cpu Cooling solutions...what do you use?

[FastRedPonyCar]

Xigmatek Dark Knight on the way for me.

Originally Posted by FastRedPonyCar

Xigmatek Dark Knight on the way for me.

I just ordered my Dark Knight today from Newegg and it shipped a little while ago. I'm using it on a Q9550. The stock heatsink/fan is on there now and with no overclock it's running at about 40C at idle with the Intel speed step turned on so it's not even running at full speed at idle. With a load of Prime 95 for about 15 minutes it gets up to 70 - 72 C. My wife was playing Lord of the Rings for about 3 hours and the max it hit was 60C. Hopefully this new heatsink/fan will cool the cpu down enough to do some overclocking (even though I really don't need because with the older games I play with the 7800 GTX 512 and this new cpu, they still run great).
I've got a Coolermaster Wavemaster case and I've read a lot about the crappy airflow in them and I can attest to that since it always is hot in that case. If the cpu doesn't cool down enough I'll add a 120mm intake fan on the side of the case and maybe even duct the cooler air towards the front of the cpu where the Dark Knight is blowing over the heatsink.

I saw the thread where you sent yours back for a ThermalRight Ultra 120 because of the crappy contact with the cpu but you later found out the cpu was bowed. I saw you also said that heatsink manufacturers know about this and were making their heatsinks to allow for that. I wonder if it's just the new I7 cpus like this or the quad cores too? If the quad cores are not bowed but the heatsink mfg are allowing for it then wouldn't they not fit right on a quad core?

[FastRedPonyCar]

who knows but the way the cooler had to be oriented, it wouldn't have been blowing the hot air out of the case...

Just tried an experiment to see what adding a side case fan would do. I removed the side cover on the pc and replaced it with a piece of cardboard then duct taped it to the case (yea it looks ghetto as all hell but so what, I'm sure the wife will have something real clever to say when she sees it tomorrow morning ). I then cut a hole in it and mounted an 80mm fan I had laying around (used to be the rear exhaust fan that came with the case originally but I replaced it with a much higher flow fan) to suck air into the case. I placed it a little to the right of the cpu and a little below it since the Black Knight will be sticking out and I don't want the fan in the way.
Anyways it seems to have lowered the idle and load temps about 3-4C. Every little bit helps.

I also have been running with the pci slot cover off the back slot below the video card thinking it may help it get some more air. It has been running at 42C at idle. I then put the slot cover back on so all pci slots are not open at the back now and now the vid card is idling at 40C.

[snowmanwithahat]

Zalman 7000cu - p4 3ghz @ 3.4...... been like that for 6 years

Zalman 7700cu - Q6600 @ 3.2ghz

Zalman VF-700cu - 6800 GT @ ultra speeds


The zalman series started strong back when there weren't alot of competitors.... the 7000 was great at the time but holy ****, the 7700 i'm using now doesn't compare at all to the new heatsinks... it's really limiting my overclock

[XDanger]

Why do people choose the Dark Knight when its not as good as the original?

Originally Posted by XDanger

Why do people choose the Dark Knight when its not as good as the original?

I had no idea it wasn't as good as the original. Where did you read that from?
I chose it because it comes with the mount to screw it on instead of using the push pins. The original doesn't come with that mount and if you buy the mount seperately it would end up costing a little more than the Black Knight and not look as good so why not go for it? Also the specs on New Egg make the Black Knight look better, see for yourself.

Is this the original you are talking about?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835233003
RPM: 800 - 1500 RPM
Air Flow: 56.3 CFM
Noise Level: 20 - 32 dBA

Here is the Black Knight
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835233029
RPM: 1000 - 2200 RPM
Air Flow: 89.45 CFM (Max.)
Noise Level: 30.1 dBA (Max.)

Maybe Newegg's specs are wrong and the original is better but you asked why it was chosen over the original and that is why.

[XDanger]

O kewl ,They changed the mounting and fan, The push pins are a biatch, It probably performs better with the extra pressure also?

The comparisons I've seen may have been with an earlier revision and push pin mount.

http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...id=2333&page=5

Seems theres a copper prototype also...

Those tests were pretty damn close in performance. I bet they perform the exact same.
I think Newegg's specs are wrong on them also and they should be much closer to being the same.

[Thunderbolt56]

Originally Posted by Heinz68

18c idle????

What is the ambient temperature or should I say where are you getting the Artic air from?

Maybe my ASUS PC Probe II was out of whack but as long as I kept the fins free of dust, it would idle right at 18-19c.

At this point, I've cascaded that rig down to one of my sons and am using a Thermalright TRUE copper on my i7. 40-41c at idle, 64-68c under typical gaming load and 72-74c under stress test @ 3.8ghz.

[XDanger]

Originally Posted by betterdan

Those tests were pretty damn close in performance. I bet they perform the exact same.
I think Newegg's specs are wrong on them also and they should be much closer to being the same.

Also ,I was probably thinking of the red one, That was a stinker.

Using a Thermalright Ultima 90 here with 120 fan.

results and specs here.
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/show...8&postcount=81

Unfortunately I can't read true idle as the thermistors in my cpu appear to be stuck. 34 & 36c is as low a temp as i can show.

Intel tells me it's 'normal'.