CPU Cooler for HTPC

[Thor]

Hey all,

I'm building a HTPC for me mother (prolly wasted on her and should be interesting watching her try to use it, heh) from my old Rig parts:
Intel P4 3.4GHz 800FSB Northwood S478 cpu
Asus P4P800-E Deluxe Motherboard
Sapphire 512Mb ATI X1600 PRO AGP8X with Zalman VF900-CU Quiet Dual Heatpipe Cooler
Corsair 1.5GB XMS Platinum DDR3200 Memory
Primary HDD: WD SATA150 160GB 7200rpm HDD
Additional HDD: WD SATA150 250GB 7200rpm HDD
Pioneer DVDR-110D 16X DL Burner (multi-region hacked)
Enermax 620Watt Liberty Modular PSU

All to be housed in the following HTPC case:
Silverstone LC16M

Now my question is, what cpu cooler should I use to cool the HTPC, all it will be used for is Movies, XviD's, HD-TS, DVD's & Music.

Now I'd like to use the Scythe Miné Quiet Heatpipe CPU Cooler, but I don't think it would fit in the case, due to it being 15cm tall, I'm still waiting to hear back from Silverstone Tech to find out what the maximum height for a cpu cooler the LC16M would allow.

If it does turn out that the above cooler is too big then i've lined up these alternate coolers:
Scythe 'Samurai Z' Aluminium Heatpipe Cooler
Zalman CNPS9500-LED Aero Flower Cooler
Thermalright XP-90C (Copper Edition) with Thermaltake 92mm Case Fan / Vantec 92mm Stealth fan
OCZ Tempest 92mm Cooler
Asus Silent Square (if it fits)

I'd like it to be quiet yet give good temps.

Watcha think, any other S478 cpu cooler suggestions that would fit in the LC16M?

Oh and what OS do you think would be best suited for the task:
XP Home, Pro or MCE?


TIA, James.

[scrandman]

Zalman 7000 should fit and 7700 might fit depending upon CPU location on the mobo.

[dave87]

Arctic cooling freezer? I think that should fit?

[Clunk]

I had exactly the same problem when I built an HTPC. I bought the Scythe Mine and it was too tall, so after some reading up, I found the Thermalright SI-128 and it is fantastic, and it is low enough to slap a 120mm fan on top of and still get the lid on.

Ive sold the HTPC now, but Ive still got the heatsink in mint condition if you fancy it?

[saltynay]

your case is exactly the same height as mine lol you will only be able to fit a zalman 9500 in it

[Thor]

Originally Posted by dave87

Arctic cooling freezer? I think that should fit?

Used it before, thought it was no offense.

Originally Posted by scrandman

Zalman 7000 should fit and 7700 might fit depending upon CPU location on the mobo.

I've used the 7700 before and didn't think it performed that well, in fact, I've still got it, along with a CoolerMaster Hyper6 to which I would use if I still had the retention brackets, doh!

Originally Posted by Clunk

I had exactly the same problem when I built an HTPC. I bought the Scythe Mine and it was too tall, so after some reading up, I found the Thermalright SI-128 and it is fantastic, and it is low enough to slap a 120mm fan on top of and still get the lid on.

Ive sold the HTPC now, but Ive still got the heatsink in mint condition if you fancy it?

The SI-128 isn't S478 compatible otherwise I might have brought the cooler from you.

Originally Posted by saltynay

your case is exactly the same height as mine lol you will only be able to fit a zalman 9500 in it

Doesn't mean the internal sizes are the same unless you have exactly the case, different cases n layouts u know?

[Clunk]

Sorry, didnt see the s478 bit

[aidanjt]

The SI-120 will fit on an S478 no problem:
http://www.thermalright.com/a_page/m...duct_si120.htm

It was basically a revision of the XP-120, because it's heatpipes caused massive compatibility issues on a large array of boards.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by aidanjt

The SI-120 will fit on an S478 no problem:
http://www.thermalright.com/a_page/m...duct_si120.htm

It was basically a revision of the XP-120, because it's heatpipes caused massive compatibility issues on a large array of boards.

Yeah but Clunk is selling the SI-128 which doesn’t fit S478 boards. Still, it's another heatsink to consider I guess, thanks. I've been checking out some reviews of the LC16M case and none of em state the internal dimensions for cpu coolers, typical! But from the looks of how tight the PSU is installed in the case I would say I could have a cooler with a max height of 13cm which rules out both the:
Scythe Miné Quiet Heatpipe CPU Cooler
Asus Silent Square
Also, gone off the OCZ Tempest Cooler

So now, just gotta choose between these 3:
Thermalright SI-120
Thermalright XP-90C
Zalman CNPS9500-LED

[Thor]

Scratch that, the SI-120 has been discontinued and is no longer for sale, not even on fleabay.

[aidanjt]

I know. If you think it's any indication of the SI-120's performance my XP-120 cools my P4E 3.2Ghz to around 34.5C on a cool day, pretty good for a CPU that eats juice, does a good job of cooling the NB chip as well.

aidan@raptor ~ $ sensors
w83627thf-isa-0290
Adapter: ISA adapter
....
M/B Temp:    +26 C  (high =    +0 C, hyst =   +11 C)   sensor = thermistor   ALARM
CPU Temp:  +37.5 C  (high =   +80 C, hyst =   +75 C)   sensor = thermistor

That's it tonight.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by aidanjt

I know. If you think it's any indication of the SI-120's performance my XP-120 cools my P4E 3.2Ghz to around 34.5C on a cool day, pretty good for a CPU that eats juice, does a good job of cooling the NB chip as well.

aidan@raptor ~ $ sensors
w83627thf-isa-0290
Adapter: ISA adapter
....
M/B Temp:    +26 C  (high =    +0 C, hyst =   +11 C)   sensor = thermistor   ALARM
CPU Temp:  +37.5 C  (high =   +80 C, hyst =   +75 C)   sensor = thermistor

That's it tonight.

Yeah, I'm leaning towards the XP-120 now as according to the Thermalright website it will fit on me mobo, just a matter of sourcing one now.

[Thor]

Should have really checked uk stock before comparing heatsinks. So i've now got these heatsinks to choose between:
Silverstone SST-NT06 V2 (On Low rpm setting)
Silverstone SST-NT06 Lite with Scythe S-FLEX 120mm Fan (1200RPM, 49.0CFM cfm, 20.1 db)
Zalman CNPS9500-LED (on Low-Med rpm setting)

Oh and if anyone has a Mint Condition Thermalright XP-120 / SI-120 (S478) that they want to sell at a good price then please let me know.

Any thoughts/opinions appreciated, thanks, James.

[aidanjt]

Zalmans are always decent, the 9500 is suppose to be very good for it's size/weight class, not a bad price either.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by aidanjt

Zalmans are always decent, the 9500 is suppose to be very good for it's size/weight class, not a bad price either.

But is it better than the Silverstone SST-NT06 Lite with Scythe S-FLEX 120mm Fan at matched rpm/db rating, granted that cooler with fan comes to over £10 more than the Zalman but the cost doesn't really bother me if it proves to be a better & quieter cooling solution.

[aidanjt]

I read a cooler roundup a few days ago, one thing that stuck out in it was the silverstone coolers tended to cost more (as with everything silverstone) with less than average performance.

The zalman 9500 and 9700 were also featured, and the 9500's bigger brother performed (only) slightly better, but both have manageable acoustic characteristics. Obviously the aero design isn't as beefy as the big boys (like the scythes, arctic, etc), but a lot better than stock coolers anyway, especially the prescott stock cooler, i remember testing that for the hell of it, and it was rubbish.