HSF Survey

[Gandalf]

I would like to know what HSF you guyz are using on your CPU's.

I will be running a O/C AMD T-bird 1.4 GHZ, so what HSF do you think would give me the best "coolability'?

[nikhsub1]

Swiftech MCX462 and Swiftech MCX462. The best air power there is.

[Placid]

http://www.overclockers.com/articles373/

[Gandalf]

Originally posted by nikhsub1
Swiftech MCX462 and Swiftech MCX462. The best air power there is.

Is it loud?

[Kendle666]

I like the Alpha pal 8045 with a sunon 80mm fan .........which runs @2000rpm and is more than half as noisey as any of the "screamer" delta's

I have one, and with my 1 Ghz Duron OC'ed @1260 I run temps at 95f at idle and 100-105f at full load

[nikhsub1]

Originally posted by GaDaLf


Is it loud?

Depends on the fan used.

[Thelemac]

*Moved to "Cooling"*

[Gandalf]

The fan you buy it with, is it loud?

[plague]

a lot of places will ask what fan you want with it. If you get a delta, be prepared for noise. You're obviously concerned about noise, so check out the Millenium Glaciator. I use it and it's great, and very quiet.

check this out (http://www.overclockers.com/articles491/)

edit: the glaciator is also like half the price or less of the MCX462, and is just slightly behind in performance

[JayP]

I've got the Thermalright SK-6 and a 7000+rpm 60mm fan. (This fan came off a Thermaltake Volcano 6Cu+) It's quite loud.

[dreadlord79]

If you want to go with the best and don't mind paying for it, go with the Swiftech MC462A with is only .3 off of water cooling and is alot quiter with an 80mm fan than anything with a "Delta" on it. You have to pay for this one because it is $75 plus shipping and handling! Go to the link that Placid pointed out for the reviews of the best HSF's (over 30 to compare).

[Gandalf]

I dont want a REALLY LOUD hsf, I just want one that will cool the best but not have too much noise.

Which would you guyz suggest?

[dreadlord79]

Either go with the NEW Swiftech MCX462 HSF which is the best,but costs $71.99 at: http://www.heatsinkfactory.com/ (where I shop most of the time, great site!) or go with the very reasonably quite Millennium Glaciator II which can be found here: http://www.millennium-thermal.com/start.htm and will run you $33.75. Make sure to get the ALL COPPER version. Hope this helps. :)

[AntmanMike]

I have a swiftech MC462 on a P4... Works well too... It IS loud with the standard fan, however, i dont care if i go deaf. CS is always there to reincarnate my hearing.

[Gandalf]

Do you know of any Canadian sites where I can buy that Millenium Glaciator II?

And what was the link the the site that had all of the Sound Tests for the HSF's recored in mp3? It was posted somewhere around here....

[funnyperson1]

www.sidewindercomputers.com

[Arkaine23]

Budget machine (T-bird 1000): Volcano 2 with delta 38cfm. modded with silicone between fan and heatsink to reduce vibration/noise.

Performance machine (XP 1600+): Volcano 7 with heat/fan speed control diode removed (for max rpm all the time). Also modded with silicone between fan and heatsink to reduce vibration/noise.

There are better HSF's out there to be sure, but these were cheap, < $25. And I got them performing pretty well.

[The Overclocker]

water cooling - what else?

[DodgeViper]

Alpha 8045 lapped and polished.

[dreadlord79]

I must say that that is beautiful Dodge! I am planning on doing that to my all alum. vantec. I would like to get the new Swiftech MCX462 so I don't have to do that, but $71.99+s & h will be hard to get the old ladie to swallow!

[DodgeViper]

Really does not take much effort to get your HS to look like my photo. Just follow these instructions. After the lapping I used a product called SIMICHROME. Its more of a polish than a rubbing compound. Remember though you need to whip the the polished surface with Acetone to remove any polish compound left behind. You want the surface to clean before applying ASll.

http://www.competitionchemicals.com/simichro.html


Lapping, Grinding, or Otherwise Making a Heatsink or Cold Plate Surface Smooth and Flat

1. Use a piece of flat glass as your work surface (it must be very flat, and supported well)
2. Use waterproof sandpaper (sometimes called wet or dry)

3. Use lots of water (several cc at a time, the water flushes the metal particles away, keeps the sandpaper clog free, and makes it stick to the glass)

4. Depending on how flat and smooth your heatsink is, expect to spend 30 minutes or more at this work (I do it on a glass coffee table top in front of the television - you don't even have to watch the work [of course, if the show is bad enough, you can watch the work, and finish faster])

5. Use a relatively light pressure on the workpiece and move it back and forth across the sandpaper; try to keep an even downward force on the workpiece and avoid digging in the edges or corners. Rotate the heatsink 90 degrees approximately (NOT exactly) every dozen or so strokes.

6. If your heat sink is relatively flat and smooth, then 400 grit is a good place to start. If after ten minutes of work you do not see much progress (there are many pits larger than the surface roughness left by the 400 grit sandpaper), drop to a lower number grit (320) or (260).

7. Using finer grit sandpaper will help improve heat transfer: 1500 is certainly fine enough, but since you need to get such fine grades at an automobile parts store (it is used for finishing automobile paintwork), you might as well get a sheet each of 600, 800, 1000, 1500, and 2000. The more coarse grits are easy to find at a paint or hardware store 40, 60, 80, 120, 180, 220, 280, 320, 400, 600. (Grit # 40 will take the portrait off a franc coin in a minute or so; the average heatsink with faint circular milling marks can probably be started at 320.)

8. The work can be completed in less time if you step up through each grade, removing all the pits left by the previous grade before moving to the next finer grit.

9. Each time you change to a finer grit, VERY carefully wash the work surface, your hands, the heatsink, and the sandpaper. Any larger grit left when you start with a finer grade will leave visible scratches.

10. The waterproof (or wet/dry) sandpaper will last a long time. After you are through with the work, wash the sandpaper and let it dry. You can reuse it many times as long as it is not torn.

11. As an example of how fine 2000 grit is, you could use it on Mercedes paintwork and almost not notice an effect other than the missing wax polish.

12. Do not use too much pressure when sanding the heatsink; you want a flat as well as a smooth surface, and too much pressure can cause one edge or corner to be ground down more quickly (that is one reason for occasionally rotating the heatsink a random amount.) Too much pressure may also cause a corner to tear the sandpaper. If you do not tear the sandpaper, one sheet of each grade should last through ten or more heatsinks.

13. Emery cloth is similar to sandpaper, except that the base is cloth, rather than paper. It is ok for the rougher grits, but I think that I will not give as flat a surface when you move to finer grits.

14. Crocus cloth. This is a polishing material similar to emery cloth, but it has jeweler's rouge on the surface rather than emery grit. THIS IS NOT waterproof. I tried it to get a final polish, and added water. All the jeweler's rouge washed off! For a final polish, a soft cloth and a solvent that will remove dirt and grease are about all you need.

15. The method of grinding the heatsink you and I have described is the way flat mirrors for astronomical use are made (except there are machines that do the work now.) A spherical section mirror can be ground in exactly the same way, except that the grinding surface is circular, and the same size as the mirror. (The only additional action used for the flat and spherical mirrors is that the person grinding the mirror, also, after six or eight strokes, walks partially around the work surface to grind from a new angle.) This is probably not necessary for a heatsink, since the method used on astronomical mirrors makes a surface that is smooth and correct to less than 100 nanometers! At that point, thermal compound would not be necessary, and in fact, would have a negative effect. Even just going in a careful manner to the 1500 grit will give you a surface that, when placed on an FC-PGA CPU, will lift the CPU when the heatsink is raised.

16. Penultimate warning: the older CPU's with a relatively large metal cap (about 20 mm X 20 mm) can be very uneven. Sometimes the metal cap may be concave to the extent of a millimeter or two in the center. For something this bad, you will want to start with 280 grit.

17. Final warning: the FC-PGA CPU's, and the SECC2 CPU's have a very small heat transfer surface, about 11 mm X 9 mm. This is the bottom of the silicon slice the CPU is built into. It is laser cut from a single crystal of silicon, and cannot be made any smoother or flatter. DO NOT grind or polish this surface. It will not help, and the CPU gates and channels are less than 1 mm below this surface. Also beware that this will void any warranty on whatever you choose to lap!

[dreadlord79]

*** in awe of Dodge ***

That was the best and most complete as well as the most explained right up I've seen on the topic! I now understand why you HSF looks like a mirror! :) Thanks for the great walk through and I know this will help others besides me.

[DodgeViper]

Dreadlord99, I can not take credit for the article. It was sent to me. I have no clue who the author is. I hope it helps you though. I followed the article for the most part when lapping HS. I perfer to use SimiChrome as the finish polish followed with a cleaning of acetone.

[Gandalf]

Thanx for all the help guys!

[oc jason]

i still am partial to the Millenium Glaciators for sond and cooling ability

[Gandalf]

That is under full load right?