heatsink decision

Alright, I want to know what you all think about this. I already have a thermaltake volcano 11 heatsink with the TT smart fan mounted on it. I am not very happy with the performance of the cooler right now. When I put the side door on my case, my cpu gets up to 48-50C under full load. The cpu diode is actually reading about 62C.

What I want to know is if I can expect any better performance by buying the SK-7 and putting the same fan on it.

My second option is to get a 90/92mm fan and mouting it on either the volcano or the SK-7.

Which one would be better? I really don't like running the TT fan at full speed cause it is just too annoying.

A good 92mm fan and an SK7 should get you some better performance.

An SK-7 will only take an 80mm fan. I have the 80mm SF II on mine and I love it. I am running mine 200 x 11 @ 1.70v right now and it is about 44C under load. I do have the fan turned up manually almost to max though. I lowered it just enough so it didn't annoy me (currently about 4200 rpm). Max is 4800.

It is possible to run a 92mm fan on a SK7. However, doing it without the 92mm --> 80mm adaptor is a total pain in the *** and its a bit of an improper mount (I had to angle the fan 45 degrees + make my own retaining clips) in order to get it to fit.

However, the Smart Fan II with the SK-7 is a very good option. If you truely desire a 90mm fan, then a SLK900 or a SLK800 with modded retaining clips would be good options.

It shouldn't be too much trouble to get a 92mm fan on an SK7. I was able to bend the clips for an SLK800 to get a 92mm fan on it...

if you want to go all out get the slk900u and put a 92mm smartfan on it. That will really lower your temps.

CamH said:

It shouldn't be too much trouble to get a 92mm fan on an SK7. I was able to bend the clips for an SLK800 to get a 92mm fan on it...

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The SK-7 is too small for the 92mm fan to fit in the same fashion as an 80mm fan (the edges of the heatsink would touch the fan blades).

you can mod the fan

TT fan= the one with the auto speed at the fan frame? Cos i have that and it sux.

I recommend the Zalman CNPS7000A-AlCu, especially since you're concerned about noise. I replaced my Swiftech MCX4000 (with stealth fan) with one and it's very quiet and the cooling performance is greatly improved. This 'A' version of this heatsink will mount on both AMD and Intel chips.

Posidon42 said:

When I put the side door on my case, my cpu gets up to 48-50C under full load.

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You probably have bad case airflow. Improve this and you will improve the performance of whatever heatsink you ultimately use. A simple way to get good airflow is to cut a blowhole in your sidepanel and either duct your HSF to the outside or mount another fan in the blowhole.

thanks for all the input. Yes, I realize that putting a blowhole in the side of my case will improve temps. That is what I have it running with right now but the side of the case is cardboard for prototyping reasons

Now if Chieftec would only sell me a spare door without the handle installed in it I would be golden. I really don't want to have to resort to using one of those dryer vent hose things as I don't think they would work very well, and the handle for my door is directly in front of my cpu fan. So a direct blowhole is out of the question.

I think I have decided to just end my misery on this particular subject and make my own watercooled case. That way I know it will do what I want it to do. I never realized until I started worrying about temps how bad most cases are designed.

Maybe I will do something about it

Thanks for the inputs everyone.

Oh yeah, I had to slow my cpu down cause it was getting too hot. And this room is airconditioned so I know there is NO way it would function in a LAN environment. Maybe my new case will work better.

rickster - to answer your question, yes mine is the TT fan, but not the one with the temp probe attached to the fan. Mine is a plug in that attaches to the under side of the cpu. The wires are very small and go through the pins and up to the heat sink side of the processor.

Kinda sucks too cause TT just added a front bay manual control to this fan and they won't send me one. Oh well, guess I will just have to keep adjusting it via the rear panel.