Best cooling setup for new build

doveman · Post by **doveman** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 7:51 pm

OK, I've pretty much decided my new PC is going to be:

Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4 motherboard
Phenom II 720 BE processor
Nexus Value 430w PSU

I'll probably wait and get the Radeon 4770 when it comes out and hopefully just use an Accelero S1 on it.

I'm hoping the heatsinks on the NB and MOSFETs will help keep the temps under control but I'm after advice on which CPU heatsink, fan and orientation will work best, bearing in mind I'd like to overclock the 720 to around 3.6ghz if possible but still keep noise under control. I'm a complete novice when it comes to the 720 and overclocking, but I imagine I can also run it underclocked until I need to push it.

I'm thinking the 120mm fan on the Nexus PSU will maybe help by drawing some heat away from the NB through the CPU heatsink, but maybe the choice of heatsink will be important here. I'd also normally have the CPU fan blowing out the back of the case, but would it perhaps work better in this situation to have it by the NB, blowing up towards the PSU fan?

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:04 am

doveman wrote:I'd also normally have the CPU fan blowing out the back of the case, but would it perhaps work better in this situation to have it by the NB, blowing up towards the PSU fan?

What case do you plan to use? This is a critical missing piece of info.

Anyway, barring special circumstances related to the case, having CPU fan blowing directly out the case is almost universally superior to blowing into the PSU. Especially in this situation, where the whole key to the Nexus PSU is that it is silent only because the fan barely spins at low temps. Why blow hot air right into it and cause it to speed up? There are much less expensive PSU than the Nexus that are just as quiet once the PSU gets warm. Really, the ideal situation for that Nexus is a separate compartment case (like various Antecs) to try and keep the fan from ever ramping up.

doveman · Post by **doveman** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 5:25 pm

Yeah, sorry. The case I'll be using is a Thermaltake Bach VX (without side window), which I picked up on special offer a while ago as it took my fancy. It's got one 140mm intake and one 120mm exhaust. I haven't properly tested the fans it came with yet, but I can easily change them.

I'll be removing the lower removable drive cage and probably drilling out the stand it sits on as well and placing my two HDs behind the intake fan. I might also cut one or two 120mm fan holes in the bottom of the case before I start the build, so that I can experiment to see if having the intakes on the bottom helps reduce the noise whilst maintaining adequate airflow.

I take your point about not being a good idea to blow hot air into the PSU. Having not used a 120mm fan PSU yet, I couldn't help wondering whether having the CPU heatsink fan blowing back and the PSU fan sucking up would create problems with the airflow.

Reading the review of the Nexus though, I can't understand why you say that there are much cheaper alternatives that are just as quiet once the PSU warms up. With an intake temp of 40c and a temp rise of 15c at 430w still only resulting in it producing 19dBA, I've not seen anything that comes even close, at any price.

To help keep things as cool as possible though, I'll probably build a vent from the front panel to the PSU to stop heat from the slots on the cable output side recirculating.

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Fri Apr 03, 2009 8:05 pm

doveman wrote: Reading the review of the Nexus though, I can't understand why you say that there are much cheaper alternatives that are just as quiet once the PSU warms up. With an intake temp of 40c and a temp rise of 15c at 430w still only resulting in it producing 19dBA, I've not seen anything that comes even close, at any price.

If you read the forum thread about the Nexus Value 430 review, there is some discussion of this. The 19dBA at full load is untouchable. The issue is more at point at which the fan actually starts to ramp up but is still far from hitting its max spin. There are some PSU that are just as quiet at this temperature delta. The Enermax Pro82+ 425W is cited as an example. Whether that unit is actually much cheaper than the Nexus depends on your country of residence, so maybe my original statement was something of an exaggeration. The problem here is that SPCR has tested very few PSU in the new anechoic chamber, so it is hard to really know how well the Nexus compares when outside the extremes of its fan controller. I guess what I was really trying to say is that we know the Nexus should be silent if we keep it cool and thus we should try and keep it cool.

doveman · Post by **doveman** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 7:12 pm

Thanks for explaining your point. I've had a better look at the thread about the Nexus review and I see what you're saying about alternatives, such as the Pro82+, being as quiet or better at below full load.

Even so, both the Nexus Value 430w and the Enermax Pro82+ 425w cost about the same here in the UK, so there's no price advantage and I was put off the Enermax PSUs by the non-standard fan controller and there also seems to be mixed opinions on the Pro 82+.

As regards keeping PSUs cool, it would be interesting to know if the noise produced by various PSUs at different loads can be substantially reduced by keeping the intake temp low, say around my usual ambient of 22-25c, although this would really only be possible with 80mm straight through fans ducted to the front of the case, or where a PSUs 120mm fan can be on the outside of the case.

doveman · Post by **doveman** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:16 am

So, any thoughts on CPU heatsink and fan?

I'm leaning towards getting the HR-01 Plus. Am I correct in thinking that I need to get the HR-01X and the S-type heatsink clip to mount it so that the fan blows back rather than up. Will I need anything else? At the moment, I'm planning on getting either the Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4 or GA-MA790XT-UD4P motherboard, if that makes any difference.

Which fan would work best with this heatsink and what's the best way to attach it whilst isolating it at the same time?

UpThyWazzoo · Post by **UpThyWazzoo** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:59 am

I'm currently using a Core Contact Freezer on my PII 920. It is pretty big, and I had some difficulties installing it (not to mention I had to mount it backwards so it wouldn't cover my RAM slots), but the cooling performance is very, very good.

It was only $30 on Newegg with a promo code and I have a Scythe S-Flex (pulling air) on it at 40%

At 21C ambient, I get 29-33 surfing the web/watching a movie and 46 with Prime95

I'm sure that if I sacrificed two ram slots to mount it properly I'd get even lower temps.

doveman · Post by **doveman** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:22 am

Sounds interesting, although the mounting difficulties are a bit of a put off. I'll have to see how much that cooler sells for here in the UK.

QuietOC · Post by **QuietOC** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:45 am

I wonder if the $135 Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition is worth the trouble over a Core 2 Duo or even a $70 Pentium Dual Core E5200. I have to say the latter is pretty quick when overclocked to 4+GHz. The Phenom II is still pretty power hungry--even with disabled core(s).

I have a $55 X2 5800+ recently, overclocked it to 3.15GHz, and it runs plenty cool with a Scythe Ninja Rev.B. You can mount fans on any side of the Ninja, so orientation is not an issue.

doveman · Post by **doveman** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 11:59 am

I don't know about power hungry. The 720 uses 56 W according to lostcrcuits (Thanks Mats)

I definitely think the bigger cache and extra core is worth having. The Ninja Rev.B isn't anywhere near as good as some more recent heatsinks. I'm just trying to find out which of those will be most suitable for my build.

danielG · Post by **danielG** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:02 pm

I bought a GA-MA790X-UD4 motherboard and a Phenom II 720 BE CPU two days ago. I was quite surprised when I noticed the 720 runs cooler than my old Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (2.3 Ghz, 65W), even at full load. I'm running it at stock speed. I won't post any numbers since it is a brand new mobo and I'm not sure if I'm reading the temperatures correctly.

doveman · Post by **doveman** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:33 am

I'm planning on getting that combo myself and I'd be very interested to know what temp the Northbridge is running at, if you get a chance to measure it.

danielG · Post by **danielG** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:06 am

I have an Antec P182 with:

middle intake: S-Flex @ 800 rpm
rear exhaust: Slipstream @ 600 - 800 rpm
top exhaust: S-Flex @ 800 rpm

CPU has an Asus Triton 75 with an Artic Cooling S12025 PWM @ 450 ~ 700 rpm. Gfx card is an Ati 3650HD with AC Accelero S1.

I ran CPU Burn-in (3x) and rthdribl for 30 minutes. Max temperatures are as follows:

Temp1: 28ÂºC
Temp2: 33ÂºC
Temp3: 44ÂºC
Core: 31ÂºC

Measured with Speedfan 4.38 beta 14 and HWMonitor 1.13. I don't know which is which or if it is accurate, but I hope it answers your question. Ambient temp was about 17ÂºC.

EDIT: I hope you didn't mean measuring the northbridge temp with a infrared thermometer. I don't have one of those.

doveman · Post by **doveman** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:05 pm

That's really helpful thanks (no, I wasn't expecting you to have an infrared thermometer). They all look good, even taking into account your low ambient.

I'll e-mail Gigabyte to ask if they can clarify what the 3 thermal sensors are measuring.

Best cooling setup for new build

Best cooling setup for new build

Re: Best cooling setup for new build