What HSF combo? SK6, X-blower, Aero 7?

[Stu C]

I'm looking to move upto a Barton 2500, and currently I have an SK-6 with an 80mm YS-Tech fan (3000 rpm, 45.2CFM, 34.2dBA)... do I:-
- Stick with what I have
- Slap an X-blower fan onto the SK6
- Get an Aero 7 Lite

I don't really want a fan louder than 35dBA... are these blower fans really that much better?

What should I do?

[Zathras]

The fan on the Aero 7 Lite is loud, and I mean loud. Just got one for my brother and even on minimum voltage on the adjuster it makes more noise than my complete system. He's even 7v'd the fan connector and run it off the adjuster (must be running about 4v!) and it still rattles like mad. However since it's only a Duron 650@950 on 1.8v, it isn't kicking out an awful lot of heat so we're going to replace the fan with a panaflo from that Dorothy woman and put it on the fan speed adjuster that came with the 7-lite. The heatsink itself looks fairly sound and the adjuster is of pretty nice quality/appearance so I'd go for it and look at replacing the fan. Tis only about £11 from Scan.

[Austin]

I don't know the SK6, is that comparable to the Thermalright AX-7/SLK800, Alpha PAL 8045/8942 and Swift MCX462+? If not I'd plump for one of those or the superbly efficient (esp on the pocket) Volcano 11 HSF (£15). In terms of fans Smart Fan 2 (as used on Volc11) gets my vote but Vantec 's Aeroflow is also VERY good thanks to its superb design. I would suggest you try your current HSF combination with the Barton and see what it can do, if you need/want something more then my recs would be the Volcano 11 or a Smart Fan 2 on a Thermalright SLK-800 (great HS and easy to mount too).

PS. I run Volcano 11 on my Barton XP2500+ and can do 2.0ghz (10% o/c) with 400FSB (XP2800+ speed?) 1.55v (undervolted) with my fan set to a lowly (and quiet) 2200rpm.