New PC on the way ......

Low Roller · Post by **Low Roller** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 12:59 pm

The upgrade bug has bit, and I'm defenseless!

Right now I have a p182 housing my q6600 box, but after recently building a PC for my buddy with a p180 mini and coming away impressed, I've decided my new machine will be using it as well.

I've always gone for enthusiast performance, but as I've gotten older my tolerance for huge cases that sound like hurricanes continues to wane. A "silent" build is subjective in that regard, so I might be ok with a bit more noise than some of the gurus here.

So far I have:

i7 920

Asus Rampage II Gene

Noctua D14

6GB Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 1600 DDR3 8-8-8

p180 mini on the way

Corsair hx750 on the way.

I also have 2 Scythe S-flex 1200rpm fans I may use for intakes on the mini

I have a 750GB Samsung hd, DVD burner, and an ATI 4850 that will serve as placeholders while I get the main part of the system optimized.

One of my main questions is how to orient the D14 in the p180 mini for optimal performance? Nort-south with the Noctua blowing hot air straight up to the 200mm top fan, or east-west with the D14 blowing air to the rear exhaust fan?

*East-West* *Front to Back* *Horizontal airflow*

*or*

*North-South* *Bottom to Top* *Vertical airflow*

I'm leaning toward an east-west config ATM, but I can still be persuaded otherwise. Please feel free to add your thoughts. Thanks in advance!

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ces · Post by **ces** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 2:57 pm

If there is any difference in the heat pipe performance between the two positions, East West will work best.

Why don't you just test it. Any difference in performance will show up very quickly.

(CLARIFICATION: apparently east west can mean two different things to two different people. The direction in which the heat pipes do not have to fight gravity will generally be the best performing position. But you may find little difference in positions or 5 to 6C difference. You will only find out by testing)

PudinPops · Post by **PudinPops** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 3:30 pm

I set up mine north-south and had very good results. All 4 fans are set low, and I'm idling at 27C.

Low Roller · Post by **Low Roller** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 10:01 am

ces wrote:If there is any difference in the heat pipe performance between the two positions, East West will work best.

Why don't you just test it. Any difference in performance will show up very quickly.

(CLARIFICATION: apparently east west can mean two different things to two different people. The direction in which the heat pipes do not have to fight gravity will generally be the best performing position. But you may find little difference in positions or 5 to 6C difference. You will only find out by testing)

I updated my original post, and yes by east-west and north-south I was referring to airflow.

Just to be clear, you are recommending horizontal airflow, correct? I will test it if cooling performance is unsatisfactory after initial install.

Low Roller · Post by **Low Roller** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 10:02 am

PudinPops wrote:I set up mine north-south and had very good results. All 4 fans are set low, and I'm idling at 27C.

Cool. Did you try it east-west?

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 11:28 am

it might be more descriptive to call the airflow direction front-to-back, or bottom-to-top

the size of the case has nothing to do with how noisy it is.

you might want to also consider airflow direction in terms of things like vrm cooling, and interference with the ram sticks.

Low Roller · Post by **Low Roller** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 12:58 pm

LOL, I think you take the prize, danimal. I updated my post again so I think we must all be on the same page now!

ces · Post by **ces** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 3:38 pm

Low Roller wrote:Just to be clear, you are recommending horizontal airflow, correct? I will test it if cooling performance is unsatisfactory after initial install.

Yes. Generally a heat pipe heats up a liquid, the vapor takes the heat to the end of the pipe. It releases the heat and turns back to a liquid. The liquid trickles back down to the heat source.

If the liquid has to trickle back up to the heat sources - well that isn't good.

Most of those heat pipes have wicks in them and who knows what liquids they use. It is unlikely to be that black or white in real life, but the essence of this probably applies in some way.

I wouldn't doubt in the least that some designs would be unaffected. Some might be affected a lot.

PudinPops · Post by **PudinPops** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 5:02 pm

Low Roller wrote:
PudinPops wrote:I set up mine north-south and had very good results. All 4 fans are set low, and I'm idling at 27C.

Cool. Did you try it east-west?

No. I set it up like this the first time, and I'm very happy with the results.

I think either way you set it up you'll have good results. That HS is top notch, that case has great airflow and cable management, and the big 200mm fan moves lots of air even on low.

Low Roller · Post by **Low Roller** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 7:49 pm

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I'll let you know how it goes after everything is put together.

discopig · Post by **discopig** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 10:18 am

On the topic of the heatpipes - I tried to do some googling, and there are some good articles showing what is inside the heatpipes, but i couldn't find a test showing whether orientation makes a difference. It would actually be intersting to see whether tower vs desktop vs upside down (out of curiosity) made a significant difference. Lots of forum opinions, but I can't seem to find an objective test - does anyone have a link?

Oh, and even more off topic - Low Roller - are you looking to unload that Q6600

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Low Roller · Post by **Low Roller** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 11:44 am

discopig wrote:
Oh, and even more off topic - Low Roller - are you looking to unload that Q6600 .

Yeah, as a matter of fact, I am.

(once the new rig has been sufficiently set up etc.)

Its a G0, and the VID shows up at 1.2125v. I had little trouble running it @ 3.4GHz, using a Xigmatech s1283 sitting on my Abit IP35 Pro stuffed into my P182. That mobo has some significant vdroop issues so I never felt comfy pushing it beyond 3.4, and my everyday speed has been 3.2GHz.

I'm not quite ready to part with it yet, but I will be once I get the new system up and running.

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:18 am

vdroop looks weird, but it's not a problem... in fact, i've seen articles an anandtech that claim that it's better to have vdroop... you just have to compensate for it by setting the idle state voltage higher.

Low Roller · Post by **Low Roller** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 10:07 am

danimal wrote: you just have to compensate for it by setting the idle state voltage higher.

I never really wanted to do that, though. Boards like the EP45 had much less of a vdroop issue. That series by Gigabyte are the best p45 boards IMO. I almost got one for my q6600 but just decided to save my pennies for an i7.

That's been a mixed blessing. The price of DDR3 has skyrocketed since last fall.

Low Roller · Post by **Low Roller** » Tue Mar 16, 2010 7:38 pm

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PudinPops · Post by **PudinPops** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 4:37 pm

Nice! I guess Xmas came early!!!!

Low Roller · Post by **Low Roller** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:44 pm

Well, I got around to putting this thing together, and decided the D14 was just too big for my p180 mini. Its one thing to see it in pictures, but its another when you actually pull that monster out of the box and gaze at it with your own eyes.

In the end, I chickened out and installed an H50. I like it so far. It looks neat and makes for a clean install. The performance is satisfactory. It makes a little noise, but H50 is far from the noisiest thing in my case. That leads me to:

My Corsair HX750. Its freaking loud. I should have done more research on this PSU. My HX620 is very quiet, so I just assumed this one would be too. I got it thinking I'd like to crossfire at some point, and with power requirements of today's GPU's getting outrageous, I would do well to give myself some headroom. As it stands right now, however, the hx620 just got a new lease on life in my main rig. I won't be going dual GPU for 6 months or so. The HX750 will not be sticking around simply because it makes too damn much noise.

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 2:38 pm

Low Roller wrote:
danimal wrote: you just have to compensate for it by setting the idle state voltage higher.
I never really wanted to do that, though. Boards like the EP45 had much less of a vdroop issue. That series by Gigabyte are the best p45 boards IMO. I almost got one for my q6600 but just decided to save my pennies for an i7.

That's been a mixed blessing. The price of DDR3 has skyrocketed since last fall.

i like gigabyte boards, there is a lot of bang for the buck.

the higher vdroop at idle isn't a problem, because it's not generating any heat when it's not under load... but it is a bit disconcerting to see your voltage way up there like that :-0

the big noctua will probably fit no problem, what you may have to do with that 4-pin power supply cable is to plug it in before the motherboard gets screwed down to the case standoff posts... it's kind of a hassle.

with the mugen2, i had to hold that edge of the motherboard up high, almost out of the case, in order to get the 4-pin connector seated.

it looks like you have a great build going there, regardless of which cpu cooler is used.

New PC on the way ......

New PC on the way ......

Sneak peek .....