Want to go silent, looking for a passive CPU cooler (AM3)

Thrackan · Feb 23, 2010

So I came home from a LAN yesterday and when I turned on my PC I clearly noticed that I had turned up a fan.
I've been playing with the idea before, but I really wanna try silencing my build, so here's what I want to try:

I've got a fan blowing in right around the CPU cooler area, so I was thinking passive cooling should be possible. CPU doesn't get very hot (haven't seen it anywhere near 60's) with the Scythe Shuriken, but the fan on the Shuriken makes a buzzy noise.

Can someone recommend me a passive heatsink which, with the help of a small bit of intake airflow, can cool my proccy?

TDP on the proc is 95W according to specs, but I feel it's comparable to my old E6750, which had an (Intel) TDP spec of 65W, so let's estimate it on 75W on Intel scale.

King Wookie · Feb 23, 2010

A good option for the price is the Coolermaster Z600. It's not at all small though.
Others are the Thermalright 01-X, and Scythe Ninja 2.

Thrackan · Feb 23, 2010

Hmm, unfortunately the HR-01-X cannot be mounted so that the casefan blows on the largest side.
Z600 looks good, I was looking at the Ninja 2 as well but some reviews put me off on its passive capabilities.

(FIH) The Don · Feb 23, 2010

the noctu nh-d14 should be able to cool that sucker without fans

Reefer86 · Feb 23, 2010

i would just invest in some quality fans, ive owned a few diffrent brands and types, but if you want silent with good performance you cannot go wrong with the noctua flx series. pricey but silent.

mstenholm · Feb 23, 2010

Reefer86 said:
i would just invest in some quality fans, ive owned a few diffrent brands and types, but if you want silent with good performance you cannot go wrong with the noctua flx series. pricey but silent.

+1 to this. No heat sink works unless there is a bit of flow in the case.

King Wookie · Feb 23, 2010

mstenholm said:
+1 to this. No heat sink works unless there is a bit of flow in the case.

Good point. If it's just your scythe fan that is the issue, try changing it.
Noctuas are good, but I'm currently changing to Thermalright FDB's. But if I was you, I'd stick to the Noiseblockers. They seem to do very well in almost all the reviews I've seen.

TIGR · Feb 23, 2010

+1 to the Noctua NH-D14. I wouldn't recommend going completely passive though, and you really don't have to. You can get a fan that is quieter than other noisemakers in your computer (PSU fan) so that it adds nothing noticeable to the overall noise output of the system, but still cools significantly better than a completely passive setup would.

The Xigmatek S1283 also does very well with low airflow (low enough to seem silent in most environments) for a much lower price.

pantherx12 · Feb 23, 2010

Thermalright have a cooler designed specifically for passive cooling

HR-01 +

Has very wide spaced thins in comparison to other coolers.

Thrackan · Feb 23, 2010

I have a fan nearby that will be blowing air through the sink.

The PSU fan hardly spins at all, and I can't hear it. The Noiseblockers are great fans, but I'm looking into Nexus PWM fans so I can make the front and rear fan PWM based, only cranking up while gaming.

Seriously looking into the Z600 btw, seems like a hell of a sink

King Wookie · Feb 23, 2010

Thrackan said:
I have a fan nearby that will be blowing air through the sink.

The PSU fan hardly spins at all, and I can't hear it. The Noiseblockers are great fans, but I'm looking into Nexus PWM fans so I can make the front and rear fan PWM based, only cranking up while gaming.

Seriously looking into the Z600 btw, seems like a hell of a sink

Well, my brother swears by his. Offered to swop it for my now sitting in a box Xiggy 1283, but he wouldn't budge. Was running an old socket 939 4600 on it passively. Can't remember the TDP on those off hand.

Thrackan · Feb 23, 2010

King Wookie said:
Well, my brother swears by his. Offered to swop it for my now sitting in a box Xiggy 1283, but he wouldn't budge. Was running an old socket 939 4600 on it passively. Can't remember the TDP on those off hand.

89W

EDIT: Still looking into the Thermalright as well, can anyone tell me if it's mountable in all directions? As far as I can tell it's not...

King Wookie · Feb 23, 2010

Thrackan said:
89W

EDIT: Still looking into the Thermalright as well, can anyone tell me if it's mountable in all directions? As far as I can tell it's not...

There is a clip for doing that, the s-clip they call it. But the link to it is not working.

http://www.thermalright.com/new_a_p...s_page/product_accessories_btk.html#acc_sslip

Thrackan · Mar 4, 2010

OK, I can't find the Hyper Z600 in any trustable shop here anymore. Crap.
What I did find yesterday after some undervolting, my CPU core sensors give out a whopping 33C under 30min+ full load

Looking into HR-01+, Scythe Ninja and the Mugen II ATM. Still hard to find passive reviews on those sinks.

wolf · Mar 4, 2010

noctua nh-d14 ftw, the fans it comes with are SUPER DUPER silent anyway, but i bet if you removed them with a little intake airflow you'd be laughing all the way to silent pc heaven

Thrackan · Mar 4, 2010

wolf said:
noctua nh-d14 ftw, the fans it comes with are SUPER DUPER silent anyway, but i bet if you removed them with a little intake airflow you'd be laughing all the way to silent pc heaven

I am taking a liking to the NH-U12P model

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Want to go silent, looking for a passive CPU cooler (AM3)

Thrackan

King Wookie

New Member

Thrackan

(FIH) The Don

Reefer86

mstenholm

King Wookie

New Member

TIGR

pantherx12

Thrackan

King Wookie

New Member

Thrackan

King Wookie

New Member

Thrackan

wolf

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Thrackan

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