thoughts on passive coolers

[groo]

I'm considering givimg one of those big passive coolers a shot. my new case has lots of room and good airflow. any opinions on them.

I'd probably buy it whenever I upgrade my CPU, as soon as finances allow

 

[hughyhunter]

Dont do it. The only reason they can even get not-dangerous temps is due to their huge size. Basically the only reason why anyone should consider getting one is 1. if you have no ambitions to overclock 2. you want your case to be as quiet as possible.

If you dont mind the sound of a slow 120mm fan than you have real sensitive ears. :lol:

IMO I would shoot for a larger 120mm cooler like the Thermalright ultra or the tuniq tower.

 

[ausch30]

^ Agreed

The Ultra 120 Extreme can be used passively with most CPU's at stock speeds but just get a very quiet fan and you can push your CPU as hard as you want and you'll never hear it.

 

[jaguarskx]

At the moment I have a Scythe Ninja passively cooling my E6600 @ 3.0GHz inside my HTPC case. With two instances of CPUBurn (for 100% load) for over 30 minutes, Core Temps measures the highest temp at 58C. Of course when the weather starts getting warmer, the temp will most likely increase.

There is also an all copper version of the Scythe Ninja now. Since copper is a better conductor than aluminum, I would guess my the max temp would drop 3C or 4C.

However, the fan that comes with the Scythe is pretty quiet. I don't use it because it is a tight fit in my case and the wires coming out the back of the hard drives simply gets in the way.

 

[Evilonigiri]

I think passive cooling is a good idea, as long as you're not OCing.

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2273

The CM Z600 passive cooler does very well with a fan, and I'm sure it'll do well in a case with good airflow.

 

[hughyhunter]

The CM Z600 is one I would consider also. With passive you definitely want to consider lapping both cpu and heat sink base for best matting surfaces. Also using high quality thermal grease like AC5.

 

[groo]

Thanks for all the input.

I'll probably get something big, and just turn the fan way down.