CPU cooler advice

[hardflipman]

hi, i'm wanting to get a new cooler for my cpu. i think i'm going to change the cpu to an athlon x2 4200 s939 with an eye to upgrading to C2D later on in the year probably e4300 and overclocking a bit.

so i quite fancied the zalman cnps9700 as it seems to be pretty quiet - important - and cools well. however my only worry about these types of coolers is that it removes any cooling around the heatsinks on the motherboard.

is this likely to be a problem. i have an antec sonata case which has a 120mm rear fan and another 120mm inside by the drive cages

any thoughts?

cheers

[beachboy]

I bought the Scythe Mine for an AMD x2 3800 am2 65w. It is superb, silent plus excellent cooling. I bought it as a direct result of the review in PC Pro magazine (December 2006) where it put paid to all the opposition. Check the size of the Mine and available space first. I strongly recommend it.

[frazered]

depends on the mobo you have

I have a sonata too and find with the extra fan it passes air well over the mobo, with a cnps9700 or 9500 it should increase this also

caps don't get too hot and the majority of coolers these days have fans side mounted

re the cnps9700 I looked at this and it does not seem to be any more able than the 9500 from the reviews I have seen

http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/zalmancnps9700/

http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...articleID=2045

It seems to cool well at full crank but not one for those who are searching for hig efficiency and low noise signature

I am waiting for silentpcreview to have a look at it

The scythe ninja is another great choice, it fits in the sonata too as I had one, unfortunately it did not fit properly on my msi board as it interfered with the caps - so choose carefully

if you are worried about air not hitting the mobo, then maybe look at the zalman 7000 or 7700 - these can be found with the s775 fitments also

[Clunk]

Thermalright SI-128 - overhangs the surrounding area of the cpu and you can turn it round so it cools slightly more to one side because of the slightly offset shape.

[dave87]

Yup what Clunk suggested or the XP120 - Think its got mounting kits available for both...(do check though)

[hardflipman]

i had originally wanted the thermalright si-120 but scan don't do them and overclockers don't have them anymore. also i believe you have to take the motherboard out to fit it which i'd prefer not to do really - that's a plus point for the zalmans.

i have an abit an8 ultra at the moment

[moogle]

i had originally wanted the thermalright si-120 but scan don't do them and overclockers don't have them anymore. also i believe you have to take the motherboard out to fit it which i'd prefer not to do really - that's a plus point for the zalmans.

i have an abit an8 ultra at the moment

yep and the zalmans come close up behind the ultra 120.

@beachboy how cool does the scythe mine keep your cpu? i've read nothing but excellent reviews in pcpro magazine. can it fit a 120mm instead of the 100mm one? its either the scythe mine or zalman CNPS9700 LED.

[Clunk]

i had originally wanted the thermalright si-120 but scan don't do them and overclockers don't have them anymore. also i believe you have to take the motherboard out to fit it which i'd prefer not to do really - that's a plus point for the zalmans.

i have an abit an8 ultra at the moment

On the SI-128, you only have to take out the board to fit the cooler in 1 of the 4 positions that it can fit in, the rest, you can push the first plastic pin in first, then the rest will go in with a small screwdriver.

[beachboy]

moogle,
I am not an overclocker but even so I am confident that the Scythe Mine will be able to cope with most situations.

Stock fan is 100mm but you can retrofit anything you like between 80 and 140mm.
This fan runs at 1500rpm. This plus my 2 Akasa Ambers (120mm) are as near to silent as you can get. It is so eerily quiet, it is unbelievable!
My temps hardly register:
CPU: 22C
System: 24C
Power Management: 42C

Needless to say, don't forget to use just a tiny spot of Arctic Silver5 instead of the supplied thermal paste.

You will not regret buying the Mine. Good luck.

[hardflipman]

think i'll probably go down the si-128 route.
any advice on fans for it?

[Clunk]

I was running a Noiseblocker SX on mine and it was quiet and kept the temps down well.

Its still for sale if you fancy it?