I was recently looking at the Zalman CNPS7700-Cu HSF, and just found out that it isnt compatible with my mobo which is an MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum socket 939. Someone suggested getting the Asus Star ice. Anyone have any other suggestions?



(PC specs in profile)

aircooling is getting old but unfortunely its still a standard. Thermaltake makes some good heatsink/fan.

Your telling me, but i gotta get something better than stock..

The best air-cooling possible would probably be a Thermalright or Swiftech heatsink with a Sunon/Panaflo fan (those companies don't include fans). The best bang for your buck is generally Thermaltake. The Zalmans are nice and quiet but really aren't that great of performers........at least not on Prescott processors and are very heavy.

Well i got an AMD 64 3500+

They will work for your processor. I'm just giving you an example of a processor that emits a lot of heat and how the cooling unit handles it.

Gotcha, Thanks for the info.

Triple Phase Change Cooling. What refrigerators use. Good one costs around 2,000USD and keeps CPU @ up to -40ºC.

hi i got asus star ice in my p4 3.2 prescott socket 478 the stock was running at 64c with high db and
i could not overclock the cpu more then 3.25ghz now when i tried the asus star ice my temp is at 45c
and running at 4.1ghz with very low noice more then the stock so if u wanna buy a good aircooler take my
advice and buy asus star ice

The best air cooler is the Thermalright XP120. Stick a 120mm fan on this and you get superb cooling with less noise.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Thermalright_120.html

If that's too big, there is always the XP-90.

Then there are the new Arctic Cooling Freezer models which appear to give good cooling with low noise.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_Arctic_Cooling.html



Andy

Nobody checking the frontpage anymore these days? I just wrote an article about this a few days ago:

Keeping that hot CPU running cool and quiet
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/article/1770/

Something to ponder:

Heatpipe coolers (like the XP120 and Star Ice) use phase-change fluids in the heatpipe to conduct heat from the die to the fins. So, how does the vapour return to the die? If the heatsink is mounted vertically, then gravity will do the job. But what happens when it's mounted horizontally? Gravity will pull the liquid to the lowest part of the pipe, which isn't the die.

So, do heatpipe coolers work better when mounted vertically than when mounted horizontally?



Andy

Hopefully this will be helpful to you; we have posted an article comparing many of the top CPU coolers recommended in our Best CPU Cooler Performance - Q1 2008 roundup here: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=45&Itemid=1

All of the coolers used the same fan so that CPU cooler performance was isolated, and all of the products were stock (not lapped or modified). You may find different performance results by using a different fan or modifying the product.

Olin,

Looks like this is your first post to HWA...... Welcome to HWA !!!


Hey.... just to let you know.... the thread that you posted in is over 3yrs old since last post. The orginal poster by now would most likely know more about the available hsf products and the technologies......

The article would be useful if it was started in its own thread.

He posted the same thing on at least one other forum today after just registering ... just trying to spam up some hits.

Olin

Hey... I just noticed that YOU written the article....

I had read the article early this morning before you had posted.... I was going to start a thread about your article... I have to say you did a very good job in the review.

I do have a question for you though in regards to the positioning of the heatpipes of each cooler.... What is your opinion as to "Why" did each of the coolers cooled better overall wise by a couple of degrees when testing the motherboard position from "horizontal" to "vertical"....

In my opinion the heatpipes in vertical postion (motherboard horizontal/desktop) should have cooled better than when the heatpipes in horizontal position (motherboard veritcal/midtower). I am basing that on the concept of heatpipes functions in that the liquid closest to the heat source is vaporized and that vapor rises to the other end of the pipe and as it condenses back to liquid it returns to the heat source again for recycle.... liquid be heavier than vapor.... it seems to be logical that you would need "gravity" to assist the liquid to return back to the heat source. I would imagine that the pipes being in the horizontal or even below the heat source.... I would think it would be difficult for the liquid to return to the heat source..... But it seems that your testing says otherwise....... I have been told that it doesnt matter....

What do you think is happening from your experience in testing all those heatpipe coolers????

McFly,

if you look closely at the cooler article..... Colin is the author of the review at Benchmark Review.com website..... also he is the site owner.. heheheh...... I guess he is just trying to pass along his review on the heatpipe cooler review.

I had a Zalman CNPS 9500AM2 on my 165 opty and X2 3800+ and they never broke 55c with Overclocking to 2.7ghz with about 1.45v.But if you want awesome cooling the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme or even the Ultima 90 with a good fan can kick major butt.My qq6600 on a Ultima 90 OCed to 3.6ghz doesnt go over 64c. So on a 939 i think it would stay in the 40c range

My X2 3800+ at 2.8GHz with 1.40V stays under 50C (although one core is about 6-8C higher than the other almost always) with my Thermalright XP-90C and some diamond paste. I was going to upgrade the cooler when I got the X2, but it performed a lot better than I expected.

G. G. said:

First, let me thank you for reading the article. I'm not trying to hide that it's my article, since the name I registered here is the same as my name listed as the author of this article. I'm not trying to spam or anything; just trying to enlighten. There's so many opinions out there that seem to be poorly conceived and untested, that it made sense to set the record straight.

To answer your question about the horizontal/vertical motherboard position and the effect of gravity on the CPU cooler, you have to understand how heat-pipe technology works. Without getting into all of that detail here, I will summarize by stating that the heated end of the pipe evaporates the fluid and it rises to the cool end. Once it cools back to liquid, it runs back down to the heated base to complete the thermal cycle.

Now I can't say for certain as to "why" it works better with the "U" design heatpipe cooler facing sideways <---> while the motherboard is vertical, perhaps because there is a larger surface area for vapor to cool instead of just the tip of the rod? I know that with the tests I ran, the cooler didn't like the vertical position which puts all of the fluid into the base, and vapors at the ends of the heatpipe.