Most Quiet yet best Performance HSF?

P

Punkrulz

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Nov 11, 2001
Messages
1,458
Hey guys,

I'm not too much of an overclocker, don't know all that much about it, and if I were to ever do that I would want to fork the money out for a water cooled rig when I learn more about that... however at this point I am looking to quiet my system down drastically. I bought these cheesy Antec "gaskets" that didn't do jack, heh... at least it was worth the shot. Anyways, I'm looking for the most quiet yet best performance HSF on the market. I saw the episode of TSS where Yoshi bought this kit that had a side panel anti-sound mat, and a top and bottom one... I don't want to get the side panel due to the fact that I have a window, and it wouldn't be all that great getting rid of it... I can do the top and bottom thingies though...

This is the HSF that he premiered on the episode as being a really quiet yet good HSF:

http://www.svc.com/zaulqucpuco.html

I was wondering though if that is the best choice, or you guys prefer better? I know that the HSF is the loudest piece in the system, so I figure that should be the best one to work on. Please let me know. :)
 
I have a Vantec Aeroflow, and I really like it. It is a great HSF and is pretty quiet. I run an OC'd 2400+ and it stays at around 33C idle and 38C load.

It was pretty inexpensive too. Mine was about $25 w/ shipping, I think.
 
Zalman CNPS7000Cu is great

the fan will only get to ~26dBa at max speed and it will OC like a megahertz vaccum for you
 
RiceDaddy, what is your entire cooling setup? I know mine runs hotter than 38c me thinks, not entirely sure but I run an Athlon XP 2000+ standard, and I'm pretty sure it runs hotter. :/
 
I'm on the Zalman 7000AlCu as well and you I can't hear it above the noise of my case fans which are standard Tt 80mms. Real quiet, Zalman dude said it was 28dB at max when plugged straight into the mobo without using the FanMate and temps are excellent! :)
 
I've been thinking of getting a hybrid cooler from AOC that combines H20 and a fan at the heatsink to boot. I saw it the other day at their office and I find the idea somewhat intriguing. It was definitely quiet, but don't know yet what the H20 cooling will be like. I like to do empirical testing in what it can do instead of what some measurement reads. So if it will run my box at what I am running at now I suppose it will be a good deal. It will be even a better deal if I can talk them out of an engineering sample ;)

If your interested their site is at www.aocusa.com I have been buying my fans from these guys for about 10 years now and they don't sell anything that isn't good stuff...so far.
 
Don't touch that fricken water/air hybrid peice of shit, complete waste of cash from the reviews I've seen around the net.

I'll throw in another vote for the Zalman CNPS7000(A)-(AL)CU. If you are't comfortable with the immense weight of the CU don't worry...the ALCU cools just as well as it's overweight twin...within 2C usually. Also, you can save a bit of cash by going with the ALCU and some people (myself for one) actually like the look of the "hybrid" version more.
 
I have the Zalman also. It is quiet enough IMO. It is definitely noisier than stock HSF but not too noisy. I can hear it over my two 120mm case fans. I am not too concerned with noise so it doesn't bother me. Hell my old 500MHz dell with only 1 fan is nosier than my current setup. The Zalman keeps the temps a few degrees (*C) cooler at idle and under load.
 
Yoshi on TSS (and frankly most of the staff....except Morgan) is a bit clueless ingeneral. What impresses them is usually what impresses a 5 yr old. Meanwhile back in the real world....

The quietest Ive found for AMD is to use a DLT3C TBredB (1.5V .13u chip) stick to say 10x200Mhz and slap an Alpha 8045 on it with a Panflo L1A 80mm (1700rpm) in BLOW mode, and use a duct to bring cool outside air directly to the fan (it becomes another "intake" fan). You wont even know it's on, not even with the case door open listening for it.

Course its all pointless unless you quiet everything else. SLK3700 type case, quiet fan running at 5V or 7V, and a PS with 120mm fan also altered to run at 5V or 7V. Use the silicone fan isolators..mcMaster has them for $9.71 for 20 pcs. McMaster also has the mylar ducting used in the "BaDong" duct from Directron.

I also find the Seagate drives with Acoustic Management on quiet are the most silent, in conjunction with the isolated mounting you'll be hardpressed to know they are being accessed. Line the case with the acoustic deadening stuff, mineral spirits versions, plus the foam/fiberglass acoustic ceiling tile material (melamine)...all available at mcMaster.

My LX-6A19 (aka SLK3700 without CD door) weighs in at 38LBs now and is so silent with the window open the crickets are louder in the summer.

BTW: there will be a sea change in heatsink design soon with Microcool's heatpipe design....using a silicon chip technique to make a super high surface area heat pickup for the chip-end of the heatpipe. Efficiency should go through the roof and air could get alot closer to water cooling efficiency soon (well heatpiping IS sort of watercooling ) ;)
 
Nobody mentioned the Thermaltake 900U huh? That's what I have with a 92mm Panaflo and it's very quiet. Excellent combo IMO.
 
uwackme

Some of the things you have mentioned are things I am either not up to information about, or have never heard of... can you provide me some links so I can view a general example of what it would look like, how to set it up, etc?
 
Originally posted by Top Nurse
I've been thinking of getting a hybrid cooler from AOC that combines H20 and a fan at the heatsink to boot.
Click to expand...
hehe, funny. Not quite as misguided as the water/peltier/heatsink design [H] reviewed a while back. Now THAT one was really bad...
 
Another one goes out to the Zalman.

I have an older model (3100+) and it does a great job. Extremely quiet. I'm sure that the 7000 is no exception either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top