should I keep my TRUE? or update to a Megahalems?

[phoenixrage]

so currently I have a TRUE in my 3 year old rig (Antec 1200 case), with a Scythe S-Flex 1600RPM fan on it. Fixed speed, no fan controller, but will be getting one.

I'm about to switch up to a Fortress (FT-02) case and an i7 930 setup. My knuckles are dreading the day I have to re-install the TRUE, so my question is, is the Megahalems a significant enough update/upgrade? (to me anything more 2 degrees cooler at idle is significant).

I will have a 2nd S-Flex available after moving onto the new setup as I have one for the side fan on the 1200, so going push pull is most likely the scenario on whatever I settle with.

And I will be getting a fan controller, thinking about the Scythe ones, but are there any other ones that you guys recommend?

[MikeC]

You've already read the reviews, I'm sure, so you already know what the performance difference is likely to be. The megahalems is better, but no question the TRUE can work fine with your new system; it sounds like you're just looking for justifications to buy a new hs. Why not just go for it, and sell or donate your existing system intact as a whole system?

As for a fan controller, start first with the mobo-embedded ones. They might very well be good enough.

[phoenixrage]

you read my mind about the fan controller, after thinking about it, I was going to ask how the on board ones are vs aftermarket ones.

and good point on selling the system as a whole too.

[mentawl]

As another option, you can always put a second fan on the backside of a TRUE too. I've done that with mine, and it certainly boosted performance a decent bit . Only issue is having to somewhat jury-rig the mounting, but it can be done - I used bungee cord.

[phoenixrage]

As another option, you can always put a second fan on the backside of a TRUE too. I've done that with mine, and it certainly boosted performance a decent bit . Only issue is having to somewhat dury-rig the mounting, but it can be done - I used bungee cord.

yea, I was thinking that. but i'd go out and buy the clips for the fan though.

it wouldn't be as bad if my Antec 1200 had an opening in the back so I could remove the heatsink w/o completely dismantling the current system. Having said that, I'm leaning towards a new unit.. LOL.

also, I don't think S-Flex's are PWM compatible?

[danimal]

(to me anything more 2 degrees cooler at idle is significant).

i can't see why you would want to spend big bucks to lower idle temps a couple of degrees.

exactly what problem are you trying to solve by doing that?

it would be much cheaper to simply use indigo extreme instead of thermal paste: http://skinneelabs.com/tim-v2.html

you could also look at lapping the cooler or even the cpu chip itself.

[phoenixrage]

well, the PC is in my room, which can get quite warm itself, and I usually like to leave it on overnight as it compresses videos. which only takes a couple hours at most, and for the rest of the night it'll usually sit idle. so to me if its the difference between 41, to 38 degrees, i'll take it.

[Deucal]

Using indigo extreme + a better HS would of course lower it even more .

Now post some pics of the internal of the machine, how is the airflow inside the case? And how is your cable management? (When you've bought everything )

[lm]

well, the PC is in my room, which can get quite warm itself, and I usually like to leave it on overnight as it compresses videos. which only takes a couple hours at most, and for the rest of the night it'll usually sit idle. so to me if its the difference between 41, to 38 degrees, i'll take it.

How about scripting the system to shut down once encoding is done?

[phoenixrage]

will def. look into better thermal paste when I get the new heatsink/cpu. And will def. post pictures when I finally get all the parts in.

my current E6600 (in antec 1200) idles in the low 40's when its around mid 20's in the room. and i've seen it drop to low 30's when its cooler in the room (high teens).. So ambient temperature is having a huge effect on what i'm getting. too bad I won't be putting my i7 setup into the antec 1200 so I can compare to the FT-02.

So next question is, for the fans, going PWM will mean new fans, so it would be about the same price as a fan controller (Scythe Kaze Master Ace was on my mind to work with my S-flexs). wouldn't that be the same effect? or is there any benefit other than automated speed control that i'm missing?

[MikeC]

Most mobo fan controllers switch between PWM or voltage control. ie, you don't have to go pwm... and if you do, and later want to add manual or external fan control, there are fewer proven pwm fan controllers. PWM can cause fans to make MORE noise at lower speed if implemented poorly.

[danimal]

well, the PC is in my room, which can get quite warm itself, and I usually like to leave it on overnight as it compresses videos. which only takes a couple hours at most, and for the rest of the night it'll usually sit idle. so to me if its the difference between 41, to 38 degrees, i'll take it.

i'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that swapping cpu coolers will not change the amount of heat that the pc expels into the room.

the fact that the cpu itself might be a couple of degrees cooler is irrelevant to the energy required to do the encoding job.

and yes, ambient air temps affect the cpu temp, but that won't change the amount of energy that the job requires.

if lowering room temps is the goal, your money would be better spent on a really efficient power supply, because the heat generated from energy losses would be less.

[phoenixrage]

well, let me clarify, heat is really the secondary issue, its really trying to reduce overall noise, now my thinking here is, if it can cool better, then I can reduce my fan speed and maintain something relatively cool.

[danimal]

given the fixed speed cpu fan you are currently running, i can certainly see how noise is the major concern.

one approach might be to get a really quiet cpu fan first, using the motherboard to control the speed, and run it on the cpu cooler you have now.

[phoenixrage]

yup and that is why I also asked about fan controllers. I was thinking of going push/pull with a fan controller.

But with the new HR02 being announced, I kind of want to see how that performs. The way its designed, it is a nice option to go into my fortress case.

[danimal]

i'd like to check out the hr02! your pc is going to be a great overclocker, if you decide to go that route later on.

i did push-pull with the mugen2, the fan on the exhaust side is manually controlled by one of the dials on a $15 scythe kazeq fan controller... it normally runs at minimum idle, unless i'm gaming or doing video rendering... the factory fan that came with the mugen2 is controlled by the motherboard.

dense coolers with high impedance are the best candidates for push-pull.

[Lensman]

I've never considered anything but active cooling for my main computer (I have a Noctua NH-D14), but I did consider a passive HSF for my i3-530 file server build).

I had previously built an HTPC using an Intel e4300 with a passive Ninja mini. It worked out well.

When picking a heatsink for my new i3-530, I considered the Thermalright HF-01. Looking at various reviews of passive heatsinks, particularly those by our Mike Chin, I was struck by how many hoops there were to getting airflow right in passive setup and how even when set up perfectly, you were limited in how much power the heatsink could dissipate. I was also struck by how effective a regular heatsink with a low RPM fan was - even an ultra-low RPM fan. Any noise from the CPU fan buried in the case will be overwhelmed by other more direct path fans like the one at the top of the FT02.

Anyway, I ended up getting the Scythe Mugen 2 for my i3-530.

BTW, on my main build I have an i7-860 cooled by a NH-D14. I'm sure you'd be happy with that or the Megahelms. I am also using an FT02. Your main noise reduction will come from undervolting or replacing the top fan and also by undervolting the big 180mm fans. I thought they were too noisy even at the low setting so I ended up undervolting them to 5V and running them at high. I also replaced the top fan with an S-Flex 1600 undervolted to 5V.

BTW, If you still haven't bought your i7-930 I'd recommend taking a serious look at the i7-860 or the i7-865. Besides the TDP differences for the CPU itself, I've read reviews that talk about how much more power X58 motherboards suck up over the P55 ones - and power sucked up equals heat that must be dissipated from the case equals more or faster fans equals more noise.

[phoenixrage]

I already got the motherboard, plus this rig is going to also be used for gaming, so I figure I'd sacrifice a bit on that one.

later on in the year, i'll probably build up a less powerful machine for regular use, and leave this one for pure gaming.