- Joined
- Dec 26, 2005
- Location
- Painted Post, NY
I'm finally getting around to putting together my A64 system, and the one thing I'm stuck on is the HSF I want to get. I've done a ton of reading on it, and was pretty much down to three choices, now I'm at four. They are:
1) Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro
2) Thermalright XP-120
3) Scythe Ninja
4) Scythe Mine
One of these will be getting mounted to an Asrock 939Dual-Sata2 mobo (bought it a few months ago when I thought I killed my current system, if I had it to do again, I might go another direction), on top of an A64 3200+.
The Freezer64 I like because of its seemingly easy installation. I've read that it mounts as a stock AMD HSF (if I was misinformed, please tell me), and of course that would be the easiest of the 4 to install, and least likely to have fitting issues with the close proximity of the resistors to the cpu socket.
The xp-120 seems to be one of, if not the top performer, the one problem I have is that I'ld have to find a backplate since the mobo doesn't have one, and since I've never had to deal with that issue, I don't know if it requires a specific backplate, or if I could get generally any manufacturers backplate to work with it. My main question with this one is, does anyone know for sure if it will fit on this board?
I hear nothing but good things with the Ninja, and I can get the universal kit they have for it to replace the stock retention block and add a backplate, although that's another $10.
I just read about the Mine for the first time today, and it seems pretty sweet. According to Scythes website, this HSF was designed more for high speed fan use, and that kind of bothers me. Has anyone used one of these and know how loud the fan is? They also do a comparison with the Ninja, but it seems like it might be a bit decieving as they only run the Ninja's fan at 1200rpm, while they compare that to the Mine's running at 1500 and 2000. It does seem that with the mounting kit that comes with it, that it could fit on the stock mounting block of the Asrock, would anyone be able to confirm or deny this for certain?
So it boils down to this; For a combination of value, performance, and ease of installation, what would you folks recommend? Also, does anyone know if any of these will simply not fit the Asrock Dual? No matter which I get, I'll be ordering it from Newegg, along with some other things, so as far as value goes, it'ld be based on Newegg's prices.
Thought of another question to add. The case I have has 2 side vents, one directly in from of the cpu, the other below that. They're bored out to take either an 80mm, or 120mm fan. I currently have an 80mm fan attached to the upper vent, as an intake fan. I does help cooling with the HSF I'm using, but if I get an HSF with a side mounted fan, would the airflow from the 80mm interfere with the HSF fan? And if so, would it be ok to move the 80mm fan down to the lower vent to help cool agp/pci cards?
1) Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro
2) Thermalright XP-120
3) Scythe Ninja
4) Scythe Mine
One of these will be getting mounted to an Asrock 939Dual-Sata2 mobo (bought it a few months ago when I thought I killed my current system, if I had it to do again, I might go another direction), on top of an A64 3200+.
The Freezer64 I like because of its seemingly easy installation. I've read that it mounts as a stock AMD HSF (if I was misinformed, please tell me), and of course that would be the easiest of the 4 to install, and least likely to have fitting issues with the close proximity of the resistors to the cpu socket.
The xp-120 seems to be one of, if not the top performer, the one problem I have is that I'ld have to find a backplate since the mobo doesn't have one, and since I've never had to deal with that issue, I don't know if it requires a specific backplate, or if I could get generally any manufacturers backplate to work with it. My main question with this one is, does anyone know for sure if it will fit on this board?
I hear nothing but good things with the Ninja, and I can get the universal kit they have for it to replace the stock retention block and add a backplate, although that's another $10.
I just read about the Mine for the first time today, and it seems pretty sweet. According to Scythes website, this HSF was designed more for high speed fan use, and that kind of bothers me. Has anyone used one of these and know how loud the fan is? They also do a comparison with the Ninja, but it seems like it might be a bit decieving as they only run the Ninja's fan at 1200rpm, while they compare that to the Mine's running at 1500 and 2000. It does seem that with the mounting kit that comes with it, that it could fit on the stock mounting block of the Asrock, would anyone be able to confirm or deny this for certain?
So it boils down to this; For a combination of value, performance, and ease of installation, what would you folks recommend? Also, does anyone know if any of these will simply not fit the Asrock Dual? No matter which I get, I'll be ordering it from Newegg, along with some other things, so as far as value goes, it'ld be based on Newegg's prices.
Thought of another question to add. The case I have has 2 side vents, one directly in from of the cpu, the other below that. They're bored out to take either an 80mm, or 120mm fan. I currently have an 80mm fan attached to the upper vent, as an intake fan. I does help cooling with the HSF I'm using, but if I get an HSF with a side mounted fan, would the airflow from the 80mm interfere with the HSF fan? And if so, would it be ok to move the 80mm fan down to the lower vent to help cool agp/pci cards?
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