Best Air Coolers??

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spaztic7

spaztic7

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Mar 14, 2007
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Alright, this is spawning off of my search for a good water cooler. I was told that I should just go air. See Bigwater 745 vs 3D Galaxy II in here. Now that I am starting to look for air cooling, what is the best out for that.

It can NOT :

Be Loud
Run hot
Be Unreasonably large
Odd in Color
Copper and Aluminum (it can be either or, not both...)

This site shows a list of 5 top performers in temp and top 5 in noise.
http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

People keep talking about this "Tuniq Tower" but when I looked, the sites that had review didn't work, and why is it not on that list?

So..... What are your opinions on heat sink fans?

I personally like the Zalmen 9700.
 
I personally like the Zalmen 9700.
Click to expand...

Zalman's are overpriced and not worth it and beside Tuniq Tower is WAY better than the Zalman 9700 or if you don't like those you can either choose from Scythe Infinite or Ninja they are still better and cheaper than the Zalman 9700.
 
With the top few aftermarket air coolers, the temps are within a few degrees C, and it comes down to personal preference.
I chose the Zalman 9700 for its design and look, plus it is near silent inside the case and stays on low fan speed even when OC'd.
 
I like the Zalman myself. It was on sale when I got it, so the price was good. Its quiet enough that I don't notice the fan noise at all and it cools my FX60 sufficiently well. A Tuniq Tower or a ThermalTake Ultra may do a slightly better job, but they also weigh a bunch more. If you've got a C2D and you're overclocking very high, than the Tower or the Ultra will no doubt do a better job than a Zalman. It depends a lot on how much cooling you need, and how much you value low noise levels.
 
I personally like the 9700, it is quiet, as hell (my friend just bought one and we cant hear it when he closes his case side (3D aurora 570).

The tuniq tower... it is big, but is it quiet?

and for over clocking... i want to push it to about 3ghz until this fall when I am buying a Q6600 ($266!!!). So it has to be able to cool that as well.

I am also looking at water cooling, you can see how that thread is going (Bigwater 745 vs 3D Galaxy II) if you are interested in one of those.

Ok... i have no idea what i just said and it is past my bed time, the misses will kill me if i don't get to bed now....

until nexterday!
 
Is it smart to have copper and aluminum? Wont that cause it to... do... that... thing where the... yeah... Or is it better to have a solid copper or solid aluminum?

I looked at that Noctua NH-U12F and it looks just like the top 1 of the site that i had linked to this. Dose copper and aluminum cool better?
 
Is it smart to have copper and aluminum? Wont that cause it to... do... that... thing where the... yeah... Or is it better to have a solid copper or solid aluminum?
Click to expand...

Using a Al-Cu combination HS will not cause an explosion if that's what you're worried about. It kinda offers the best of both worlds. Copper is a better conductor of heat, but aluminum is not as heavy as copper.

Personally, I use the Scythe Ninja+ HSF.
 
Is it smart to have copper and aluminum? Wont that cause it to... do... that... thing where the... yeah... Or is it better to have a solid copper or solid aluminum?

I looked at that Noctua NH-U12F and it looks just like the top 1 of the site that i had linked to this. Dose copper and aluminum cool better?
Click to expand...

I think its best to be either all aluminum or all copper. That way there isn't a problem of electrolysis. Copper usually cools better, but aluminum is cheaper.
 
Here are a couple great coolers, just the ones off the top of my head. They're more or less in order of thermal performance.

Thermalright Ultra 120+ (not available yet)
Tuniq Tower 120
Thermalright Ultra 120
Asus Silent Night
Sythe Infinity

And reviews, in the same order as the list.

http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling/showdoc.aspx?i=2943
http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling/showdoc.aspx?i=2906
http://www.anandtech.com/casecooling/showdoc.aspx?i=2941
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/asus-silent-knight.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/zalman-scythe_11.html

The 9700 is a decent cooler, but overpriced for what your getting. I have a Tuniq Tower and love it. Even with the stock fan at 2000rpm (the max) its still really quiet.

EDIT: Thermalright, not Thermaltake.
 
I love my 9500 Socket Am2 Zalman no problems on my OCed to 3.2 ghz stable X2 6000+
Click to expand...

I have a 9500 on my FX60 and it keeps things cool to 3.1 ghz. I would have gotten a 9700 at the time, but the 9500 was on sale for about half the price of a 9700. I haven't regretted the purchase of the 9500 one bit, but when I finally upgrade to a higher performing cpu, I'll either be looking for something like a Tuniq Tower or go with watercooling.
 
Here are a couple great coolers, just the ones off the top of my head. They're more or less in order of thermal performance.

Thermaltake Ultra 120+ (not available yet)
...
Thermaltake Ultra 120
...
Click to expand...
I think those two are from Thermalright, not Thermaltake. Or are they secretly the same company?

Edit: Fixed overzealous use of delete key
 
Senor_Bob said:
Here are a couple great coolers, just the ones off the top of my head. They're more or less in order of thermal performance.

Thermaltake Ultra 120+ (not available yet)
...
Thermaltake Ultra 120
...
quote]
I think those two are from Thermalright, not Thermaltake. Or are they secretly the same company?
Click to expand...

You're right, they are from Thermalright. The names are too similar.
Click to expand...
 
I've read a few good things about the Enzotech Ultra-X. Anyone have any experience with it?
Click to expand...

i have it, i Oc'ed my X2 3800 to 2.6Mhz no problems, and not really that loud, it also has a fan speed controller. It is small enough, and has a sexy black top. it is a great deal, also come with Artic sliver 5. 😀 😀 😀
 
I love my Tuniq 120 it's big yes and if you jack it up on high with the throttle it can be kinda loud but I don't want my CPU fan running on low. It's got my E6600 stable at 3.5 and that's just fine for me.
 
Is it smart to have copper and aluminum? Wont that cause it to... do... that... thing where the... yeah... Or is it better to have a solid copper or solid aluminum?

I looked at that Noctua NH-U12F and it looks just like the top 1 of the site that i had linked to this. Dose copper and aluminum cool better?
Click to expand...

I think its best to be either all aluminum or all copper. That way there isn't a problem of electrolysis. Copper usually cools better, but aluminum is cheaper.

That is not exactly correct. Copper absorbs heat somewhat better than aluminum. Aluminum disipates heat somewhat better than copper. That is why copper is used on the actual heatsink plate and aluminum for the fins. Copper tubing is ony used for heatpipes because it is more malable than aluminum and stronger.
 
Well it has been a while since i have said anything so I will let the you people know that I am choosing to go with the Tuniq Tower 120. It took me a lot of research, time, and prying myself from the sleek look of the Zalman 9700, but I think I will be happy with the Tuniq tower 120.
 
With Air Cooling, usually BIGGER is BETTER. Well as long as the design is good. Thermalright has their head on straight, I have a new found love for them and their crazy coolers. The Ultra-120 is good with the extreme version 1-2C cooler. They actually have a new one comming out on their page that GIGANTIC and even has a piece that adhears to teh back side of the board and has 2 flat heatpipes comming around to a cooler. Ok now that is just a little extreme but they do know what they are doing. You wont find a light good cooler without sacraficing some cooling performance. My old Acrtic Freezer Pro 7 was pretty good but just wasn't enough once I started increasing the voltage. Ok so it WAS enough, I just prefer cooler temps.
 
I have heard that the screws that tighten down the hsf on the tuniq tower are a little shabby. The heads keep pooping off or something. Do you think that this may be a problem for me?
 
I have been looking around for a while and it seems that Tuniq can beat the thermalright by a couple of degrees here and there. So do you say that I should go with thermalright or Tuniq? (there will be lots of convincing for me to go to thermalright)
 
As for the screws, you can either be very careful not to overtighten them or just use one piece screws for another source. From what I've read in the reviews, both the Tuniq and the Thermalright are about neck and neck, one ahead in one review, the other in a different review. I'd choose the Tower at the moment, but Thermalright is said to have a new model that is slightly better. I don't know the details on that at the moment.
 
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