Semi-Passive Phenom II X4?

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10011611&prodlist=celebros

What's the feasibility of cooling this guy using only case airflow? My case (Antec P180) has two slow 120mm exhaust fans in the immediate vicinity of the CPU.

The processor's thermal envelope on paper from AMD, which I generally understand to be overstated, is 125W.

Any chance I can run one fewer fan during idling times? I'd appreciate specific heatsink suggestions to this end =).

Heatsinks like the Scythe Orochi are very good with little to no airflow. It (of course) will run a bit hotter, but it would work.

I did a massive array of testing on that heatsink, but since the website went down awhile ago and I haven't posted it on my website yet, I don't have a copy for you. Basically, the heatsink does exceptionally well even without any airflow at all (bench table with NO fans). Now add the flow of your case and the stock cooler (dead silent at 12v); I think you will have good temps.

EDIT: Let me see if I can dig up some graphs for you.

http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g121/thideras/Reviews/Scythe Orochi/Graphs/
Password is 'thideras5288'. Let me know if you have any questions about this heatsink, I spent a lot of time with it.

Is there a rule of thumb regarding what CPU thermal wattage begins to necessitate active cooling?

Chixofnix said:

Is there a rule of thumb regarding what CPU thermal wattage begins to necessitate active cooling?

Click to expand...

It completely depends on the case and setup. As you can see in the graphs that I just posted (look up), the red bar is 186 watts. With only a Yate Loon Low speed on the heatsink, I got 86c fully loaded with a program that stresses more than Prim95. In the tests, I used a QX9650 at different speeds (in the review ) to obtain the different wattages in the tests.

Bottom line, you can push an amazing amount of heat out of this heatsink with little airflow.

More images:
http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g121/thideras/Reviews/Scythe Orochi/Big Images/

thideras said:

It completely depends on the case and setup. As you can see in the graphs that I just posted (look up), the red bar is 186 watts. With only a Yate Loon Low speed on the heatsink, I got 86c fully loaded with a program that stresses more than Prim95. In the tests, I used a QX9650 at different speeds (in the review ) to obtain the different wattages in the tests.

Bottom line, you can push an amazing amount of heat out of this heatsink with little airflow.

More images:
http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g121/thideras/Reviews/Scythe Orochi/Big Images/

Click to expand...

Awesome =). I realize now my "rule of thumb" question is inherently fuzzy as it also depends on what temps the user finds "acceptably cool..."

A question though - it looks like at 186W, you're at a 3800Mhz overclock, for which I don't see any passive (sans fan) results. It looks from the graphs like passive only allows for stock speeds and those cause some fairly high temps?

Also, related question on a different tangent - socket AM2/AM2+ mounting is same as AM3, right?

I'm trying to remember the mounting system, but I'm sure it works on AM2.

Regarding the numbers, you will never hit 186 watts output on your CPU; that is an insanely high number. I was using a program specifically made to cook the CPU, and thus, some of the tests are "missing" if they exceeded 95c. I was also running excessive voltages (1.6v range) to get the numbers that high. I do have the spreadsheet somewhere, but honestly don't know where to look; need to organize My Documents one of these days.

thideras said:

I'm trying to remember the mounting system, but I'm sure it works on AM2.

Regarding the numbers, you will never hit 186 watts output on your CPU; that is an insanely high number. I was using a program specifically made to cook the CPU, and thus, some of the tests are "missing" if they exceeded 95c. I was also running excessive voltages (1.6v range) to get the numbers that high. I do have the spreadsheet somewhere, but honestly don't know where to look; need to organize My Documents one of these days.

Click to expand...

Haha, story of my life too!

Thanks for the input thideras

Sounds like a have a solid "plan B" should stock cooling prove too noisy when I piece together my new rig tonight ^_^.

Not a problem

I'd love to see a setup with that heatsink (passive or stock fans), especially with a good thought-out duct.