Swiftech MC462 or ALPHA PAL8045U (Please!)

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Fuzz009

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Aug 15, 2001
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I am just about to place more orders. I am just about to buy:

Athlon XP 1800
SOLTEK SL-75DRV4
512 DDR PC2100

Now I need to determine what cpu fan I am going to get. I have an Enlight case. Can't remember what one it is excalty. Fan infront for intake, one fan by the cpu for exhaust and exhaust for the PS.

Anyway. I read through all the posts for I believe the first 12 pages. I still have this question of which one to get. The swifttech is a little more in money but I Heard that, that one was overclockers choice now these days.

I plan to be overclocking in the future. Have to. Money running out and wedding to pay for.

I have searced for reviews and I am still in confusion. I am sure both will do the job, just wanting the best choice of course.

Thanks for your time and replies!
 
Alpha, I never use anything other than Alpha heatsinks. Their quality is unparalled. Just my 2 cents

<b>"These are my thoughts, your mileage may vary."
 
And I feel the same about Swiftech. I have an MCX-462 and it is excellent.

:smile: <font color=blue>You get what you pay for.... All advice here is free.</font color=blue> :smile:
 
from what I've read, they are both excellent coolers, the best available. And they perform neck and neck, and quality is superb. So that leave price. And the Alpha is cheaper. So by that measure go Alpha.

Either way you are getting top performance, even the Swiftech guys can honestly say they are both equal products. As do I. I'm just an Alpha guy. I run a Pal 6035 that's like 3 years old, muahahahah, cooling my 1.3ghz Athlon.

<b>"These are my thoughts, your mileage may vary."
 
Uh oh. I just followed some link that told me that the alpha was incompatible with the soltek 75drv2. WEll I know this is the drv4 but I am sure they are about the same thing. Does anyone else know anything on this?
 
WEll thank you very much. I checked out the reviews and I am going that route..Sweet.

THank you so much for pointing this out to me

muhahah I didn't have to settle for an orb =P
 
don't get me wrong you shouldn't have a problem with that cooler, but your just paying for fan. It's basically a swiftech knockoff with an 80mm fan on top. When you overclock I don't think you'll be as happy as if you went with the bigger heatsink. they only brought a 1.33 to 1.4 with that test. I forget what an 1800 is but it's like 1.5 correct? Now Overclock that, and you'll have a different story. And I hope that noise isn't a factor for you. A 80mm Delta fan, mauauaah, hello hair dryer.

But hey, I'm biased. lol, good luck, keep us posted

<b>"These are my thoughts, your mileage may vary."
 
I've got a Dr.Thermal (EXTREME - you're right about the fan, it makes a ton of difference) on a 1700+ and at 1650 mhz (and @ 1.85v) it only ran 22 degrees F above ambient at idle (I can't remember load temp, but it wasn't much higher - I think about 7 or 8 higher) and that's before the Artic Silver 3 broke in (I haven't o/c'd back to that, but temps have seemed to drop ~2 degrees so far and I just recently hit the 72 hour mark) With the original fan (70mm) blowing in directly over it the temps dropped another 6 degrees. Doesn't sound like it's doing too bad a job w/ overclocking to me. You are right in saying it is a knockoff; but this one was done better I think. What you can't tell in the photos is how that all the little fins are ridged. What that means is that it has an amazing surface area without disrupting airflow, so it increases cooling with more air better than other sinks. Also, considering the price difference (40 vs. 70) and ease of installation (Dr. thermal will fits most boards - Alpha and Swiftec not so much. and dr.thermal has a nifty little latch that makes things real easy). True, you are paying for a fan - but the cheapest I saw the 80mm Delta was around 18 bucks. So considering that you get the orignal fan and the heatsink + the Delta for 40 - it ain't a bad deal! I'd like to test out one of those other heatsinks on my system and see what the difference is, but according to the review I read this one outperformed the Swiftech by 2 degrees C. <shrug> I'm very happy with mine, the difference in temp between them is probably very small in any case - I just don't think it's worth the extra cash. But then again, I'm just a broke college guy...
 
I wasn't trying to knock the sink at all. I'm glad you have such good results. I just tend to stay away from the new stuff and go with a proven winner. You say you saw one places review. Well just about every site I've ever been to have the Swiftech or Alpha at or number 2 on their list.

You've peeked my interest in this Dr. Extreme though. Cool Beans

<b>"These are my thoughts, your mileage may vary."
 
Aye, i just love rooting for the underdog! But I certainly understand sticking to the proven guys. I try to stick to brand names I know I can trust... but the price on this guy was right and it looked very promising... and this time it panned out! That fan is loud, but not as bad as I expected, with the side of the case on, at least. Of course, it's the same fan as on the swiftech so the noise would be about the same either way (I don't remember about the alpha) What I want to know is why the fan is so thick! only half of it is fan - the other half are some fixed blades to direct the airflow - but why would that increase cooling? Does it just help the air begin moving outwards? (Have you seen this fan? Do you know what I am talking about?) <shrug> at any rate - I would very much like to see some more comparisons between these coolers - since I will grant that only one review isn't alot to go on! Maybe ol' uncle Tom will spot it and give it a whirl, eh?
 
Yeah from what I gather the fan itself is what makes the thickness (odviously), but that helps the pressure of the airflow. The greater the pressure supossedly the better cooling. When I first started overclockin cpu's (always AMD) I went for brute force. What I've come to realize is that if you are air cooling you need to find a comfortable medium. Which is why I don't recommend the top Delta fans to these new guys. When they get these things home they will begin to complain in a months time, of the noise of a Delta. Then they will realize that if the sacrifice a 10 percent decrease in overclock to a lesser DB fan then they are better off.

The real challenge comes with finding the quietest fan with the best possible heatsink. I've said all along that if you plop a big ass heatsink underneath a screaming Delta fan it will cool anything. It's when you start decreasing the fans RPM and CFM that you rely on the heatsink more, it's there that I think the Thermoengine and it's knockoffs begin to lose luster.

I firmly believe that an Alpha Pal-8045 or a Swiftech-462 paired with a nice quiet 80mm fan will provide you with your best noise/performance ratio. That's what I'm getting at.

<b>"These are my thoughts, your mileage may vary."
 
I firmly believe that an Alpha Pal-8045 or a Swiftech-462 paired with a nice quiet 80mm fan will provide you with your best noise/performance ratio. That's what I'm getting at.
Click to expand...
I agree to, but which fan gives the best noise/performance ratio? I'm looking at a 36FCFM Sunon. Is it better to get a 30FCFM Sunon or 43CFM Sunon.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor
 
<A HREF="http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/sun80ulhigsp.html" target="_new"><b>Here </b></A> is the one I have on my MCX-462.
Keeps my unlocked XP1800+ at idle 15ºc above room temp and
under load 20ºc above room temp.

12.5 x 140fsb.



:smile: <font color=blue>You get what you pay for....<b>a</b>ll advice here is free.</font color=blue> :smile:
 
Hmm, I'm asking about the best compromise between noise and performance, not the best performance.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor
 
on my current rig I use a TT 60mm fan rated at 30cfm and 25DB, it works real well. Seeing as a I don't use an 80mm cooling solution (haha) I'd check out the fans from TT, they do a better job at making fans than they do heatsinks.

<b>"These are my thoughts, your mileage may vary."
 
Ah! Noise to performance... I'd bet your quite right on that one! A bigger sink would probably do better than this one if you dropped the airflow on both. But here's an idea (not very original, granted) for noise/performance: I just put the 70mm that came with the Dr.thermal on the side of the case blowing directly on the HSF. It didn't add to the noise really at all, but it dropped my CPU temp several degrees. Would two lower speed fans in this arrangement work best? I don't know how well it would work with two slower fans...better? worse? (btw - the 70 runs 35 cfm while the 80 is 68 cfm, for comparison sake)
 
That is the best compromise. I took the Delta off and put the Sunon on
hooked to a rheostat. With the Delta the temps are lower but it is a
lot louder.

:smile: <font color=blue><b>You get what you pay for...all advice here is free.</b></font color=blue> :smile:
 
But here you have an "Ultra High-speed" Sunon. I doubt that will be very quiet.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the <b>ULTIMATE</b> PC processor
 
WEll i followed that post referring to

http://www.cluboverclocker.com/reviews/heatsinks/titi/dr_thermal_extreme/index.htm

THey compared a bunch of fans and heatsinks. They like the Dr so much they put it number one. Thermalright is next. Then swifttech. So i said what the hell. I will try it out.

I dont' care about noise. Well at least right now. I am used to constant annoying sounds. I worked as a automotive tech for a little while. So i am used to the noise or just plain deaf.

LOL

I will admit I am a little hesitant on this match but from what I saw, compatible problems made me go with the dr. Unless someone can verify that one of these work on the soltek board I have..otherwise I go the safe way.

This weekend I am going to put my rig together. Once everything is up and running. I will report my findings on this. Pray for me. hehe

GOod bye 900mhz..hello 1.53

oh and thanks for your comments!
 
Yeah, that's what I said, I don't mind noise. Muahahahah, lol, spent 4 years listening to Harriers take off about a quarter click outisde, 200mhz HP Risc processor boxes running all day (annoying huge cabinets). But a screaming Delta fan is probably the most annoying thing I've heard, I can honestly say it was giving me headaches. Good Luck.

<b>"These are my thoughts, your mileage may vary."
 
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