CPU Cooling - Thermalright True Black

[matty-hodgson]

E-Post its? No excuse for forgetting to download a widget for that

you can't stick them to your forehead though
or on people's back with "kick me" written on, not that i've ever done that..

[strike-down]

you can't stick them to your forehead though
or on people's back with "kick me" written on, not that i've ever done that..

Pranks werent the issue at hand mate The real issue is that taktaks memory is too volatile

[Aden]

bring it to my attention tomorrow if you hear no word from me, otherwise i may forget (i'm a very forgetful person )

edit:

Making a template so i can easily fill it in tomorrow

 ______________________________
|Single Fan: *                 |
|______________________________|
|Idle @~5%:                    | 
|______________________________|
|CPU: ??°C                     |
|MOBO: ??°C                    |
|GFX: ??°C                     |
|                              |
|CPU fan: ???rpm               |
|______________________________|
|______________________________|
|______________________________|
|______________________________|
|Loaded with orthos for 1 hour:|
|______________________________|
|CPU: ??°C                     |
|MOBO: ??°C                    |
|GFX: ??°C                     |
|                              |
|CPU fan: ???rpm               |
|______________________________|

CPUΔ = ??°C
MOBOΔ = ??°C
GFXΔ = ??°C

CPUFanΔ = ??? RPM

 ______________________________
|Dual Fan: **                  |
|______________________________|
|Idle @~5%:                    | 
|______________________________|
|CPU: 39°C                     |
|MOBO: 39°C                    |
|GFX: 46°C                     |
|                              |
|CPU fan: 603rpm               |
|______________________________|
|______________________________|
|______________________________|
|______________________________|
|Loaded with orthos for 1 hour:|
|______________________________|
|CPU: 53°C                     |
|MOBO: 43°C                    |
|GFX: 50°C                     |
|                              |
|CPU fan: 934rpm               |
|______________________________|

CPUΔ = 14°C
MOBOΔ = 4°C
GFXΔ = 4°C

CPUFanΔ = 331 RPM

Just giving you a subtle reminder

[TAKTAK]

Just giving you a subtle reminder

Oh balls, PM me tomorrow and shout at me and i'll do it

[Aden]

Sure thing

[vincent.m]

what were the results for the test them? piccys?

[Aden]

He'll be doing it this weekend

[TAKTAK]

what were the results for the test them? piccys?

i be doing them later or tomorrow having being inundated this week
i havn't even been near my PC

[TAKTAK]

Layout:




All air flow is to the top of the photos...

-------------------
Single Fan Top
-------------------
Pulling air through the cooler



Idle


Loaded with Orthos

 ______________________________
|Single Fan: *                 |
|______________________________|
|Idle 0~5%:                    | 
|______________________________|
|CPU: 39°C                     |
|MOBO: 36°C                    |
|GFX: 43°C                     |
|                              |
|CPU fan: 610rpm               |
|______________________________|
|______________________________|
|______________________________|
|______________________________|
|Loaded with orthos:           |
|______________________________|
|CPU: 49°C                     |
|MOBO: 38°C                    |
|GFX: 45°C                     |
|                              |
|CPU fan: 904rpm               |
|______________________________|

CPUΔ = 10°C
MOBOΔ = 2°C
GFXΔ = 2°C

CPUFanΔ = 296 RPM

-----------------------
Single Fan Bottom
-----------------------
Pushing air through the cooler



Idle


Loaded with Orthos

 ______________________________
|Single Fan: *                 |
|______________________________|
|Idle 0~5%:                    | 
|______________________________|
|CPU: 39°C                     |
|MOBO: 30°C                    |
|GFX: 41°C                     |
|                              |
|CPU fan: 593rpm               |
|______________________________|
|______________________________|
|______________________________|
|______________________________|
|Loaded with orthos:           |
|______________________________|
|CPU: 52°C                     |
|MOBO: 34°C                    |
|GFX: 41°C                     |
|                              |
|CPU fan: 894rpm               |
|______________________________|

CPUΔ = 13°C
MOBOΔ = 4°C
GFXΔ = 0°C

CPUFanΔ = 301 RPM

-------------------------
Dual fan in push pull
-------------------------
Bottom fan is pushing air, top fan is pulling air through the cooler



Idle


Loaded with Orthos

 ______________________________
|Dual Fan: **                  |
|______________________________|
|Idle 0~5%:                    | 
|______________________________|
|CPU: 33°C                     |
|MOBO: 34°C                    |
|GFX: 44°C                     |
|                              |
|CPU fan: 488rpm               |
|______________________________|
|______________________________|
|______________________________|
|______________________________|
|Loaded with orthos:           |
|______________________________|
|CPU: 43°C                     |
|MOBO: 36°C                    |
|GFX: 45°C                     |
|                              |
|CPU fan: 728rpm               |
|______________________________|

CPUΔ = 10°C
MOBOΔ = 2°C
GFXΔ = 1°C

CPUFanΔ = 240 RPM

so side by side results:

Idle
Top/Bottom/Both




The CPU has a 6°C lower idle when both fans are used as opposed to singular orientations in both cases.

Loaded
Top/Bottom/Both



The CPU has a 6°C lower load when both fans are used as opposed to singular orientation of a fan pulling air through the cooler.
The CPU has a 9°C lower load when both fans are used as opposed to singular orientation of a fan pushing air through the cooler.

[Aden]

Wow thanks for the indepth test. I'm definately going to go with a PushPull setup on the True Black now.. those temps are nice ina small case, hopefully I'll be able to go slightly lower with my antec's air cooling. I wasn't too sure what to expect, but 6oC seems good to be, especially for a single fan.

Thanks vary much TakTak (almost typed tictacthere.. :S)

[TAKTAK]

Wow thanks for the indepth test. I'm definately going to go with a PushPull setup on the True Black now.. those temps are nice ina small case, hopefully I'll be able to go slightly lower with my antec's air cooling. I wasn't too sure what to expect, but 6oC seems good to be, especially for a single fan.

Thanks vary much TakTak (almost typed tictacthere.. :S)

TBH, i was surprised at the difference that it made, i was expecting 1-2c max deviation

and it wouldn't be the first time someone has called me TicTac


couldn't measure the ambient temp as i don't have a thermometer but it was quite nippy in my room, i would guesstimate ~ 10c

[Noxvayl]

Awesome results posted there, thanks for doing the test (Can't give thanks on the post ).

Something that wasn't mentioned in the summary at the end was the difference that the configurations made to the rest of the system. Using one fan to pull had the CPU cooler but the Motherboard and GPU hotter than using one fan to push. I think this is because you don't have an exhaust vent close to the CPU so the hot air has to pass the Motherboard Chipset and GPU before exiting the case so not a problem in a Coolermaster CM690 for instance, but worth considering if your ability to exhaust air isn't very good.

I think I'm going to do a similar test when I upgrade my PC, thanks for the idea

[Noxvayl]

I did a quick test last night because I was curious and had a spare fan to use. I hope this is of use to anyone else that may stumble across this thread. (FYI the camera date is 1 day off)

This is my system


This is what I did:
I got my old Silverstone 120mm fan out the loft(~45CFM).
Opened my CM690 case(original model).
Lowered my overclock to 3.5Ghz for testing(so the CPU was the only thing running out of spec).
Used 3 different configurations for the test: Push, Pull and Push-Pull.
Ran IntelBurnTest at high setting.

Environmental conditions:
23 degrees centigrade(dc) for the room as indicated by my Oregon Scientific Weather Station.
21dc at the bottom of my case according to NZXT Sentry 2 sensors.
34dc behind the motherboard according to NZXT Sentry 2 sensors.
Each test was run for about five minutes.
In-between each test the computer was turned off to change the fan configuration.

Here are the results: Pull left, Push right


Push-Pull


Notes:
The Silverstone fan is considerably less powerful than the Enermax Magma, ~45CFM for the Silverstone fan and 69CFM for the Enermax.
I use 2x 140mm Enermax T.B. Silence fans at the top of the case as exhaust fans.
I have 1x Sharkoon 140mm fan at the bottom drawing air into the case, ~ 70CFM.
The side panel of the case was open.
I used the Enermax fan the for push only result and the Silverstone fan for the pull only result due to wiring complications with the Enermax.

Preliminary conclusion:
A push-pull configuration manages to provide 3-4 degrees drops in maximum temperatures even with unequal fan airflow. The minimum temperatures manage to drop by the same margin as well so the operating temperature seems to shift down by 3-4 degrees. The impact on the rest of the system is less noticeable but both the chipset and GPU are 1-2 degrees cooler during the stress test. I suspect this is because the fans are drawing air away from the chipset and GPU to force through the heatsink and then promptly dump it outside the case.

As you can see push-pull definitely provides a decent reduction in temperatures, not just for the CPU but other components as well(as long as you are using the CM690 and have the air flow going up). I am purchasing some more wire clips to permanently mount a second Enermax Magma 120mm fan on my TRUE. When I do this I'll do some more testing and complete a more thorough review.

[Pob255]

A couple of things to note here.
Unless the fans are running at a fixed speed the numbers are going to be skewed depending on the speed control method.

ps taktak, have you thought about cutting a hole in the bottom of your case? giving the cooler a direct path air vent would probably help it.

[Noxvayl]

Fan speeds were at 100% at all times. Thought I'd covered everything

[Pob255]

OK, one other thing to mention is you cannot trust manufactures numbers on sound levels and CFM, the reason is that there is no one fixed method to test these and the test setup can skew the numbers greatly.
Just attaching it to a cpu cooler will have an effect on the air flow of a fan.

What you should do is run a test with a single fan then run the same test again with the other fan to see how they compare.

PS do you know which silverstone fan it is? (model number should be on the sticker)