CPU cooler for overclocking? £20-25

[dragossk]

So, what are the max temperatures the CPU is hitting?

And what is the GPU? Depending on the cooling system, it could just be blowing some of the air into the case.

On the positioning, I would have thought an horizontal airflow would be the best option so it draws less from the GPU and ejects it straight out of the back rather than making the PSU slightly warmer.

Not much experience with side panel fans on how it affects the airflow...I think if the rear exhaust feels warm, the side fan would help getting rid of the heat inside the case. I only remember this from my brother in law's PC, which I could feel the heat being exhausted at the front really warm. He had to buy a side fan and possibly (I don't remember) cut a hole through the case.

[mikeo01]

My temperatures hit 62c with prime95 with a mild voltage boost.

My GPU is MSI HD 6850, so it runs around 60c. I have it so the fans spin up 100% when it hits 50c.

Yeah horizontal airflow is best, but unfortunately my heatsink didn't come with one because of the AM3+ mounting bracket, so I had no choice but to install it vertically. Its positioned so that it sucks air from the GPU area and exhausts it up the top out of the PSU.

And the air coming out of the PSU is warm, out of the rear fan its slightly warm.

I would look into a new heatsink which is cheap or any other cooling solutions or advice.

Could changing the fans around make a difference? For example both exhausting?

[ZakWolf]

So you only have 2 fans on the back which are on exhaust? I have looked at the case and there seems to only be fan slots on the back. You should really invest into another case, where you can have good airflow, by having intake on the front and exhaust on the back. At the moment there doesn't seem to be any intake? Correct me if I am wrong.

[dragossk]

I was wondering about the temps since I run my i5 2500k at 4.3Ghz, so just 1GHz more than stock and pretty much it reaches 60-65 degrees on prime95, but it never gets that hot while on games. I only see the big difference in the room when I'm playing games and the GTX 680 GPU spews very hot air. Which usually runs at 65-69 degrees.

Not sure how hot is the bulldozer meant to be, but for an 1.3 GHz increase seems pretty good.

Which fan are you asking to put as exhaust as well?

[scaryjim]

If you've got to have the cooler venting vertically then you've already got the best option for that (blowing up into the PSU so the PSU fan can vent the hot air), but what you need to do is find some way of getting cooler air between the graphics card and the CPU cooler - the air that rises off the back of the card will be quite warm so you're basically trying to cool the CPU with warm air! Ideally, a front intake that blows along the top of the gfx card would be ideal, but I don't know the case well enough to know if that's possible - any chance you could take some pics?

[mikeo01]

Sorry I couldn't figure out how to insert images they're the images I could take to show you what its like.

Sorry its a link, I don't know how to attach files

[scaryjim]

Sorry its a link, I don't know how to attach files

np, I can see the images inline fine.

Looks like there's virtually no clearance between the gfx card and the bottom fan on the cooler - that's going to limit airflow and make any air going through the cooler pretty warm. Also I think you said the side fan is an exhaust? If so that's going to reduce the air available to the CPU cooler even more - far from optimal.

If you can turn the side fan round so it's running as an intake instead (which *should* be possible) it would make a big difference, as that would supply plenty of fresh, cool air around the gfx card and into the CPU cooler. Ideally you could also do with modding the case slightly and cutting a nice big open hole for the side fan - that "series of small holes" pattern will limit airflow too. If you can't turn the fan round swapping it out for a couple of 120mm fans might actually provide better airflow - position them so the middle of the fan is at the same height as the gfx card then they'll blow cool air above the gfx or the CPU cooler and below the gfx card which will help keep that cooler (hopefully reducing the temperature of the air going into the CPU cooler).

If that doesn't make any sense, let me know and I'll see if I can scribble up a sketch of what I mean!

[mikeo01]

Thanks for the help I get what you mean. Do you do if there are any long anti-rubber or normal screws for fans? The problem with this fan is that the holes are designed so that it can only be installed as an exhaust (no idea why they made it like this). I tried duct taping it to the case as an intake, which I could try again

I will see if I can widen those holes to fit in the fan, I suspected it may have been a problem. I will see if I can get a metal hole punch, may be easier. Yeah the space between the card and the heatsink is pretty much finger width

I was thinking of moving the graphics card to the second PCI-E lane, but I would of thought x4 bandwidth would reduce performance?

I used to have my HDD at the top and I threw in another 120mm fan at the front. The other front fan does nothing for cooling because of the cage behind it.

Will start modding the side panel when I get back from holiday.

Thanks for the help!

[mikeo01]

Actually looking at some cases on eBay are just as cheap as buying hole punches.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sumvision-...#ht_1563wt_982

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sumvision-...#ht_1563wt_982

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...#ht_2248wt_983


Some pretty cheap cases. Only thing is I would love to keep my 200mm fan

EDIT: Ignore, went ahead and started modifying

[mikeo01]

So I went ahead and started destroying my side panel

So far I've used my trusty messy "screwdriver" method, bending the holes so they eventually snap

Going to then file it down and then stick on some mesh to stop the dust going in.



Enough airflow? I am then going to bend the mounting holes so that I can use it as an intake

[scaryjim]

Personally I'd take a jigsaw to it, but that's because I already own one

If you think you're going to get the modding bug it's probably worth investing in at least a rotary tool - proper power tools make it much easier to get a decent finish. Plus it'll be quicker too. Not worth it if you're not going to use it regularly though.

I'd try and take a bit more out of the sides of the hole to try and make it a bit rounder (or octagonal, perhaps!), but otherwise that looks like a decent start You might be able to pick up some relatively cheap bolts and rubber washers at a local hardware store that would do the job for mounting the fan "backwards", without having to bend/break anything else - probably worth having a look first.

[simonpreston]

Scythe Mugen

Although that is out of the price range, I have one in my PC and I love the thing. The fan rarely needs to comes on even when clocking the E6420 from it's stock 2.13ghz to 2.6ghz. I can clock it to 3.2ghz with no bother (but at that point I make sure the fan comes on - even then it's not too noisy)

Worth the extra imo.

[ZaO]

I'm not completely sure if you can use it on that cpu but if you can then I would recommend the Corsair A50 which is what I use on my 2500K. I'm running it at 4.5Ghz / 1.35v and after an 18 hour custom Prime95 blend test the highest temp it hit was 60c. I haven't tried going any higher but I'm thinking I could probably hit about 4.8Ghz on this cooler.

[mikeo01]

I may just knock out the panel so its clear and get a filter in there instead. Bolts are pretty cheap but I could just mount it on the other side of the panel

Probably won't do much modding that's why its so "messy" and sharp

[mikeo01]

I am going to leave it at this for the moment. I don't think I will be modding too much any time soon, but if I will I can smooth the edges and get equipment to do that. Its intake and seems to be working very nicely



I have pretty much removed the side except 4 holes for mounting it.

[scaryjim]

Looks good Very industrial!

How are the temps now?