I need some quiet cooling advice (fans and heatsinks).

ChristopherBlue · Post by **ChristopherBlue** » Sun May 09, 2004 10:45 am

First off, my motherboard is a MSI K7D Master L.

I wish to quiet my computer. While the PSU fans are the loudest and the chipset fan is the whiniest, I am going to go ahead and replace all of the fans. Here is my current plan:

Replace stock heatsinks and fans with Thermalright SLK-900(A) Clip-Ons and 80x25mm Zalman ZM-F1s.

Replace the 80mm PSU fan with a 80x25mm Zalman ZM-F1 and the 92mm with a 92X25MM ZALMAN ZM-F2.

Replace the chipset HS and fan with a fanless one. Would the ZALMAN ZM-NB47J NORTHBRIDGE HEATSINK accomplish that feat?

Please give me your comments and suggestions regarding my selections above.

Keitaro · Post by **Keitaro** » Sun May 09, 2004 11:36 am

You seem to be stepping in the right direction. Here are some suggesstions though:

1) The thermalright SLK900 is an excellent heatsink, however the clip version will be a pain if you ever wish to transport your PC in a car. The bolt through method is much more secure, especially during transportation, and I think its about the same price. The only thing that could be stopping you is motherboard compatibility. Neither the SLK900A or U seem to be compatible according to thermalright. Has anyone gotten more information on this?

2) As for the fans, I think the best choice would be to go with Panaflo L1As and undervolt them with a rheobus instead of the zalmans. I'm not sure, but that seems to be the standard here at SPCR.

3) I have that NB heatsink, and as long as you do not have onboard video, it should be plenty to accomdate the heat that the NB produces. I use it myself

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Sun May 09, 2004 1:54 pm

ChristopherBlue - WELCOME TO SPCR!!!

(are you the ChristopherBlue from Ars? If so, a special "fellow Ars" welcome from me)

I totally agree with Keitaro's post. Use the bolt-on version of the SLK900 if your mobo supports it, and use L1A Panaflos instead of Zalmans.

ChristopherBlue · Post by **ChristopherBlue** » Sun May 09, 2004 7:04 pm

Hello Ralf, I am indeed "Christopher Blue" from Ars Technica. I will look for the SLK900s but SVC is out of stock. Know any other shops?

Keitaro · Post by **Keitaro** » Sun May 09, 2004 9:28 pm

www.newegg.com

Putz · Post by **Putz** » Sun May 09, 2004 9:53 pm

You can probably get away with only the 80mm fan in your PSU, and nix the 92mm. Or vice-versa, if you're careful about it. Either way, one should be sufficient.

ChristopherBlue · Post by **ChristopherBlue** » Mon May 10, 2004 2:58 am

A person with the same motherboard told me that they couldn't get two 92mm fans to fit. That is why I am looking at 80mm fans. Either way my current fans are stock 60mms with a crappy aluminum heatsink so I should get a major performance increase?

Will I?

ChristopherBlue · Post by **ChristopherBlue** » Mon May 10, 2004 5:28 am

I cannot seem to find a shop that sells the bolt-on SLK900 anymore. I have looked at Newegg, Directron, and SVC. Perhaps there is an alternative heatsink that is still compatible and comparable in performance?

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Mon May 10, 2004 5:42 am

ChristopherBlue wrote:I cannot seem to find a shop that sells the bolt-on SLK900 anymore. I have looked at Newegg, Directron, and SVC. Perhaps there is an alternative heatsink that is still compatible and comparable in performance?

I have one (and perhaps two) bolt-on SLK900's that I'm not using. If you can't find them elswhere, let me know.

Where do you live?

ChristopherBlue · Post by **ChristopherBlue** » Mon May 10, 2004 7:14 am

Pennsylvania sir.

Keitaro · Post by **Keitaro** » Mon May 10, 2004 9:19 am

ummt he SLK947U is better, costs a bit more. That's what i use

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Mon May 10, 2004 12:30 pm

Keitaro wrote:ummt he SLK947U is better, costs a bit more. That's what i use

Duh, why didn't I think of that! The 947U will work fine.

ChristopherBlue · Post by **ChristopherBlue** » Mon May 10, 2004 1:12 pm

How would the 947U compare to to this heatsink or the aluminum SLK800? Would there be a major performance gap or just a small one?

Keitaro · Post by **Keitaro** » Mon May 10, 2004 1:17 pm

Copper is better than aluminum. In the long run, i think it would be better to just put down the 10 dollars more and get the 947U. I have it, and my CPU temps are rarely 7-8C above my system temp. ATM i have 30C system, 37 CPU. Idle btw.

ChristopherBlue · Post by **ChristopherBlue** » Wed May 12, 2004 12:04 pm

Today I had to do alot of work on my CPUs. After taking out the motherboard as I had done a few times before, I did some work then put it back in. When I realized I had to take work on the CPUs again, I wanted to try and do so without removing the motherboard. I found I could do so rather easily and hadn't done so earlier because I simply didn't try. Now am wondering if a bolt-on heatsink is what I really want because it would force me to remove the motherboard unlike a clip-on (someone please correct me if I am wrong). Any one wish to comment?

trodas · Post by **trodas** » Wed May 12, 2004 12:38 pm

Well, I wish.
I faced the same problem with watercooling. There is no way to empty my WC just because of CPU/GFX card change, or need to remove computer and such things...

So I quickly come with simple solution. I screw the bolds to the mobo, drilled a holes trough the female screw holes and got a detachable Maze4 CPU block. Not much pics yet, just the mobo wth screws there:
http://ax2.wz.cz/show.php?p=wc&id=64&c=7&d=1&v=v2

That way I can remove cooling/replace CPU in about 5 minutes

Maybe you can figure something like that out too.
For the heatsink, i will go with Zalman CNPS7000Cu, if you have the space need. This one are (for AMD) bolt secured too, however as you can see on the Zalman site on the how-to-montage this beauty of coolers:
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/vie ... 9&code=005
...see how to install flash movie, click on the Socket 462, of course...

As you can see, the whole thing holding on the mobo 2 screws, accesible from upfront - same like my solution, only mine are with 4 nice bras felmale screws - but hey, you can mod yourself this nice one too

Since the screws are accesible upfront, you can remove the heatsink and exchange the cpu/do better AS5 layer - w/o messing with yout mobo, witch basicaly mean w/o rebulilding half of the case

Hope you like my idea

Zalman CNPS7000Cu is also a little bit better cooler

Keitaro · Post by **Keitaro** » Wed May 12, 2004 2:26 pm

The thing with bolt on is that during transporation, you do not have to remove the heatsink, as you would if you had a clip on. The weight of the SLK900 is known to break the clips during transportation.

ChristopherBlue · Post by **ChristopherBlue** » Wed May 26, 2004 2:27 pm

Would I be able to fit two SLK-SP97s in my case? Perhaps if I mounted them so the heatpipes were opposite of each other?

ChristopherBlue · Post by **ChristopherBlue** » Wed May 26, 2004 5:10 pm

Never mind about the SLK-SP97s. I feel it isn't worth the $24 premium ($48 after I would have bought 2!). I am going to buy 2 SLK-947Us.

Skylined · Post by **Skylined** » Thu May 27, 2004 1:27 am

I have a SLK900A with clips, since my mobo doesn't have holes, and I go to lanparties, to take care of it, I just lay down my case on the motherboard side, so that the heatsink isn't pushing down "trying" to pop off the socket.
I also take away the fan from it, and when I get to the LAN, I put it back on the heatsink.

Sizzle · Post by **Sizzle** » Thu May 27, 2004 3:01 am

As far as fans go, if you are considering something as low flowing as Panaflow L1A's, I'd pick up some 80mm SilenX's. You do not need to undervolt these, they are the quietest 12v fans I have ever "not" heard.

www.silenx.com or www.3dcool.com

ChristopherBlue · Post by **ChristopherBlue** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 4:30 pm

I am having trouble installing my new SLK-947Us onto my MSI K7D Master L motherboard. The heatsink's mounting clip won't line up with the holes. Please assist.