Three Down-Draft Heat Sinks: The Last Of A Dying Breed?

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Darkerson

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I used to have a Thermaltake Dualorb, and it was really nice because both fans would also blow over the ram and and chipset heatsink. I am currently using a 2500k running at 5GHz with a CM Hyper 212+, and my ambient on the cores is around 28-30, and peak is on average about 67-68c. At any rate, interesting article.
 

luciferano

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[citation][nom]JohnnyLucky[/nom]WOW! Sound levels are way above advertised levels.[/citation]

Don't forget to account for ambient noise, which is already often higher than the rated loudness of many coolers.
 
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with the enermax and noctua both @ $68 the scythe is a steal @ $40 on amazon.
 

merikafyeah

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It has been my life-long dream to pair a Cooler Master GeminII S524: bit.ly/PiVHxw
with the greatest 140mm desktop PC fan in existence, the Sanyo Denki 9LB1412M501: bit.ly/QOHXJA
Specs: 140x140 51mm 138CFM 2000rpm 39dBA 12V 0.5A
Essentially the most perfect balance of airflow to noise I have ever seen.

I can only imagine how well this fan can cool not only the CPU but virtually the entire upper half of the motherboard as well. Alas, my dream will remain a dream since although I know where to buy the fan, the min. order quantity is 10, pushing the total price to at least $500; way out of my reach.

But speaking of which, Tom's, why not compare motherboard voltage regulator and RAM module temps with these top-down coolers vs tower coolers? Myself and many overclockers will be extremely interested in these temps.
 

rantoc

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Top->Down coolers are my favourite choice for building normal non-oc rigs since they cool so much more than just the cpu, as for overclocking "real water" cooling with extra spot on fan for the voltage regulators + ram is my favourite. Seem some forget that with water/air tower designs the MB don't get much often needed airflow around the upper part of the MB.
 
There is a reason why these lower profile coolers are a dying breed:
1) For most people (and more people now more than ever), the stock cooler is more than adequate. This is especially true on the Intel side, but AMD's stuff runs fine stock as well these days, so there is less need to OC, unless you are OCing just for the fun of doing it.
2) Tower coolers are cheaper. $20-30 gets you a rather effective cooler these days, most of which have replaceable fans if you happen to think the stock fan too loud. For those who have tons of money to sink on a sink, there are much prettier/effective options on the market in every price bracket.
3) Of the few people who need or want to OC their machines, pretty much all of them have a mid-tower which is more than capable of fitting a tower, so space is not a concern.

Now, with all that said, I can actually see a future where this changes: Parts are getting smaller and cooler all the time. There are already some awesome itx mobos out in the wild, and uATX mobos capable of high end xFire and SLi. If you look for them, there are some decent (though not amazing) lower profile PSUs on the market. Actuially, if you go down the list, the only part lagging behind has been the HDD, which is still relatively large, loud, hot, and slow. In the next year or so we will start to see 2TB SSDs (due to better firmwares, die shrinks, and tripple cell nand), which should still fit in the current 'laptop' style form factor. They do not need the same cooling as a HDD, and they take ~1/4th the space, so these small high-density drives should be able to breathe life into performance oriented mini boxes. At least for people like myself, where performance/storage/noise/size are all high priorities, this will make a huge difference, and may put myself in the market for one of these shorter coolers... though I could always leave the top off and have that tower sticking out like a giant tumor
 

proffet

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if the case the unit is in has dual vented side panels (for fans) or has an open vent over the CPU then it (top coolers) average about 6-10C cooler than a unit with no side panel.
I have one and have done this exact test in my own house.
so it comes down to the case itself and air-flow.

where's the CM GeminII..?
COOLER MASTER GeminII S524 120mm CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103100

the end result is that the side blowing or out of the back standard coolers we see like the Hyper Evo and such are slightly better.
recirculating air inside the case (trying to cool off mobo components) really doesn't do to well.
just go 'water' or get the air out the case..
 
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I'm missing the whole point with this phrase guys... "Second, and also a result of fan positioning, surrounding components like memory, the chipset, and voltage regulation circuitry also receive some cooling (and not just the CPU)"... So where is the difference between using Tower and Down-Draft type?
 

ddpruitt

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I'm wondering how applicable these results are to the real world. Everything her is tested on a test bench, ie no case no obstructions and no weird setups to affect airflow and sound.

I would like to see cooling solutions tested in environments where they are actually used, cases that have a number of other components that warm up and parts that block and redirect airflow. I'm willing to bet that some of these results would be alot different.
 

deadlockedworld

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It seems like a downdraft cooler would be a really good choice in a high-ventilation case like mine. The air is going out the top anyway ... why not push it past the ram.

I may have to get rid of this annoying, gurgling closed loop water cooler. Or maybe just go all in and go full water...
 

army_ant7

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[citation][nom]anonymous-first[/nom]I'm missing the whole point with this phrase guys... "Second, and also a result of fan positioning, surrounding components like memory, the chipset, and voltage regulation circuitry also receive some cooling (and not just the CPU)"... So where is the difference between using Tower and Down-Draft type?[/citation]
Unlike down-drafts which blow the air against the mo-bo and in effect against other components near the CPU (I think), tower coolers blow air parallel to the mo-bo (parallel things don't make contact). :)
 

My question, too. Tower coolers can be used to direct air to exhaust fans at the back and top of a case. Down-draft recirculates the air in the case. That very fact is brought up in almost every graphics card review with axial vs centrifugal fans.

I'm not sure how much difference that makes, but I'd love to see some metrics.
 

ChromeTusk

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Just my personal experience, but I have noticed a slight change on a few PCs I have upgraded in the past. When I changed a down-draft cooler to a tower-style cooler, the "system" or "northbridge" temperature usually rose 1-4 degrees C. There are plenty of heat sinks on today's motherboards that could use the extra airflow. Just make sure you exhaust all that hot air instead of re-circulating it.
 

falchard

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I think most people don't like downdraft coolers because it makes little temperature control sense on paper. You are pushing hot air against a solid object hoping it cools down. Makes more sense to be pushing that hot air out of the case. I wonder the same thing about GPU heatsinks. What is the most effecient way to push air out of the case. Makes me want to mount either liquid cooling or using passive cooling on 2 GPU, then have a 120mm high cfm fan pushing hot air out the back of the case.
 
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