passively cooled 3600

[yakyb]

I'm thinking of building home data server based on a 690g board and a 3600ee i was just wondering if it would be possible to passively cool this cpu so that the server runs quiet at all times. the other option is to run a fan @5v, im not too familiar with the x2 series esspecially the ee ones any one have an opinion?

 

[yakyb]

Thanks for the Quick reply
i was thinking more along the line of maybe a Scythe ninja w/o fan something along those lines?
as i said not much experience in this field i could always underclock a little if necessary but would obviously prefer not to

 

[crow_smiling]

i was thinking more along the line of maybe a Scythe ninja w/o fan something along those lines?
as i said not much experience in this field i could always underclock a little if necessary but would obviously prefer not to

Make sure you get a 65nm X2 3600 as they consume less power; see here for details on part numbers: http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop/

You can under-volt most AMD chips in software using RMClock or CrystalCPUID and sometimes you can do this in the BIOS also. You should be able to knock about 10W or so off the power consumption which helps.

The Ninja is a great heatsink but overkill for the X2 3600+. It’s also very bulky and not compatible with quite a few motherboards. Running a passive CPU cooler is over-rated as if you use a 120mm low noise fan (Nexus etc) at 5 – 7V it will be silent when enclosed in a case. I ran a C2D at 2.9GHz in an Antec P180 case with a Ninja and three 120mm Nexus fans at 600 rpm and at full load in the summer the system was only just audible in the middle of the night with no background noise. That’s why I say a Ninja is overkill.

I think it might be possible to get away with using the stock AMD heatsink and running the fan at 5 – 7V and have it being inaudible in most situations. I say this because I was nearly able to achieve this with a 90nm X2 3800+ and the lower power of the 65nm parts and slightly lower clock speed may just make this achievable. You will need to under-volt to have any chance though. If that doesn’t work then you could replace the stock AMD fan with a Nexus 80 mm which is very quiet although I can’t estimate on whether it will work. I have a Nexus 80mm and I’m contemplating ordering an X2 3600+ today so I may soon find out.

One thing, AMD’s stock coolers in recent years have been very quiet when under-volted in my experience. But, I haven’t bought an AMD CPU for over a year and I don’t know if this is still true.
For general advice I’d recommend www.silentpcreview.com

One last thing, if you use passive CPU cooling you can end up having to use more aggressive case cooling which can result in a noisier system! The idea of passive CPU cooling is very seductive though.