What is the best Socket A cooler right now?

Cooling Processors quietly

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Topdawg
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What is the best Socket A cooler right now?

Post by Topdawg » Fri Mar 03, 2006 3:09 am

I am in search for a truely silent cooler right now to replace my Vantec Aeroflow :lol: , coming from the end of my overclocking journey, of course.

I am really impressed with the Scythe Ninja, but its being not available in socket a format kind saddens me a lot :x

What do you guys think is the best performance/quiet cooler out there besides the Ninja?

wim
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Post by wim » Fri Mar 03, 2006 4:04 am

maybe thermalright si-97?

qviri
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Post by qviri » Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:31 am

Ninja's little brother, Scythe Katana?

Aris
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Post by Aris » Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:38 am

i'd say the thermalright si-97 also.

dukla2000
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Post by dukla2000 » Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:42 am

I love my Titan Vanessa-L (post here with more links). It has a 12cm fan that can be replaced with your favourite slow/quiet version, arguably could run passive depending on environment as a couple of comparitive tests have shown it to be competitive with TT Super Typhoon & Scythe et al, and comes with mounting kits that mean it has a chance of mounting on your next CPU as well.

Mine started life on Socket-A, moved across to S-754, and is still happily employed after I stripped my Sempron naked.

ps - Welcome to SPCR! :D

filipcza
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Post by filipcza » Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:51 am

I just upgraded to si-97(from igloo silent breeze) and I'm very impressed. I previously had temps around 40 idle and 60 load.

Now with si-97 temps are 25 idle and 38 load!

So they are only about 20 lower..so yes, I think si-97 is pretty damn good. And that is with the included thermal paste, not with arctic silver or any other fancy stuff.

-Pete

Topdawg
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Post by Topdawg » Sat Mar 04, 2006 4:00 am

thermalright si-97 doesn't look bad at all.. I just recently returned a Zalman CPNS 7000Cu for socket mismatch (I am still using an overclocked XP1700 :lol: )... So looks like there isn't a stock fan with this HSF? Any good recommendation for a silent fan and effective fan?

justblair
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Post by justblair » Sat Mar 04, 2006 6:13 am

Your going to get so many different recomendations here as any of the big coolers will have their fans (pun intended)

I am getting very good results from the TT Typhoons. Got 2 running at the mo, one active, one passive. Compared to the Ninja, they are just as quiet, and perform within a degree or two of each other. The TT is far cheaper though.

Of course the other question you have to ask yourself is what airflow plans you have. In narrow cases the TT may not be as appropriate as a tower cooler.

Bang for your buck, IMO I think the typhoon cant be beat, It also is capable of fitting most of the current and not so current socket configs.

Eunos
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Post by Eunos » Sun Mar 05, 2006 12:02 pm

I am using a TT Sonic Tower. Combined with a soft-mounted Nexus case fan it would bring good results for your purposes.

mattthemuppet
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Post by mattthemuppet » Sun Mar 05, 2006 5:42 pm

I don't think you can go wrong with a Katana for the price, or, if you're willing to spend a bit more, an SI-97A + Yate Loon D12SL-90 is a very good combination - quieter at min volts (~800rpm) than my previous AC copper silent 2 (also at min volts ~ 1300rpm) and around 5deg C cooler. Fan never ramps up either, even at 25C ambient and Prime95.

jazzgossen
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Post by jazzgossen » Sun Mar 05, 2006 11:56 pm

I also need a new quiet socket A CPU (and chipset) cooler. Does anybody know of a motherboard compatibility list for the ones mentioned in this thread?

At first, I was looking at the Zalman 7000A, but it says on their site that it's not compatible with my motherboard (Abit NF7-S).

Thermalright and Thermaltake (their sonic tower looks great) don't have a list on their site, and it would be a bugger to order one and find out that it doesn't fit...

Tephras
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Post by Tephras » Mon Mar 06, 2006 12:48 am


mattthemuppet
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Post by mattthemuppet » Mon Mar 06, 2006 2:49 pm

the SI-97A definately fits on the NF7-S as that's what I have. Nice mobo :)

Badger
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Post by Badger » Wed Mar 08, 2006 6:27 pm

I have the SI-97 (not 'A' version) with a 120mm Nexus fan on top of it at 5 volts cooling my Athlon XP-M 2400+ at 1.35 volts and 1800 mhz.

Great job cooling and it's as quiet as a Nexus 120mm fan at 5volts... and I don't know if anything with active cooling gets any quieter than that.

pony-tail
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Post by pony-tail » Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:22 am

Sonic tower is ok if you have the mobo holes else wise I would use a TR Si97,
Theres a fair chance on a CPU that is not overclocked and have fair case flow
you could run passive if you have a 120mm rear fan.
My athlon has no holes so I run the Si 97 -never a problem.

patricksumner
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Post by patricksumner » Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:45 am

I started with a Zalman CPNS 7000Cu. The fan could not be made quiet enough for me even with series resistor & fan mate. I wouldn't recommend this heat sink unless you do a fan swap.

Tried a Thermalright SP-97/90mm Nexus combo next. Very quiet. In my system, this was a big improvement over the Zalman. I didn't think this heat sink could be beaten..... until I tried the SI-97. It's been while since I did the swap and I can't remember the temp improvement (using same fan at same voltage) but I do remember it being pretty significant. Didn't make a difference noise-wise though. My (Seasonic SS-300 AGX APFC) power supply is dominant.

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