I7-930 cooler help

[powell87]

First off, I know this is gonna sound like a noob thread, and I apologize, but I have searched for 3 days non stop.

So I have decided that I want a better heat sink than the stock Intel one for my LGA1366 i7-930 after running Prime95 and watching the core temps go as high as 92C. (idles between 38C and 45C depending on which core and room temp). Yes the heat sink it mounted properly and thoroughly. It also has no dust in it.

So I want a better heat sink to keep my temps cooler for now at stock speed (2.8GHz @ 133.3MHzx21 multiplier) and I might as well eventually dable into OCing (nothing TOO much) with the hardware that I have.

So I have spent the past 3 days trying to research which cooler I want, and I have what Microsoft would call "search overload." One cooler has a warped base, another is not efficient enough, another is too pricey, another is too big, another works well for Core2 duo but not for i7, etc. Please help me out.

My requirements are:
Roughly $50 or less (I'm slightly flexible on this)
Not overhang the RAM slots
Quality cooler that cools the i7 efficiently
I would prefer a 4-pin fan plug to utilize PWM fan control
Height is not an issue as I have a HUGE case (XClio Windtunnel)

So far I have seriously looked at:

Cooler Master Hyper N 520

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus

XIGMATEK Dark Knight

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 (with addtional LGA1366 bracket)

Kingwin XT-1264

I swear that I have searched every thread on every forum about both these specific coolers and i7 coolers in general. After all that searching I have concluded that every cooler is both awesome and crappy. Please help me decide which cooler I should get.

Thanks

For the record, my system specs are:
Intel i7-930
Asus P6X58D-E mobo (with USB 3.0 & SATA 6Gb/s)
G.Skill 6GB(3x2GB) DDR3-1600
2x HIS IceQ5 Radeon HD 5770 Turbo (Crossfired)
2x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB 7200rpm
Thermaltake Black Widow W0319Ru 850W PSU
Xclio Windtunnel case (with 2x250mm fans on the side)

 

[treefrog07]

I like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus, and use it on two of my systems. I also use Arctic Silver5 for the thermal interface material.

 

[abully]

Good looking case... but the fan positioning is not ideal... did you install any of the optional fans in front and rear??? the original config says 2 X 25cm fans in the side blowing in but no exhaust... its just positive pressure with no proper exhaust... recommend a good fan at the rear for exhaust and another in the front for intake and switch off the side two under normal operation...

first of all get a good thermal paste like AS5 or MX-3... $10 a pop...

next for the cooler... since you are not going to go crazy with OC, you can get any of the below better coolers for around $50... The ones you have mentioned are all decent coolers but with less heatpipes... i would recommend the below ones for your budget...

1. Spire Thermax Eclipse II for $55

2. Titan Fenrir for $53

3. Scythe Ninja 3 for $ 53

4. Thermalright CoGage True Spirit for $ 40

5. Arctic Cooling Freezer XTREME Rev. 2 for $50

 

[powell87]

Good looking case... but the fan positioning is not ideal... did you install any of the optional fans in front and rear??? the original config says 2 X 25cm fans in the side blowing in but no exhaust... its just positive pressure with no proper exhaust... recommend a good fan at the rear for exhaust and another in the front for intake and switch off the side two under normal operation...

I did put in 2 x 12cm fans, both Rosewill, 1 rear exhaust and 1 front intake

What's wrong with the 25cm side fans? They're one of the reasons I bought that case (being $80 shipped didn't hurt either).

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions, and out of those five I really liked the CoGage True the best, BUT it appears that it uses the Intel style push pins to mount it. I don't think anyone really trusts those pins, especially for a 670g hunk of metal hanging off of a mobo. So this kinda pushes me back to liking either the CM Hyper 212+ or the Xigmatec Dark Night.

A few that you listed won't clear the ram slots. I do want a cooler that will completely clear the slots cause I have a G.Skill ram cooler. I know I probably don't need it, but I like it and it was cheap. Also since I'm not a hard core OCer I don't think I need one of the massive coolers.

 

[powell87]

So after spending all day researching coolers (what better way to work off a hangover?) I think that I'm starting to really like the Zalman CNPS10X Performa

Is the any reason that I should get something else?

 

[abully]

I contemplated recommending it to you... its an excellent cooler for the price with 5 heatpipes; but its huge... see this pic for reference... if you like its review go with it... it will be a good choice...

The reason i was skeptical about the two fans is for them being an intake... just a simple explanation - positive pressure is when there is more intake than exhaust (as in your case); this leads to more fresh air pumped in (along with dust) but not enough exhaust to pump out HOT air and also dust... negative pressure is vice versa... its good to maintain a balance between intake and exhaust so that circulation is good... the ideal air flow should be from the lower front of the case and exhaust from the top and/or rear... side intake should be considered optional when you need something extra to cool your GPU, northbridge etc... i have a lower front intake along with the psu intaking air from the bottom to go with 1 rear and 1 top exhaust; i have an extra fan at the side and another fan at the top which i can turn on and off when necessary... hope you get the picture...

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Someone has already done the job for you:

1st let's cover the TIM

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=13

As you can see, Shin Etsu takes the top prize and it's sold at newegg making it ez to get
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835150080

AS5 comes in 2nd but check the concern about curing time.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=138&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=5

After this article was first published, there was an immediate backlash from some of the manufacturers listed in this review. The primary argument was the lack of cure time. Here is the Arctic Silver 5 recommended cure time instruction from the manufacturers web site:

Due to the unique shape and sizes of the particles in Arctic Silver 5's conductive matrix, it will take a up to 200 hours and several thermal cycles to achieve maximum particle to particle thermal conduction and for the heatsink to CPU interface to reach maximum conductivity. (This period will be longer in a system without a fan on the heatsink or with a low speed fan on the heatsink.) On systems measuring actual internal core temperatures via the CPU's internal diode, the measured temperature will often drop 2C to 5C over this "break-in" period. This break-in will occur during the normal use of the computer as long as the computer is turned off from time to time and the interface is allowed to cool to room temperature. Once the break-in is complete, the computer can be left on if desired.

So by my estimation of this statement it would take almost a year of normal use to properly cure the AC5 compound, or almost nine days of continuous power cycles to meet their recommendation. Benchmark Reviews feels that this is a characteristically unreasonable requirement for any TIM product, and we do not support it. We want products that perform without the burden of sacrifice on our time, especially with some many competing products offering performance without this extra requirement.

Now the cooler itself

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=544&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=13

Since you not going to seriously OC, the top performer, Prolimatech Megahalems, is not needed. By the time you grab that, two fans and a PWM splitter cable, you're close to $100. At $40 however the Scythe Mugen 2 SCMG 2100 is the value performance leader.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185142

 

[powell87]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I have already looked at the Scythe Mugen and ruled it out, for two reasons:
1) It is too big and will over hang my RAM slots when properly configured with the fan pushing air through the heat sink and out the back of the case.
2) I kinda like the looks of the Zalman better, but the first reason is more important.

As far as TIMs go, the Zalman comes with the ZM-STG2 Thermal Grease, which according to the review you posted it came in 11th and was only 0.5C hotter than the number 1 TIM. So I see no reason to spend extra $ on a slightly better TIM when I'm not trying to get to 4GHz and will never notice a difference.

I should also add the I verified that the Zalman will clear my RAM slots. I found a review of my mobo and the guy used the Zalman cooler and posted pics.

 

[eloric]

That Zalman is a pretty cooler. I almost bought one, but when I went to purchase, Newegg jacked the price up! I went with the old standby, the Cooler Master Hyper 212+ because it was for an LGA775 and was not pushing nearly the watts of your i7-930. The price is back down to $40 and your choice should work just fine.

 

[dhongkool1]

i use a promliatech megahalems
overclocked i7 to 3.66 load prime95 65 degrees
it's a bit over your budget though

 

[powell87]

So I ordered the Zalman CNPS10X Performa and got it today and installed it. Here are the results:

Stock Intel cooler

CNPS10X cooler

I'm really glad I spent the time researching dimensions. As you can see this just fits and clears all RAM slots and my RAM cooler, just as I predicted

Temps with stock Intel cooler (stock speed with TurboBoost ON)
idle: 41C - 45C
load (prime95): 87C - 92C

Temps with CNPS10X cooler (stock speed with TurboBoost ON)
idle: 33C - 38C
load (prime 95): 56C - 62C

So the Zalman CNPS10X Performa lowered the idle temps 7.5C and load temps 30.5C.
BTW, I used the included Zalman ZM-STG2 thermal paste.

Thanks for the help, much appreciated.

 

[abully]

nice work...

 

[eloric]

Wow, those are impressive temperature drops.

 

[powell87]

Thanks, I'm happy with it.

I should mention that room temp was 21C.
Cheap vodka works wonders to remove old thermal paste.
I applied the TIM by smearing it all around the CPU to make a nice thin, consistent, all covering layer, instead of a rice grain drop or a line. Yes I did tilt the cooler as I set it on the CPU to ensure no air bubbles.
This thing is tall (as expected) I have about 2cm from the tips of the heat pipes to my side panel.

 

[powell87]

Best answer selected by powell87.