CPU Cooling and case

MissM

MissM

Techno-Hippy
Hi guys and girls

First off I just want to say that I am not a tech fundi at all, so please help me out before I spend money unnecessarily!

The CPU I have is the AMD Phenom II 955 BE. It came with it's own cooler. Now I have noticed from day one that the fan is very loud, even when idling. Gets alot louder while gaming etc. This is rather annoying. My CPU temp is never unusually high though, so it seems that it is doing the cooling part ok. lol.

I read on a few forums that other people had the same problem with the stock fan of the 955 being very loud and people recommended they install an after market cooler. Most recommended the Cooler Master 212 Hyper Plus. They said this is a very good CPU cooler and reasonably priced as well. (Please bear in mind that I cannot really go any more expensive than this cooler!)

http://www.zapsonline.com/cpu-cool/...120mm-fan-support-cpu-cooler-frcc-ch212p.html

I also want to upgrade my case to the following....(Once again, this is more or less my budget and I like the side panel window)

http://www.zapsonline.com/coolermas...rc-310-skn1-elite-310-case-frch-ce310swn.html

Should I get the cooler? If I do, would it fit in the case? (Might be a dumb question, but some people said it is very big and couldn't fit in their cases properly).

Don't know if this is relevant, but I have a Biostar TA790GX A3+ MoBo

Thanks all!

:)
 
The cooler will fit in the case and yes, it is HUGE, although not as big as the N520
One thing that may be an issue is what else you'd like to have in your case, I built a similar config for a friend and cabling around the behemoth of a cooler was a nightmare :/

Also, the 212 is pretty loud as well ?
Maybe take a look at one of the Orb Coolers from Thermaltake, they are pretty quiet and have a much lower profile
 
Xero said:
The cooler will fit in the case and yes, it is HUGE
One thing that may be an issue is what else you'd like to have in your case, I built a similar config for a friend and cabling around the behemoth of a cooler was a nightmare :/

Also, the 212 is pretty loud as well ?
Click to expand...

Well, my graphics card is towards the bottom of my mobo, so i should have space for it.

I kept on reading that the 212 is apparently much quieter than the amd stock cooler. Coz this cooler is LOUD. lol. Is there any other cooler you would recommend in that price range more or less?
 
Xero said:
I built a similar config for a friend and cabling around the behemoth of a cooler was a nightmare :/
Click to expand...

MissM said:
Well, my graphics card is towards the bottom of my mobo, so i should have space for it.
Click to expand...

MissM... read again... CABLING. Cables.
Nightmare.

Anyway, quiet coolers that offer similar or better cooling performance will cost you.
The 212 is, Yes, quieter than stock.
Not by very much though.

I don't really feel like price-hunting right this minute though, so I'll check back tomorrow if nobody else has pitched it already.
 
Firstly Noise:

The AMD stock cooler is a 4 pipe heat-pipe cooler much like the 212 BUT the 212 has a far larger surface area in the stack of copper plates rising from it. Be aware that the pictures of these things do not convey how tall they are in reality.

Now this means that the fan on the AMD cooler is having to work really hard to get enough cooler air across the small fin array and is likely working full speed which is noisy indeed.

BUT the problem is NOT the cooler but the air-flow. With enough available cooler air AND the effective removal of heated air from the CPU area, the CPU fan should no longer need to work at full tilt.

So I think all you'd ACTUALLY need is a good chassis that has the proper airflow.

Airflow:
This is simply, get the cold air in and get the hot air out.
In fact just getting the hot air out effectively achieves 80% of the goal and the most practical idea I've seen in a long time is: Have a great big hole on the top to let the hot air out.
Like this chassis: http://www.zapsonline.com/antec-pcc...ed-front-bezel-black-atx-case-frch-a200n.html

As an anecdotal example: I built my father's PC (a Phenom II X4 940@3GHz) into an Antec New Solution NSK3480. OK so it's expensive... but comes with PSU and it's TOTALLY silent. Unnervingly so. You end up double-clicking the power switch just as you hear nothing and feel no vibration at all when it powers up.

The point of this anecdote is: This a MICRO-ATX chassis (tiny inside) it never get warmer than 45deg WITH the OEM AMD cooler plus you NEVER hear the fan spin up more than 40% and that's all 4 cores loaded with transcode for 20/30 minutes.

So it's not the cooler, it's the chassis. Rather spend the money on a thick-walled chassis than a thin-walled chassis if it's noise insulation you're after....
 
Cardboard wind-tunnels?

Everyone has made cardboard wind-tunnels for their PC.
Everyone... some like I, admit it and other are merely yet to admit to it.
 
The 212+ is an amazing cooler. You will not get anything better in the price range or even slightly above the price arrange. You would have to more than double the price to find soemthing competitive. The cool thing is is that you can change the fans on the cooler if you really want more silent ones.

In terms of whether it will fit, this all depends on the chassis. Look up the chassis spec and it will tell you somewhere on the website the height of cooler that chassis can facilitate.

I have the CoolerMaster 690 II Advanced Nvidia Edition case and I have found that coupled with the 212+, it is a beast in its price range.
 
@ effkay. thanks for the advice! had a look at that case and its nice. if u say that i just need to improve my chassis, then i would spend the extra money on it. so u say it would quieten my 955's fan? also, should i buy some thermal paste to apply? will give me the opportinity to clean it out nicely.

thanks all
 
I have the 212 Hyper Plus and I reckon it works quite well. You can also put another fan on the other side in a push pull effect - not sure if the would improve or worsen the cooling.

I have a CM 690 I put in a 120mm fan in the extra drive bays to suck in air below the CD Rom.

Also definitely use thermal paste.
 
cool. i assume the cpu came with thermal paste preapplied. was just thinking that when i get my new chassis, i can give my cpu a good clean and reapply some new thermal paste :)
 
Hmmm, my cpu came with a little tube of thermal paste, had to apply it myself. It would probably be a good idea to reapply thermal paste as over time the heat will make the paste lose its effectiveness.

Also on my CM690 I can't put a fan on the upper side panel hole because of the cooler.
 
Arctic Cooling MX4 is good and readily available, as is Zalman ZM-STG2. Neither require a curing period and should perform within 2 or 3 degrees of pricier alternatives.
 
flarkit said:
Arctic Cooling MX4 is good and readily available, as is Zalman ZM-STG2. Neither require a curing period and should perform within 2 or 3 degrees of pricier alternatives.
Click to expand...

I vote Arctic.
If you have some extra cash lying around, the Arctic Silver and Arctic Ice variants are also pretty damn good.
 
Thanks for all the input guys :)

Have decided not to get the cooler and just go with the Antec 200 case and some thermal paste :) Hopefully that will sort my noisy cooler out!
 
Nice Case

200_Q.jpg
 
One thing id like to note here ,
no one seems to care about the weight of the heatsink ?
We rarely put our pc's horizontal anymore..

From the reviews ive seen , good backplates , decently bolted down heat sink and not moving the case around afterwards seems to be the requirements when installing a heavy heat sink.


I wonder what stats we might be looking at in terms of motherboard life taking into consideration the weight of the heat sink.
 
kerbyross said:
I wonder what stats we might be looking at in terms of motherboard life taking into consideration the weight of the heat sink.
Click to expand...

As long as you don't bump or shift your box often, there shouldn't be a problem. Still, the manufacturers of larger coolers really should stick to a solid bracket/backplate mounting system, rather than simply a "socket clip"

(Zalman CNPS10X, I'm looking at you. Sternly)
 
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