The Hunt for the Right Cooler... a Tom Clancy thriller!

[ushlak_morante]

Hi fellow OCers, as I'm new here I thought what better way to introduce myself than making a thread and asking you fine folk a question or two

I'm in the process of my first mATX build and consider myself fairly adept at researching and selecting suitable and compatible components but I have to admit, choosing the right cooler for an mATX mobo/case is an arduous task.

At first I started looking at what the best coolers were, all the while I continually found the Noctua's being recommended but I just personally feel they are overpriced as you can get similar performance for considerably less. The other option that came up was CLCs but to summarise I looked into them and realised they weren't for me at this moment in time/

Based on price/performance I began to be interested in mounting the mammoth Silver Arrow on my tiny board but after some extensive reading I decided it was either impossible (depending on the motherboard you have and the clearance between socket and GPU slot) and where it was possible it appeared to be fairly impractical for getting around your mATX case. Perhaps foolishly, I though the Thermalright HR-02 Macho might have been a slightly better option but after realising the clearance issues were more related to the TY-140 fans used on many of their coolers (which is actually 151mm wide in one direction) I started to look a little further down the food chain for something with a bit more breathing room.

Whilst looking into the HR-02 I came across another issue with certain TR coolers coupled with certain ASUS/ASRock motherboards, which required a special mounting plate. After trying to get to the bottom of this I eventually discovered that it came down to some boards having VRM heatsinks that encroached upon the socket exclusion zone - having examined my motherboard I am fairly confident I shouldn't be effected.

So sticking with TR, I am thinking a sensible option might be the TRUE Spirit 120mm. I've seen a couple of reviews were it seems to be fairly on par with the TRUE Spirit 140 and HR-02 and what's nice is that I can get this cooler for less than the oft-touted Hyper 212 Evo. So I'm coming here to see what you guys thing of this cooler, is it a good choice? About the only thing I can't discern is whether or not the stock fan is any good. Some reviews say it's quiet, one puts it quieter than the TY-140 but based on the specs and the general comments I've collected the fan is probably quiet noisy.

I should state at this point that one of the primary factors for this build is for it to be cool yet as quiet as possible - that's partially why I looked at the TR coolers with the TY-140 as I was led to believe these fans were pretty quiet.

So, should I be looking for a different fan to pair with the TRUE Spirit 120? Since it's reasonably priced my budget would allow getting an replacement fan. What 4-pin PWM fans would you recommend as a replacement that would offer similar or better performance to the stock fan but do so with very quiet operation?

Any comments, thoughts, suggestions are greatly welcomed.

 

[muddocktor]

The True Spirit 120 is a very good budget choice for your system. I'm in the process (slowly) of writing up a review of it. I can tell you that it's just a revision of the original Cogage True spirit with a redesigned base and a different fan included. BTW, if you didn't know it already, Cogage is/was a subsidiary of Thermalright which they were going to use as their "budget heatsink" line, but it looks like they changed their mind about that and are just making heatsinks under the Thermalright name now.

The fan included with the TS120 is pretty quiet and is PWM, but doesn't cool quite as well as the fan included with the original TS model. The original TS fan was noisier but also was PWM, so you could set a profile to where it wouldn't ramp to full speed until your system needed it. IMO, they should have kept the original model fan with the TS120, but they didn't. The TY-120 fan is pretty lightweight and looks to be a sleeve bearing fan, so expect it to die a few years down the road. For a replacement fan (or fans), I am partial to the Gentle Typhoon series fans, with the AP-15 model being my favorite. It's not PWM, but it is also pretty darn quiet too and IMO, doesn't need the PWM function. If you go with a push pull setup on the TS120, you could go with 2 AP-14 Gentle Typhoon fans instead of a single AP-15 and have good cooling performance. With an AP-15 fan installed on the TS120, you will see a modest increase in cooling performance too. BTW, if you decide to go push pull, the Venomous X fan clips are the same ones the TS120 uses and you can generally pick them up for a couple of bucks.

 

[ushlak_morante]

Hi muddocktor, thank you for popping by my thread, I have read some of your great reviews in the process of my research so you have already been helpful but it's a pleasure to have your direct input

I had read about Cogage being Thermalright's budget wing but I think they appear to be generally moving their Thermalright products into a very competitive segment - considering their performance/price. I can get either the newer Thermalright TS120 or the old Cogage TS (the Cogage being slightly more expensive) but I had read about the noisy fan so I was pretty much expecting to switch out the fans of either product, so in reality I'm really looking at the base heatsink. For me I'm trying to make this rig as quiet as possible to take over from my noisy ATX rig.

I might consider the P/P setup, what kind of temp drops do you imagine it would achieve - something in the order of 2/3 degrees C or closer to 5+? I think if it's the latter then it's something I would opt for. I seem to remember reviews mentioning the TR TS120 came with fan clips for only one fan but I may be getting mixed up with the Cogage or Macho, since you are testing the fan I don't suppose you know if that is the case? If so, would these be the appropriate clips to get:

http://www.systo.co.uk/120mm-fan-clips-fan-wire-clip-ultima120.html

BTW are these the Venomous X clips you mean:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-093-TR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=

I haven't been able to locate them as seperate items but I'll have a longer look later on.

The GTs sound like a good option, I always see them praised, though I've never used them myself. At 21dB they also seem pretty quiet which is right for me.

It also just occured to me that I have a spare fan sitting in my cupboard which hasn't yet been used, do you think this would be a viable option to pair with the TS120 or does it not have the right static pressure and am I therefore better off just using it as a case fan?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-057-AK&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=4

 

[muddocktor]

The clips I am talking about are these right here, which are the same exact clips that come with the TS120. I looked around at the various shops I could find in the UK and couldn't locate any for sale though. As for that Akasa fan, it work in conjunction with the TY-140 fan. It looks much like the Cooler Master Thunderblade fans.

 

[ushlak_morante]

So, maybe I'm crazy for second-guessing myself (again) but I'm looking at the Venomous X which has the same basic dimensions as the TS120 but 2-extra heatpipes and a different retention mechanism (though some have mentioned it causes the cooler to twist about?). Assuming the TS120 and Ven-X were equipped with the same fan would the Venomous X be a better choice?

 

[muddocktor]

Yes, the Venomous X is a slightly better cooler than the TS120. As is the TS140. But any of those should do you well.

 

[ushlak_morante]

Thanks for your input muddocktor, went with the Venomous X in the end. Going to be putting my build together this weekend so I will be back to comment on temps.