Whats the best air cooling solution?

jimkonow

jimkonow

New Member
Well guys, im curious: whats the best air cooling solution you can come up with? throw it all at me.
i know the antec 900 is good, but i wanna see what you guys can come up with that could potentially be better, a900 mods included. hit me with it!
 
Well if you like the 900 I'd take it and add 2 dust filter at the front intake fans. But the Antec 300 with 3 added 120mm fans (2 at the front, 1 in the side panel) has good airflow over both the Motherboard ánd the videocard(s). AND it has already included dust filters on every intake fan place (2 front and one side).

And it costs like half. And if you're worried about sound you can put pieces of anything soft (cotton/solicon) between every fan and the case. Perhaps get the Zalman HD-cooler (the one with the huge load of heatpipes) for even better temperatures and silence... I know for sure you'll be cheaper, quiter and about the same temperatures if not better (that last is dependant of your CPU and VGA cooler(s))
 
Heatsinks play a larger role in cooler than the case. You can have the 900 with 5 120mm fans and still have poor cooling due to stock heatsinks. The Tuniq Tower and Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme are considered two of the best heatsinks around. If you're into silent heatsinks, check out the Scythe Ninja.
 
okay, this is good stuff, but i need more opinions! what would you guys rather have, 4 or 5 smaller (80/120mm fans) or one big fan (250mm or so)?
if so, why?
also, how hard is it to "lap" a processor? (sanding it down to a fine, smooth surface that has >99% contact with the heatsink, without the thermal paste)?
 
I would go with 4 or 5 120mm fans. One big fan isn't good for creating airflow, as it is just dumping or sucking alot of air out of one place.
 
jimkonow said:
okay, this is good stuff, but i need more opinions! what would you guys rather have, 4 or 5 smaller (80/120mm fans) or one big fan (250mm or so)?
if so, why?
also, how hard is it to "lap" a processor? (sanding it down to a fine, smooth surface that has >99% contact with the heatsink, without the thermal paste)?
Click to expand...

4 or 5 smaller 120 mm fans. Mainly because you can place them around where you need them. Not 80 mm ones though they are LOUD!

"lap" ? I have never heard of this but by the sounds of it me think that it's a bad idea!! Just get some good thermal paste and you wont have any troubles if you apply it right.
 
shenry said:
4 or 5 smaller 120 mm fans. Mainly because you can place them around where you need them. Not 80 mm ones though they are LOUD!

"lap" ? I have never heard of this but by the sounds of it me think that it's a bad idea!! Just get some good thermal paste and you wont have any troubles if you apply it right.
Click to expand...

Many enthusiasts lap their CPU and heatsink. I don't recommend doing it to your CPU unless you absolutely want to squeeze the very last bit out of your cooling solution.
 
The best air cooling solution I've had the pleasure of using is a simple cardboard duct which pulls in cool room air directly to the CPU fan via a hole cut in the side panel. This is the third CPU/stock heatsink combo I've used where the temps are at least 10°C cooler than using already-heated case air.

Right now, I'm running Folding@Home on both cores (100% CPU use) in a 28°C room, and the core temps are just 45°C.

Tom
 
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