Ninja Plus, Mine, or Tuniq Tower for cooling Core2X6800

zpert · Post by **zpert** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 1:34 pm

Hey everyone, I'm having a small dilemma. I want very good cooling for my Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 cpu I'm going to get, because I want it to last a long time, and still be able to OC it a bit. The Tuniq Tower seems interesting to me, but I can't find real good reviews on it compared to the ninja and mine. Can you tell me how it compares to them? I really don't know a whole lot about it, but I'll keep looking for information. For now, any info/reviews you guys can give me on it would be awesome. I have read about the 2 Scythe heatsinks, so I'll give you my take on them, and hopefully you guys have the time to help me sort this out. Both have their pros and cons. The ninja plus seems to cool better, as Mike did the review here: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article636-page5.html
But it seems to be at the cost of weight (Ninja Plus-815g, Mine-560g) and space taken up, since the fan for the Mine is placed inside it, rather than on one side. Noise is going to be the same for both, as either way I'm going to use a 120mm fan to maximize cooling, either a Yate Loon or Global Win.

Cooling is easily the most important thing for my X6800, so if the ninja plus or tuniq tower would cool markedly better, I could deal with the more cramped conditions and more weight. However, I'm going to be using it in an Antec P180 case, so the airflow should be excellent with those 2 output fans in back and top of the case. In this case, would the Mine with the 120mm fan cool as well as the ninja plus?

Is this a case where the ninja, with it's few more degrees, might be overkill, and not really extending the life of the cpu more than the mine? What I mean is, am I comparing a very good cpu cooler to a very very good cpu cooler, and the the extra few degrees I gain from the ninja isn't really necessary?

At the end of the day, it's still cooling that I'm looking for, but it'd be really nice to be able to cool it extremely well without worrying about cramped RAM/Graphics cards. This is why I'd prefer the mine over the other 2 when space is considered. If the tuniq tower or ninja cool a lot better tho, and it would help my cpu last longer, while not being dangerously heavy, I'd go with the better one of those 2. Thanks a lot for the help!

-Paul

zpert · Post by **zpert** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 5:09 pm

edit: As I've kept researching, I came across an articlehere that has the tower coming out as the leader in cooling, but just 2 degrees cooler than the mine and ninja. With the Mine being more than 440 grams lighter and only losing to the tower by 2 degrees, which falls in the 2-3 degree margin of error, they're very close in performance. The weight is a concern for me, so this article has me leaning toward the Mine. Your thoughts?

P.S. It wouldn't let me edit my original post for some reason, hence the reply.

QuietOC · Post by **QuietOC** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 5:30 pm

zpert wrote:edit: As I've kept researching, I came across an articlehere that has the tower coming out as the leader in cooling, but just 2 degrees cooler than the mine and ninja. With the Mine being more than 440 grams lighter and only losing to the tower by 2 degrees, which falls in the 2-3 degree margin of error, they're very close in performance. The weight is a concern for me, so this article has me leaning toward the Mine. Your thoughts?

The wider spaced fins of the Ninja excel at the lowest flow rates. The Ninja is still the best choice for silence.

The Ninja is not the most efficient at audible flow rates, but that is irrelevant here.

From that Madshrimps comparison:
Tuniq passive 5V 76*C
Ninja passive 5V 67*C

Adding a duct:
Tuniq passive 5V 70*C
Ninja passive 5V 56*C

The Ninja rocks!

I wouldn't call a 14*C difference close.

Also lapping the base of the Ninja can help a lot. Also without a fan mounted the Ninja is much lighter, but the Ninja is really a lightweight compared to all copper coolers like the Zalmans.

zpert · Post by **zpert** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 6:12 pm

QuietOC wrote:
From that Madshrimps comparison:
Ninja passive 5V 76*C
Tuniq passive 5V 67*C

Adding a duct:
Ninja passive 5V 70*C
Tuniq passive 5V 56*C

The Ninja rocks!

I wouldn't call a 14*C difference close.

Also lapping the base of the Ninja can help a lot. Also without a fan mounted the Ninja is much lighter, but the Ninja is really a lightweight compared to all copper coolers like the Zalmans.

Ya I see what you're saying there, and with no sound whatsoever, the ninja works best. However, at 56C, that is 6 degrees hotter than the Mine at only 2dba less. So for the extra 2dba, hardly anything, the Mine still gives you very quiet cooling, yet gives you a 6C improvement, and is over 250g lighter than the ninja. You can see it here. Basically, to me, it boils down to this. In the battle of passively cooled heatsinks, the ninja wins all. However, for only 2dba more, why go passively cooled when you can have better performance at very close to the same sound level? I really want my processor to be cooled well, and passive cooling worries me because of the increased temps. So going with the fan way (still silent) seems to make more sense for me. And if I do go this way, the tuniq tower is the best, but by only 2 degrees better than the mine in the review. If you take into account that it weighs over 440g more, doesn't it seem like the Mine would be best? I'd like my parts to last, so I want them to be cool and not have over 900g hanging off them

, and this would still be a silent system. I see your point in the passive cooling testing, but in my case I can deal with 2dba for 6 degrees. What do u think?

QuietOC · Post by **QuietOC** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 6:26 pm

zpert wrote: Basically, to me, it boils down to this. In the battle of passively cooled heatsinks, the ninja wins all. However, for only 2dba more, why go passively cooled when you can have better performance at very close to the same sound level?

Ah, a 3 dB difference is twice as loud. dB is logrithmic scale.

Also the 33dB measurement is probably the ambient noise. Madshrimps doesn't have the uber expensive audio equipment that SilentPCReview uses.

I currently have the Global Win NCB fan in a duct with Ninja and while quiet, it is audible at 12 V. You really need the CPU/exhaust fan to get down to about 800 rpm for silence. Oh, and ducting works much better than mounting the fan on the Ninja.

FWIW: my lapped Ninja will run a 2.7 GHz @ 1.71 V Sempron 3100+ just fine with the exhaust fan off.

zpert · Post by **zpert** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 6:53 pm

QuietOC wrote: Ah, a 3 dB difference is twice as loud. dB is logrithmic scale.

Also the 33dB measurement is probably the ambient noise. Madshrimps doesn't have the uber expensive audio equipment that SilentPCReview uses.

I currently have the Global Win NCB fan in a duct with Ninja and while quiet, it is audible at 12 V. You really need the CPU/exhaust fan to get down to about 800 rpm for silence. Oh, and ducting works much better than mounting the fan on the Ninja.

FWIW: my lapped Ninja will run a 2.7 GHz @ 1.71 V Sempron 3100+ just fine with the exhaust fan off.

Wow, ok, I didn't know that. Well, haha, now I don't know what to do. I want quiet, but don't need absolute silence. You see, I just ordered a Yate Loon 120mm and a GlobalWin 120mm to compare them, and will use them in my case, and probably on the cpu, so I'm going to have that sound anyway. So with this knowledge, does that change anything? If I'm going to have that sound anyway, I might as well go active cooling right? You said it runs your 2.7Ghz @1.71V Sempron fine with the exhaust fan off!? What's the temps?? If you were going to use the cpu for a long time, would it last only passive cooling it like that? This is a lot of info to take in, so thanks a lot for takin the time to fill me in! Also, I was wondering about the tuniq 120mm fan, the 9 blades on it is, according to tuniq, more efficient than 7 blades. Do you know if there's been reviews of it? Here's a pic: http://www.xbitlabs.com/misc/picture/?s ... -b.jpg&1=1
Thanks.
-Paul

QuietOC · Post by **QuietOC** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:13 pm

zpert wrote:You see, I just ordered a Yate Loon 120mm and a GlobalWin 120mm to compare them, and will use them in my case, and probably on the cpu, so I'm going to have that sound anyway. So with this knowledge, does that change anything? If I'm going to have that sound anyway, I might as well go active cooling right?

You can always undervolt the fans and/or use your motherboard to run them at slower. Both should be excellent fans.

You said it runs your 2.7Ghz @1.71V Sempron fine with the exhaust fan off!? What's the temps??

Very hot. 78* C or so using Prime95.

If you were going to use the cpu for a long time, would it last only passive cooling it like that?

Yes, not a good idea. A duct with a 800rpm exhaust fan keeps the CPU much cooler.

zpert · Post by **zpert** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:23 pm

Ok, I think what I'll do then is wait til my fans get here, and see what I think of them at full rpm. If the sound is not much at all to me, then I think I'll go with the Mine, just for cooling's sake. You see, I've had a processor burn out on me before, running only for 6 months or so. I didn't really think it was running hot either, I monitored it at most at 50C, but if I remember right it was a AMD thoroughbred 2100+, a pretty old cpu. I don't know, maybe it wasn't the heatsink's fault, but I'm paranoid about hot cpu's now

If they're too noisy at that volume, I'll try getting a 12v to 7v adapter and trying them that way. Then I'll make my decision. If I go with a duct and slow moving fans, I'll go with the ninja. If the fans at full speed are no problem at all to me, I'll get a few of which ever one I like better of the two and stick them in my Antec P180. Thanks for the help QuietOC, I appreciate it a lot.
-Paul

Ayah · Post by **Ayah** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:21 am

Silence = Scythe Ninja
Loud = Scythe Ninja w/ 120mm finger cutter @ 4000+ rpm.

no1watson · Post by **no1watson** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 11:01 pm

I thought I'd just throw my 2 cents in here. I have the Mine, and in an Antec TX1050, with all the fans undervolted @ 5V. I put a 120MM CoolerMaster LED fan, not the quietest by any means, but set it to run at 1069RPm. I can hardly here it, and it keeps my AMD 3200 at 31 Degrees Idle, and I never see it go over 33 Under Load! It's quite amazing. I would suggest the Mine to anyone, and I used it's stock silicone Thermal paste as well. I am very happy with the performance I get with the Mine, and suggest it to you. The Ninja is great, but with a Fan, the Mine would be a better solution in my opinion

QuietOC · Post by **QuietOC** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 4:12 am

Ayah wrote:Loud = Scythe Ninja w/ 120mm finger cutter @ 4000+ rpm.

Just to reiterate: there is no reason to go with a Ninja + 4000 rpm fan. There are several other heatsinks that cool better than the Ninja using the same, loud 4000 rpm fan.

Also you can put up to four quiet fans on/around the Ninja.

jjwa · Post by **jjwa** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:57 am

Been reading up on reviews because I am looking for a silent but high-performance cooler myself. It turned out the Scythe Katana is very interesting, especially if you don't want to custom-mod something, or have to replace or add expensive fans to the cooler after buying.

jmke · Post by **jmke** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 1:33 am

QuietOC wrote:
zpert wrote: Basically, to me, it boils down to this. In the battle of passively cooled heatsinks, the ninja wins all. However, for only 2dba more, why go passively cooled when you can have better performance at very close to the same sound level?
Ah, a 3 dB difference is twice as loud. dB is logrithmic scale.

you are mixing up dB and dBA

a 3 dBA increase is "noticeable", yet it takes a 10dBA increase to be twice as loud.