Suggestions for a CPU cooler

[damian]

Sounds like the H50 is what you need. Silent and performs okay. Make sure you read up on how to mount it, i hear having as intake gives better temps than as exhaust (or it could be vice versa). Great for first timers too! Who knows you might get addicted to WC like a lot of people do

[Hedghawg71]

If you got room for this, This could also work. Asetek makes the H50 and they also got their own stuff too. I got one of these on my tech bench and it does good. ===========> Asetek LCLC240

[Guest_Jim_*]

Sounds like the H50 is what you need. Silent and performs okay. Make sure you read up on how to mount it, i hear having as intake gives better temps than as exhaust (or it could be vice versa). Great for first timers too! Who knows you might get addicted to WC like a lot of people do

Apparently the manual says to mount it as an intake, but several reviews I have seen have said that while the CPU will be cooler that way, the heat in the case went up, which is what I'm trying to avoid. Since I'm planning on setting up a push/pull for it, I'm not too worried about that, and will keep the the fans directed to exhaust.

 

If you got room for this, This could also work. Asetek makes the H50 and they also got their own stuff too. I got one of these on my tech bench and it does good. ===========> Asetek LCLC240

Unfortunately I do not have the room for it. The only place with room for two 12cm fans like that is on the side panel. So that would be fine, if I never wanted to open the case again.

 

I'll probably place the order tomorrow evening. The H50 and Antec SpotCool from Newegg (and a few other things I need), and two PWM controlled fans and PWM splitter from Frozen CPU. I'm not sure which fans to get, but I'm leaning towards these Akasa Apache fans. One review of H50 I've read said that, according to Corsair, the fan is an Akasa already. If I decide not to get those, then I would probably get a pair of the Scythe's from Frozen CPU. Figure that out tomorrow, and, again, any recommendations for fans are welcome. The only issue with recommending the fans for the H50 is that I want them to be PWM controlled, which does not seem very easy to find (of course, I may not be looking in the right places).

Thank you all again for your recommendations.

[Guest_Jim_*]

So the stuff came on Thursday and today I managed to put it all in. The actual installation wasn't too bad, though there were some annoying aspects to it, primarily how cables were routed in the case by the manufacturer.

So, I've got the H50 in with push-pull going (pushing out of the case, not in) and start up the computer. I first go to the BIOS to see what the temps are there, and as I look at the screen the CPU temperature not so slowly, but very much surely, climbs up and up, until I shut down the computer (at 72C). I restart it, and watch again it as it rises, but the system shuts itself off at 51C. Very perplexed by this I try switching around some cables, to no avail. Pulled the heat sink off of the CPU to make sure the cooler was in contact, and it was, but still the temperatures climb. I do not know what it was, but eventually the temperature decided not to climb anymore and was hanging at 38-39C in the BIOS. My best guess is that either the power connector to the pump wasn't working (it's in the case fan plug, and the BIOS was not always reporting an RPM for that) or the temperature sensor for the CPU was wonky for a bit.

In any case, my system is now working fine. Not only is the CPU temperature a bit lower, at least at idle (haven't pushed it yet) but the GPU temps are lower. The ATI card is about 3-4C lower and the nVidia is also a few degrees cooler. I did have to remove one of the side fans in the case, that was pulling air out, because I think it was hitting a tube, and having it there raised the CPU temp a little (about a degree, but the temperature dropped whenever I removed the fan, so I know it was causing it).

Everything appears to be working fine now. Thank you all for your advice.

[Guest_Jim_*]

So, this morning I boot up my computer as usual, so that it can fold while I'm at school, and it suddenly shuts itself down. Apparently that issue with the CPU temp rising is still present. I didn't have much time to play with it, and won't be home for several hours now, but I think I've figured out what the problem is, based on the fix I have going right now. It appears to me that the motherboard was not supplying enough power through the pump (which was connected to the Case Fan plug). I currently have it connected to a different spot, not an ideal place really, but I can fix that later, and the system was running fine when I left.

If I'm right, I don't know why the power plug would be acting like this, especially as the computer did boot up fine at one point yesterday, and continued to run happily. If I'm wrong, then I have no idea what the trouble is.

When I get home I'm going to try connecting the pump to the PSU Fan plug on the motherboard and see if that works. Currently I have it connected to a splitter that is connected to a voltage controller I had been running the side fans on. The controller is at full speed, so hopefully the computer will still be on when I get home.

Any ideas about what this issue is and possibly how to fix it?

[ebarone]

I thought the H50 pump plug had to go into the CPU fan plug?

[Guest_Jim_*]

I thought the H50 pump plug had to go into the CPU fan plug?

Actually that is something you do NOT want to do with some newer motherboards like mine. The CPU fan plug will have its power controlled by the BIOS, unless over rided by something like AMD Overdrive, because if the CPU isn't hot, then the fan on it doesn't need to go so fast. A water pump though, at least for the H50, so always be going and always at full speed, so that modulation would be a bad thing. Instead, I have the push-pull fans on the radiator hooked up to the CPU fan plug.

Here's how I've finally got it all plugged in. The radiator fans are connected to the CPU fan plug (using a nifty PWM splitter). The pump is connected to the PSU fan plug, without issue so far. A RAM cooler that came with my Corsair RAM is connected to the Case fan plug, that was having the issue with the pump. I then also have a side fan connected to a fan controller that gets power from a peripheral plug. And it is all working great.

The CPU stays around 44-45C with normal use (about 5-6C cooler than previously), the MB is at 35C consistently (an increase of 3C or so), the HD 5770 is at 59-60C with constant 99% activity from folding (this is a few degrees cooler), the GTS250 is at 54C again under full load from folding, which is the same as it was before, probably because it is so far from new fans and such.

Also, the new cooling setup has succeeded in moving at least one hot spot. I keep my desktop under my desktop, and before the top fan was blowing hot air up onto the bottom of the desk surface, where it spread out and would pass over the keyboard. Now, with the two fans pushing air out the back, that warm air hits a wall and disperses. So my initial impressions of this system tell me it is working as I had hoped it would, by moving the heat out of the case and also away from me.

[ebarone]

Ah, thats right. I dont remember where I have mine plugged into, but I do remember something about never plugging in ____ into the CPU plug... it must have been the pump.

 

If you really want to get creative, go out and buy a bunch of dryer ducts, and hook them to the back of your case, then out the window... your room will never heat up on account of your computer then!