SI-97? Hah! We don't need no steenking SI-97's !

Cooling Processors quietly

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
Ralf Hutter
SPCR Reviewer
Posts: 8636
Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2002 6:33 am
Location: Sunny SoCal

SI-97? Hah! We don't need no steenking SI-97's !

Post by Ralf Hutter » Thu Jan 27, 2005 7:55 am


Tibors
Patron of SPCR
Posts: 2674
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2004 6:07 am
Location: Houten, The Netherlands, Europe

Post by Tibors » Thu Jan 27, 2005 8:12 am

Tt wrote:High Density Tiny Fin
Have these guys ever heard of back pressure. The fins are so closely packed, that there is hardly any room for the air to move.

tay
Friend of SPCR
Posts: 793
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2003 5:56 pm
Location: Boston, MA
Contact:

Post by tay » Thu Jan 27, 2005 9:16 am

16 dB @ 54.4 cfm. Did these guys hire out SilenX sound equipment? I think this cooler will perform well with high airflow like the previous thermaltake copies of thermalright heatsinks.

How did they manage to make an aluminum heatsink 813 gram?

peteamer
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 1740
Joined: Sun Dec 21, 2003 11:24 am
Location: 'Sunny' Cornwall U.K.

Post by peteamer » Thu Jan 27, 2005 9:31 am

12cm ultra silent fan
:shock:

freak_in_cage
Posts: 92
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 8:05 am

Post by freak_in_cage » Thu Jan 27, 2005 10:22 am

looks good m8, basically an XP120 with copper base & heatpipes!

would be interesting to see how it performs against the XP120.

the fan looks similar to a Nexus 120mm! it even has "closed screw" holes!

JanW
Posts: 296
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 12:38 pm
Location: France, Europe Folding for SPCR

Post by JanW » Thu Jan 27, 2005 10:48 am

freak_in_cage wrote:the fan looks similar to a Nexus 120mm! it even has "closed screw" holes!
Yup, sure looks very similar to a Yate Loon. But most of all it looks like clever marketing. If Thermaltake can simply change the color of a medium speed fan to imply it's silent, that also speaks to the recognition Nexus has achieved and how smart a marketing move the orange fan color was of them in the first place. Even if many people find it ugly.

Shriek
Posts: 46
Joined: Thu Jul 15, 2004 7:54 am

Post by Shriek » Thu Jan 27, 2005 11:09 am

freak_in_cage wrote:looks good m8, basically an XP120 with copper base & heatpipes!
Actually, IIRC, the XP-120 base and heatpipes are copper, though nickel-plated.

ddrueding1
Posts: 419
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 1:05 pm
Location: Palo Alto, CA

Post by ddrueding1 » Thu Jan 27, 2005 11:45 am

Looks like a beast. Quiet? Me thinks not...

Slaugh
Posts: 774
Joined: Thu Dec 02, 2004 2:27 am
Location: Quebec, Canada

Post by Slaugh » Thu Jan 27, 2005 12:25 pm

I installed a Thermaltake SilentTower a couple of weeks ago... Thermaltake claims that it's only 21dbA... Yeah right! Maybe in the next room... I swapped that loud fan for a Nexus 92mm and then it was quiet... Imagine if you have that cooler with "2" thermaltake fans...

SometimesWarrior
Patron of SPCR
Posts: 700
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2003 2:38 pm
Location: California, US
Contact:

Post by SometimesWarrior » Thu Jan 27, 2005 12:29 pm

No one will ever buy a real 16dB cooler when their first introduction to silent computing comes from Thermaltake's marketing department. I wonder if they chose that figure just by looking through product specs of actual silent hardware, and picking a number that's a bit lower?

Ahh, nothing like a good Tt lambasting in the morning. :D

Slaugh
Posts: 774
Joined: Thu Dec 02, 2004 2:27 am
Location: Quebec, Canada

Post by Slaugh » Thu Jan 27, 2005 12:33 pm

MikeC should show them how to properly use a sound level meter! :lol:

niels007
Posts: 451
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2004 2:18 am

Post by niels007 » Fri Jan 28, 2005 1:36 am

The aluminium fins could've been so much 'deeper', doubling the surface area at little or low cost of heat. Optimally the heatpipes would then have to be more evenly distributed, and not seated near the 'top' as they do now. 1 hour more Autocad work and Thermalcrap might've actually done something clever :O

Ralf Hutter
SPCR Reviewer
Posts: 8636
Joined: Sat Nov 23, 2002 6:33 am
Location: Sunny SoCal

Post by Ralf Hutter » Fri Jan 28, 2005 6:04 am

SometimesWarrior wrote: Ahh, nothing like a good Tt lambasting in the morning. :D
Yep, kind of warms the old cockles, eh?

nuttybing
Posts: 71
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2004 6:37 pm
Location: Singapore

Post by nuttybing » Fri Jan 28, 2005 7:43 am

man i feel sad for people who go out to buy this thinking that it's quiet and got cheated out of their money

Big Typhoon : 16dBa
What a nice oxymoron haha

Wedge
Posts: 1360
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 10:59 pm
Location: NorthEast Arkansas, USA

Post by Wedge » Fri Jan 28, 2005 10:20 am

nuttybing wrote:man i feel sad for people who go out to buy this thinking that it's quiet and got cheated out of their money
Yeah I know what you mean. Let's just hope "quiet" to them means "not too loud".

nici
Posts: 3011
Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2004 8:49 am
Location: Suomi Finland Perkele

Post by nici » Fri Jan 28, 2005 10:55 am

Yeaargh! Image

1300rpm 120mm fan, 16dB(A) ===> Image

dan
Posts: 1243
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 2:01 am
Contact:

Post by dan » Sun Jan 30, 2005 7:36 pm

when thermaltake says it supports socket A, does it support the clip on with lugs or does this mean "hrough-the-board mounting holes"?

Rusty075
SPCR Reviewer
Posts: 4000
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Contact:

Post by Rusty075 » Sun Jan 30, 2005 7:44 pm

Judging by the clips they show, and its 813g weight, I'm guessing it'll be a through-hole mount.

acaurora
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 1464
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2003 2:51 am
Location: Elk Grove, CA
Contact:

Post by acaurora » Sun Jan 30, 2005 7:54 pm

It'll be just as successful as their Silent Boost, which wasn't a success at all.

mathias
Posts: 2057
Joined: Sun Jul 11, 2004 3:58 pm
Location: Toronto
Contact:

Post by mathias » Sun Jan 30, 2005 8:04 pm

acaurora wrote:It'll be just as successful as their Silent Boost, which wasn't a success at all.
Methinks this will be different and will be very successful at breaking motherboards, especially XP ones. Especially since this things looks like it uses the same kind of mounting system as their not-so-silent tower. Then again, the copper version of the n.s.s. tower weighed a similar amount.

clocker
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Dec 25, 2004 7:34 pm

Post by clocker » Mon Jan 31, 2005 4:03 am

Actually, although the questioning of TT's fan/silence claims may be valid, IMO the biggest problem with this sink (based upon test to destruction of a SilentTower) is the construction itself.
TT claims a soldered connection between the baseplate and the heatpipes (obviously needed for efficient heat transfer), yet the job they did on the ST was absolutely pathetic- minimal solder, randomly applied with almost no real connection between components.
In essence, the only heat transfer from baseplate to heatpipe was accidental.

Even assuming a proper assembly of the components, I have begun to question the whole validity of heatpipes as currently employed for CPU cooling solutions.
In most applications, the orientation of the pipes and cooling fins seems less than optimal (if not just downright wrong) and I can't help but wonder if the heatpipes are really doing much at all compared to the same design without pipes.

That said, I have just ordered a Thermalright XP-90 to try out.
Hope springs eternal and I pray that this one will not join it's kin on the shelf of shame.

TheWesson
Posts: 101
Joined: Tue May 25, 2004 9:41 pm

Post by TheWesson » Tue Feb 01, 2005 11:43 am

neh, heatpipes with internal wicks (as they all seem to be these days) are almost completely indifferent to orientation.

an SI-97 has no thermal connection, radiator to base, except for heatpipes. Works great.

Some heatpipe maker: "When calculating overall thermal resistance of a heatsink using heatpipes, the thermal resistance of the heatpipe should be considered negligible. Only the thermal resistance of getting heat into the heatpipe and out of the heatpipe need be accounted for."

or words to that effect.

Wedge
Posts: 1360
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 10:59 pm
Location: NorthEast Arkansas, USA

hmmm....

Post by Wedge » Wed Feb 02, 2005 10:35 pm

..and has anybody seen this SilentTower 4 in 1 CPU Cooler?

I see Bluefront using a Do-it-yourself here.

To me, it looks like a winner if the heatpipes really move the heat, but of course, I'm wanting some feedback :)

teejay
Patron of SPCR
Posts: 749
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 2:23 am
Location: The Netherlands

Post by teejay » Wed Feb 02, 2005 10:52 pm

Yeah, MikeC has seen it and reviewed it too (SPCR review of the Thermaltake CL-P0025 Silent Tower).

Wedge
Posts: 1360
Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2003 10:59 pm
Location: NorthEast Arkansas, USA

Post by Wedge » Wed Feb 02, 2005 11:12 pm

:( Sorry for the pointless post.....(I need to get over here more often)

Post Reply