Blue Orb II

[Guest]

Im going to be purchasing a C2D E6600 in the next few weeks and i will be looking at overclocking it. i am new to overclocking and will be using a guide on here to go through the process.

my question is, how will the Thermaltake Blue Orb II hold up for overclocking this cpu? im not sure where this heatsink sits in terms of quality in comparison to some of the others ive seen listed on this site.

 

[Mondoman]

Start with the OEM Intel cooler, then see what, if any, aspects need improvement.

 

[m25]

In full Thermal Take fashion, this thing is one of the noisiest you can get in it's category, so I'd not advice it.
http://hardware.gamershell.com/articles/thermaltake_blue_orb_ii_review/4.html

 

[chenBrazil]

Tuniq tower cooler would be a perfect match for extreme OC, specially if you ae not intent to move your pc a lot...as it is heavy ...

 

[Mondoman]

Except, of course, that vertical tower style cooler like the Tuniq don't blow air down onto the MB and out in all directions, providing cooling to the north bridge, PWM components, any radiators/heat sinks around the CPU, etc. Blue/Golden Orb, Zalman 7700, OEM Intel, etc *do* provide this cooling. Whether or not lack of such cooling will cause problems depends on the MB design and on your case design and cooling.

 

[Felopian_Turtle]

If the blue orb II is anything like the TT ruby orb then stay away!!
I'd go with a Thermalright SI-128, provides cooling to the NB with your choice of a 120mm, why deal with loud proprietary fans.

 

[m25]

Zalman is the master in this type of coolers (think they even patented the shape but others shamelessly cloned it). Besides having the same problem with the mounting position and motherboard compatibility, it should also be louder than a Zalman.

 

[SPARTAN-117]

I have the Blue Orb II and its the quietest cooler in my PC. Its also one of the best coolers you can buy, although installation can be a problem. It well worth the $30 price tag and IMO it can't be beat. My HDD's are louder than that thing so its pretty quiet.

Hope this helps.

 

[Guest]

thanks everyone. helps a lot spartan. im glad i got a comment from someone that uses one.

ive heard that installation can be a pain in the a$$, and with my motherboard i think i may have to take a file to a few of the corners a little to get a perfect fit.

 

[SPARTAN-117]

You actually shouldn't have to file the edges any. I thought I was going to need to do to the fact that everyone who used my mobo said that it wouldn't clear the RAM. It did clear, although its best to install the RAM first then the heatsink so as to reduce headaches. Yet if you need to, you can install the RAM with the heatsink installed. Just trying to prevent headaches for you is all. 8)

Good luck and enjoy your Blue Orb II.

 

[Guest]

yeah thanks a lot mate. hey what motherboard did you put it on? im putting it on the asus p5b delxue wi-fi.

 

[SPARTAN-117]

ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe nForce4 SLI

 

[choirbass]

i own a thermatake blue orb II as well... a 120mm fan at only 1600-1700rpm really is going to be fairly quiet, except for a nearly inaudible low pitched hum that you would expect anyhow

im sure there are better coolers out there, many also louder as well

the only problem with installation is how wide the actual heatsink is (make sure you have your memory installed beforehand, because you might not be able to reach the dimm slots easily, with the heatsink possibly overhanging them)... no filing is necessary (should be no need to do that), it either fits in your case, or it doesnt

 

[Guest]

my problem is i cant find a yes or no answer anywhere for my board. i found a few pictures on here where a guy did it with the same board and it fitted, but he stated that it touches both the power supply and the chipset cooler. i thought a little filing would stop this contact and make a better fit.

 

[choirbass]

that may very well be a possibility then... if the heatsink overhangs your motherboard and touches your psu, you can try and force it to fit (which in your case, may be an option, if youre going to go ahead and file it in that case)

but typically... if something is too tall, it wont fit, if something is too wide, it wont fit... but you can always find ways to get around that, that arent supported or recommended by the manufacturer, and it may very well void the warranty

all i can say is, if it doesnt fit, you should send it back for a more appropriately sized heatsink, or, you can file it down if you choose to... when you purchase it, it will be your choice at that point... but returning it for whatever reason, more than likely wont be an option then

you could try to return it after filing, but, i dunno, lol

 

[Guest]

yeah, i found the part cheap on ebay brand new so ive already purchased it, and i mean for a matter of $40 i think ill try to file it down, if it doesnt work then ill just cut my losses and purchase a smaller one that does fit. the thing that attracted me to this one is the fact that my cases has all blue led fans and i saw this as an easy way of enhancing the lighting and also that thermaltake was a quality brand.

 

[choirbass]

yeah, $40 isnt bad at all, i can vouch for it being a quality heatsink though... it was exponentially better than my stock s939 heatsink (and significantly quieter, which is one thing i definetly appreciated)... ...also, the heatsink comes with multiple mounting 'components' for different cpu sockets, its a one size fits all heatsink, so to speak... so it 'may' involve removing your motherboard from the case so you can replace the stock socket retention area (with the one they provide), i havent worked with many intel parts at all, so im not sure if you would need to do that, itll say in the instruction manual though if you need to, based on the design of your motherboard

yeah, the blue led is cool though lol

 

[Guest]

yeah thanks a lot for your help mate. cleared things up for me well.

 

[choirbass]

welcome

 

[Guest]

ive just about finished my build now, ill chuck the stats here in case ur interested.

Raidmax Ninja Black Case with 3 blue LED case fans
Thermaltake 750W power supply
Asus P5B Deluxe Wi-Fi
Seagate Sata II 320 & 250 gb hdds
LG 18x Dvd Burner
Core 2 Duo E6600
Blue Orb II Heatsink
512mb 533 Kingston Ram (2gb to come this is just for the mean time to get me going as i got it cheap as chips)

and the only decision left for me to make is which model of the Nvidia 8800 GTS 320mb to get. the two choices i have is leadtek and gigabyte, any opinions on those two?

 

[choirbass]

well, from a hardware point of view, i would consider them identical... i would just go with whichever is cheaper, IMO

also taking software bundles, stock manufacturer overclocking, and even warranty into account, if that sways your decision one way or the other

 

[Guest]

yeah, its from a cheap as store in australia, everything is brand new and legit but its all cheap as, and both products are identical in price and neither are factory oc'd. i doubt they will come with any software bundles either, and im pretty sure gigabyte having the australian franchise will probably be a hell of a lot easier for warranty. so i think ill go with that one. both cards are only $465 aus dollars.

 

[choirbass]

ok, sounds good