Thermaltake question

[Gonzo]

I accidently bought the ChromeOrb thinking I was buying the SuperOrb, and then I find out it wont fit on my mobo so I modified it. Last week I saw a review on Tomsharware that didnt rate this heatsink very well. I saw someone on this board say he liked his SuperOrb. So who out there is running a Thermaltake product? I am new to OCing so I am only at 1036 at the moment but my temps after running quake III for over an hour is still at 30 degrees C. I didnt want to start trying for big clocks with this heat sink, but the temp is staying low, so I thought I would see if anyone is actually running this heat sink and if was working for them.

[AKDUDE]

I was running a super orb, and now im running a no name upgraded sink that came with my computer. I have lower temps now, without the orb, but the reason why is that I lapped the standard sink to a mirror finish, and used Artic2 silver paste. That dropped the temp on it ten degrees c
I think the reason why the ORB ran hotter, is because I was using the standard white, crappy paste that came with it, and I used WAY to much.

I would try out the ORB with the ARTIC SILVER, but it is such a pain in the ass to fit on my motherboard im not going to even bother.

I think if I could do it all over again, id get a Volcano 2. I'd Lap it, and use artic silver paste. I have seen nothing but good reviews for the the volcano 2, and its cheap. Usually it seems to be right up there with the fop38, which sounds like a hair dryer.
AKDUDE

[jughead]

Works for me duron750@1050 but that's only with the case mod./w a good size case fan, and a dryer vent going outside where it's snowin'. Better check on somethin' better.

[wild_andy_c]

And the moral of the story is ..............

Never buy a heatsink or fan just because it looks nice. Always buy something that works well instead and looks like a bag of spanners.

My FOP38 and Taisol are just sweet.

[TT120]

I've got a Super Orb on my KT7A and it seems to work pretty good. I'm gettin temps of 28c idle and 42c full load (Prime95, SETI, and 3Dmark all night long)

[wild_andy_c]

And those are the temps given by your board - you really believe them!!!!!

[MiracleMan]

Orbs are pretty, but no more than this. Go for the Fop or the Alpha. I used t have an Gorb crusher on my old celermine, and it did the job, but not that good...

[dgk]

I have the Super orb and am responsible for an earlier thread on Cooling that asks if the SO just sucks. My temp (tb900@1010) is 36 idle and 51 under load, which is why I'm not pushing it higher. I had read a good review also, but since then I have read nothing except that it was barely adequate. Perhaps the problem is the small connecting area between the base and the fins. It seems to me that all the heat has to travel through that little area in order to get lost.

To be fair, I didn't lap it and just used the thermal goo that came with it. I will shortly be replacing it with either the FOP38 (with variable voltage) or an Alpha or maybe the new Vantec. But I will lap it and use Artic Silver 2. Just a little bit. Applied as the Artic Silver site recommends. With loving care.

[boomer]

I have a SuperOrb and in all honesty am not all that impressed with it. Not only did I have to modify it but I am still not where I want to be in terms of temperature. Granted it's better than the stock HSF I got when I bought the mobo and processor but until I can replace it with something better I wont push my system any harder than I already am. I am considering lapping and arctic silver........if anyone in this town can get it.......maybe that will give me a few extra degrees but I am not counting on it.

What really sux is that nobody where I live carries any HSFs that are worth owning :(

[JetJam]

I also use the Orb and Super Orb, they both work for what they were designed for "moderate overclocking".

in responce to wild_andy_c: just what you be using on what? and gauge your temps how? (lets all run out and buy thermmistor's and laser thermometers)
board temp's are close to accurate +-2c.

I'am kind of sick of the Orb bashing, it does what it is made to do, the alpha's, FOP and others also work and maybe better since they have a high rpm (hair drier) fan strapped to it. you could get close to the same results by doing that to the Orb.

[plowd1]

Well maybe I didnt do a bad purchase afterall I bought a valcano II with the artic silver I will be using on my 1.1 and abit kt7a raid board when the parts come in. Sounds like I will lap it to a mirror finish as well

[AKDUDE]

Ive come close to ordering a volcano 2 several times, but im waiting for someone on this board to check one out.
I see that two major heat sink reviews went up on the net this morning, and neither one of them reveiwed the volcano 2.
Sorta weird, Toms hardware tested the SuperOrb, trashed it in the review, but if you look at the actual temps, it beat more than half the sinks tested. I thought that was strange. I Also thought it was strange that neither Toms nor Anantech reviewed the Volcano 2, even thought it just came out, you would think they would want to test the new stuff, instead of rehashing the old.

I spent a few hours reading reviews on the web about the Super OrB before I ordered it. Several reviews had it up there with the FOP 38. That cinched it for me, cause I didn't want a loud fan.

Come to find out I everyone hates the Orb... wish I had ran across a bad review before I wasted the money.

I think my next fan will be the BigMoFO sold over at www.3dfxcool.com
Has a big 40cfm fan thats pretty quiet cause its big, and the global win heatsink.
AKDUDE

[Sohryu Asuka Langley]

well out here in AU wher its like 40C durning the day making it hotter in a house, hotter in a pc.. my friends got a lapped, arctic silvered golden orb on a tbird 1Ghz@1.2 running about 55C full load....

still i like my controlled climate...21C all the time.

[Liquid_N2]

Sohryu Asuka Langley (Mar 08, 2001 03:10 a.m.):
well out here in AU wher its like 40C durning the day making it hotter in a house, hotter in a pc.. my friends got a lapped, arctic silvered golden orb on a tbird 1Ghz@1.2 running about 55C full load....

still i like my controlled climate...21C all the time.

What are you running at home? Hardware wise and cooler wise.

Would like to know how you keep it at 21C all the time.

[Tachyon]

AKDUDE (Mar 08, 2001 01:19 a.m.):
Ive come close to ordering a volcano 2 several times, but im waiting for someone on this board to check one out.
I see that two major heat sink reviews went up on the net this morning, and neither one of them reveiwed the volcano 2.
Sorta weird, Toms hardware tested the SuperOrb, trashed it in the review, but if you look at the actual temps, it beat more than half the sinks tested. I thought that was strange. I Also thought it was strange that neither Toms nor Anantech reviewed the Volcano 2, even thought it just came out, you would think they would want to test the new stuff, instead of rehashing the old.

I spent a few hours reading reviews on the web about the Super OrB before I ordered it. Several reviews had it up there with the FOP 38. That cinched it for me, cause I didn't want a loud fan.

Come to find out I everyone hates the Orb... wish I had ran across a bad review before I wasted the money.

I think my next fan will be the BigMoFO sold over at www.3dfxcool.com
Has a big 40cfm fan thats pretty quiet cause its big, and the global win heatsink.
AKDUDE

If you look at the spec's on the Volcano, they are similar to other TT HSF's....I've been reading the the CFM on the Everflow fan isn't as advertised...although I haven't tested one personally. I also read that TT is supposed to be offering the Everflow "standalone" sometime soon.

I find it a bit interesting that people here had ordered/were going to order the Volcano but nary a word on performance.

Still looking for the engineering spec's on the Everflow.

Terry

[AKDUDE]

I hear ya Terry, I just remembered that I had a VOLCANO II in my hands at a computer show last month. It was hooked up to a powersupply, and the fan really didn't seem to be moving that much air. It was quiet though, ill give it that.
I believe its rated for what... 37 cfm at 4500 rpm? A Delta is doing 7000 to move the same amount of air, so maybe Thermaltake is full of ****.
I still think the best choice, considering cost and noise, is a really good heat sink modded to take a 40cfm or so 80mm fan.
AKDUDE

[therapture]

WELL....I bought a VolcanoII just to get and try the fan out. I have an FOP38 and the noise is slowly getting to me. I also have (2) 120mm case fans running at @11 volts, they are relatively quiet, but the high pitched whine of the Black Label Delta is annoying. My 1.0ghz TBird at 1.15ghz (10x115) @1.85v runs nice and stable so far.
Anyway, with the FOP38 at full tilt boogie, my max temps only hit 41c.....nice! After swapping fans from the VolcanoII, it is much much much quieter, but, max temps are up in the 44-46c range now. Acceptable, but nothing special. I was surprised the Volcano fan looks EXACTLY the same size as the Delta...even the blade pitch looks to be the same. So I DOUBT it is pushing 36cfm....the temps don't lie. I might try an 80mm fan next to see if I can regain that 4c and still keep it quiet. I was thinking of dropping a 36cfm Sunon case fan onto it....
I guess I am gonna put my new VolcanoII heatsink into my server box, it is running a Coppermine128 @ 566mhz...(I know, I know, but it's a server...no overclocking for it)

[Sohryu Asuka Langley]

Liquid_N2 (Mar 08, 2001 03:33 p.m.):

What are you running at home? Hardware wise and cooler wise.

Would like to know how you keep it at 21C all the time.

ooo sorry.. my room temp is a constant 21C i mean... so my comp temps wont really fluctuate to cpu killing temps if my full load temp is at the limit... (which it isnt right now)

[Tachyon]

I can't substantiate this without one to test but my understanding (right or wrong) is that the Everflow actually performs 10CFM less then advertised.

[therapture]

Well, the Everflow fan from the TT Volcano2 definitely does not put out 36cfm....it appears to cool my FOP heatsink the same as the fan that comes with the FOP32 (I have the FOP38). I just swapped the fan over to my FOP38 and got 4c higher temps but at a substantial reduction in noise.
Before: 1.15ghz @1.85v @41c loaded
After: 1.15ghz @1.85v @45-46c loaded

So it appears Thermaltake spec on this Everflow fan is BS. I am thinking of just ducting my upper 120mm blowhole right to the heatsink alone, and try that. The 120mm is putting out about 45-50cfm since I dropped the voltage down using the LM217T regulator mod.

************************************************** ********************************
AMD Tbird 1.0ghz @1.15ghz, 1.85v (115x10)
Abit KT7 non raid
FOP38 with Everflow or Delta fan, depending on the weather
256mb Kingmax Pc150 @153mhz (host+pci in BIOS) CAS2
(2) 120mm blowholes
(4) 80mm case fans
Image modded full tower with 300w Sparkle

[SharkyTM]

Shark here,
Thermaltake products have been reputed by many, i believe based solely on looks, to be great, but i have found them to be sorely lacking many departments, including, truth on the website, cooling ability, workmanship, and size... I am going with an alpha 6035, coupled to a Sanyo d fan. Quiet, fairly powerful, and... only twice the price of the orb....

SharkyTM

[Tachyon]

Sharkey,

The Sanyo fan is a Pico Ace...which is a highly engineered fan. You won't be sorry with the quality. Unfortunately, Sanyo isn't much interested in the PC market. I have managed to get them to agree to sending me several copies of a different model (60mm) for engineering testing. I will be providing one of them to Joe here at Overclockers so you may see an article on them. If they test out well, I plan to carry them with a retail price similar to what (I assume) that you paid. Enjoy the fan!

Terry

[diehrd]

I somewhat agree with andy and the boards temperture readings.At idle right now as i type my 1.2/266 @1.4 is idle at 25c,seems to low to me,I use the alpha heat sink and fan.full load has beed 39c.I bet I am off 2 or 3c with the via hardware moniter.And as stable as the system runs it cant be off much more than what i am guessing.Also remember the true temp would be at the thermal greese and no moniter I know of reads the temp between the processor and heat sink." I bet if I run rain this processor would condensate lmao".{just kidding}