long-lasting bearing and you won't need any voltage adapter even at full speed (900rpm), given also the constant drives humming. In case you may use it even on the Kotetsu (replacing the PWM Glidestream).

As per your earlier post, the mobo is fine as is so I am leaning to the Kotetsu

[frny]

Have you consider a none tower cooler?

On my severs, also micro ATX Super micro motherboard, similar layout to yours, i used a Thermalright AXP-140 (discontinued), but there are others options out there,

That is very close to my build (ram/PSU/HBAs) and it seems that the motherboard has the same layout (minus one PCI port).
I checked the top-down noctua C14 but it still get beat by the Kotetsu even with 2 fans.

The one issue I am left with is will the Kotetsu heatpipes clear the heatsink on the MB to the left of the CPU and will these heatpipe be so close to that they will add too much heat close to that same heatsink, in turn overheating it.

Note that if I end up with the Kotetsu, its fan will replace my case back fan and be replaced by a noiseblocker PL-PS or a noctua NF-P12 PWM

[quest_for_silence]

I checked the top-down noctua C14 but it still get beat by the Kotetsu even with 2 fans.

Broadly speaking, test results should IMO always be taken with a pinch of salt: first of all, a difference of 1-2°C (or of 1-2dB) isn't almost ever really noteworthy, then actual outcome may be easily influenced by sample variances and specific occurrences.
IMO the real advantage of the Kotetsu is the cost one, while the most effective way to mute an Haswell CPU is delidding it.

The one issue I am left with is will the Kotetsu heatpipes clear the heatsink on the MB to the left of the CPU and will these heatpipe be so close to that they will add too much heat close to that same heatsink, in turn overheating it.

It won't happen, heatpipes transfer heat, while do not dissipate it (that happens at the fins level): so that they don't heat up enough to overheat any surrounding heatsink (like the mobo's ones).

[Abula]

I checked the top-down noctua C14 but it still get beat by the Kotetsu even with 2 fans.

While this is true, its not always about the best performance, for example i could have gone with a lot of towers, but my idea was also to cool the very cheap silver heatsink and the memory, the original design was to be a 24/7 server to hold all the media for the house, but things change over time, now its just a storage server. Either way, i like the C14, to me its a top choice still, the only thing that im not sure if it comes with the PWM fan or the 3pin version. You do need to check if it clears the first PCIe slot.

Note that if I end up with the Kotetsu, its fan will replace my case back fan and be replaced by a noiseblocker PL-PS or a noctua NF-P12 PWM

One thing to comment, Supermicro bios is not the best for Bios PWM fan control, it struggles with certain brands, in my case with the Scythe Kama Flex PWM (not sure how Scythe Glidestream on the kotetsu will work), the motherboard ramps up and down the fans endlessly, like a breathing effect, very annoying, and i could never fix this, but with noctua fans the bios fan control works fine, all my Noctua PWM fans are idling at 400rpms. Either way, consider fans like NF-P14 PWM REDUX for the C14 and case fans like NF-S12B Redux PWM for case fans.

[quest_for_silence]

the only thing that im not sure if it comes with the PWM fan or the 3pin version.

3-pin: however, it has just been discontinued in favour of the all new C14S.

[frny]

Looks like the C14S has a bigger heatsink and a different fan.

I can't tell for sure if it will fit so I'm back to the Kotetsu (still trying to figure out if that one will fit as well). Also I saw a few bad comments on the noctuas horizontally so I would go with the noiseblocker.

my CPU was BX80623E31230 - any idea how I can find the stock cooler size (will help with figuring our the fit)

argh this is harder than I thought it would be...

[quest_for_silence]

my CPU was BX80623E31230 - any idea how I can find the stock cooler size (will help with figuring our the fit)

It should be a Nidec F90T12MS1Z, or something very similar: given that the specs didn't change since 1156, I think you can refer to the 1156 mechanics with some confidence.

[frny]

I bought the kotetsu. Will report if it fits.

[frny]

Abula,
was cooling the "very cheap silver heatsink" something I'm going to have to deal with, or were you just extra cautious? My server is 24/7 media server/backup. Hopefully The couple of fans in the case create enough airflow - Also it seems that versions of this same motherboard lack the heatsink so I'm hoping that it is already overkill by itself.

of course the day after I ordered I get an email to advertise http://us.coolermaster.com/product/Deta ... rce=AdRoll which would most likely clear the PCI slot....

[quest_for_silence]

Also it seems that versions of this same motherboard lack the heatsink so I'm hoping that it is already overkill by itself.

Though usually that kind of boards are meant to have that kind of things blowing across them.

[frny]

the good news is that the kotetsu fits
The temp on idle went from 40-42 to 30-35.

the bad news:
- noiseblocker does not work with this cooler because of the clip (this fan only works with screws)
- the glidestream goes up and down (same as what Abula described) - I will try a different header on the mobo and see f there is a difference
- I put the glidestream on top, blowing up (wanted to stay away from the PCI cards)

noise
- the glidestream can be heard going up and down (~900 to ~1300 if I can trust the bios), louder than everything else i have in the box
- there is a background high pitched noise (cricket-like)

I need to find another quiet horizontal 120mm? s-flex?

[quest_for_silence]

I need to find another quiet horizontal 120mm? s-flex?

Any fan with open corners, even another Noiseblocker (BlackSilent Pro 120mm, PL-PS if 4 pin PWM, or PL-2 if 3 pin DC controlled).

[frny]

Thanks - looking at those now. Also checking the nb-eloop

Would it be more quiet than an s-flex?
Would mounting under the heatsink sucking air in be more quiet?

Wld it be better to go without PWM from a noise perspective?

I'm trying to get the right one at the next try.

[Abula]

Wld it be better to go without PWM from a noise perspective?

Well PWM or 3pin doesnt make the fan better, its just the way its controlled. You can find a good PWM fans as you can with 3pin, well more option on 3pins. I prefer PWM mostly because i can power lots of fans with a single header, given that the true power is coming from the PSU, just the PWM signal comes from the motherboard headers, but its more a preference, not that its better. I also like PWM fans on the CPU headers, because most motherboards come with a CPU_FAN PWM header, and in most cases, aside from Asus, you cant control 3pin fans on that headers.

If you dont care about controlling the fans, and you are fine with a flat speed, i would suggest to buy a Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm Case Fan - 1150RPM, they are built with real ball bearing that should stand better the horizontal placement, besides they were tested by SPCR Fan Roundup #6: Scythe, Noiseblocker, Antec, Nexus, Thermalright and came as one of the best sounding fans, so its a good overall fan. All the Scythe GT i have tested undervolt well, so you can use a 7V or 5V adapter if you wish to lower the rpms more.

[quest_for_silence]

Thanks - looking at those now. Also checking the nb-eloop

Personally I'd avoid: it's expensive and the relevant SPCR test wasn't passed with flying colours.

Would it be more quiet than an s-flex?

I don't think you may find so many s-flex nowadays, they've been discontinued since several years. Anyway, which fan should be quieter than that SPCR ancient, former favourite?

Would mounting under the heatsink sucking air in be more quiet?

If I didn't misunderstand you, take note that the CPU fan have to blow onto the heatsink fins to be efficient/effective, cooling-wise, and if you want to follow the article advice quoted above, it should blow upwards.

Wld it be better to go without PWM from a noise perspective?

Only if the PWM header offers a wider duty cycle range than the 3 pin ones.

I'm trying to get the right one at the next try.

If you're going to use fixed speed fans, hook up PWM ones to 3 pin headers and viceversa (or directly to 12V molex connectors), and then use fans with a speed no higher than 1000-1100rpm.
If you're going with some form of fan control through your limited BIOS, you have to test which header is more "controllable" among your mobo's ones.
By the way, IMO recapping how many fans you actually have, how many headers/connectors, which are these fans/headers, and how you would run them, would be useful (at least to me) in order to advice you better.