Upgrade Heatsink for Phenom II X4 955 BE @ 3.6 GHz from CM Vortex Plus

[axipher]

I have the In-Win Griffin case with a 80 mm Blue LED exhaust fan on the back, a 120 mm on the bottom of the side panel pulling air out from my dual overclocked super hot ATI 5750's, and a custom grill taking up the front 3 5.25" bays with a 120 mm Blue LED fan and a 120 mm on the lower section of the front panel to cool my hard drives. I took off the massive 220 mm fan off the side of the case because it didn't do much cooling wise in my hot system.

Here's the case:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produc...8&cm_re=in-win_griffin-_-11-108-228-_-Product

I'm currently running just a cheap little Cooler Master Vortex Plus seen here:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103084&Tpk=vortex plus

I can't OC past 3.6 GHz without the temps getting around 62-64 under Prime95 on a hot day. My average room temperatures can get up to 25 during the summer as we have no air conditioning. I have never had it crash from the high temps, I just would like it to run a lot cooler then it does now. I was looking into some Push/Pull coolers since I have the extra intake fan under the DVD Drive, or a Corsair H50 or H70. For the H50 and H70, from what I've read they need a 120 mm mounting point and since the back of my case only supports up to 90 mm, I could use the upper set of 120 mm holes on the side panel since they're free after I took off the 220 mm fan that was there.

I have a Asus M4A89GTD Pro/USB motherboard with G.Skill Ripjaws Ram seen here:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303

I'm looking to keep the Blue LED theme going if possible, even if that meant changing the fan on a heatsink for another fan. I'm not sure how a regular case fan with LED's would compare the fan that comes with the heat sink.

 

[aznshinobi]

Man you made a really wrong decision on coolers. For that 29.99 cooler you could have gotten one of the best 29.99 coolers, from the same company too! CM Hyper 212+ is probably the best budget cooler out there. The great thing is that it also fits in almost all mid-towers and once added with push-pull its probably matchable to 50$+ coolers. (IT should fit your case since your case is 7 inches wide, and it only requires a 6.7 inch width to fit. Soo... It should fit fine with the removal of the 220mm. Also the fans I'd recommend on the heatsink would be Scythe Slipstreams (IE the 1900rpm 110CFM fan) but you want to keep the LED theme going. I'd also recommend the Thermalright FDB 2000 but you want the blue theme as well..

The only fan I could recommend with blue LEDs honestly is the Cooler Master R4's. It's not exactly the greatest fan but it'll do the job. It also isn't 19 dBA it's more like 25ish at max RPM, which it pushes 69-70CFM so pretty decent for a 2000rpm which is pretty quiet. Plus it's only 10$! http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103060&cm_re=cooler_master_r4-_-35-103-060-_-Product

CM 212+: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=hyper_212%2b-_-35-103-065-_-Product

IT comes with a stock fan but I hear that it is loud as heck.

Review: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/19383-cooler-master-hyper-212-plus-cpu-cooler-review-11.html

EDIT: Scratch the 10$ on the R4's there actually cheaper since I last checked, there 6$ now. However there shipping makes them very expensive though =P

 

[axipher]

It was the cooler available at the local PC shop I was buying all my parts from, everything else I bought was cheaper then Newegg.ca's price with shipping, but the selection of heatsinks sucks. So I might go with the 212+ then, and the shop I go to has the COOLER MASTER R4-L2R-20AC-GP 120mm Blue LED Case Fan for $14.95 where as Newegg has it got $5.99 + $9.99 Shipping. I actually have one already as a case fan so I know that fan works wonders.

Also, I'm hoping that the 212+ shouldn't have any clearance problems with the G.Skill Ripjaws RAM I have installed.

And the Cooler Master 212+:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=CM_212+-_-35-103-065-_-Product

So as it stands it looks like I'm going with two of these fans if I really want the Blue LED's:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produc...cm_re=Cooler_Master_R4-_-35-103-060-_-Product

Or if I try it with the stock fan the 212+ comes with and see I don't need that many Blue LED's in my case, then maybe I'll go for the Scythe Slipstreams isntead:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produc..._re=Scythe_Slipstreams-_-35-185-060-_-Product



As for my graphics card heat problem. I have dual Sapphire 5750 Vapor-X's in my rig both overclocked to 870 MHz (from 710 MHz) on the core and 1300 MHz (from 1160 MHz) on the memory. The bottom card gets up to 65 C where as the top card gets up to 75 C. As it stands I have a cooler master R4 on the side of my case pulling air out from the graphics card. Without the fan there I was getting temps of 75 C and 85 C and with the fan on the side pushing air in, it was between the two. I have a free slot below the bottom card and a free slot between the two cards. Is the fan I have now set up to suck air out from the cards my best option? I've read many reviews about the slot coolers and I've heard very mixed results, anything from a waste of time and money, to a slight decrease in temperatures.

Here's a picture of my rig for reference. You can see the fan I have on the top at the front, and you can't see the one I have on the bottom at the front, but it does seem to suck air though the front black grill.

 

[aznshinobi]

That's the best Scythe Option probably. If you want to look at another none LED fan, the Thermalright FDB-2000 is great, great static pressure, and great rpms, faster than any of the slipstreams. So thats whats good as well. The thing is I'm not sure if thats available in canada so you'll just hafta find it. It is a waste of time and money. Also I don't get quite what your trying to say. What I recommend is having the intake at the bottom of case, so sucking are in. (However if you use it as an intake the case must be elevated to get cold air) And get an outtake or push fan on the side panel to push the hot are out.

 

[axipher]

Well on the front of the case, between the front panel and the HDD's, there is a 120mm fan as an intake, at the top of the front, you can see the Blue LED 120 mm fan I have setup as intake, then the Blue LED 80 mm fan on the back of the case as an exhaust, and and the side cover is installed, there is a 120 mm fan as exhaust to pull hot air away from the GPU's.

As for the case being elevated, it is sitting on my desk tight beside my monitor, so its 3 feet above the floor and in the open so there are no restrictions to the air around the case.

I haven't found the Thermalright's in Canada yet, looked at a few sites and some other local shop.

 

[aznshinobi]

Oh well then. I don't know how to solve you problem other than raising the fan speed during load. I OC'd my 5850 pretty crazy as well (sorta) to 1000/1205 which is stock 5870 clocks and it runs fine at 60-70% fan speed never rising above 75*C. So I would say they are running fine since thats expected for crossfire/sli setups for the top card to run hotter.

 

[axipher]

Okay, well thanks for all the information aznshinobi. I'm going to go with the 212+ and I'll continue looking for some Thermalright's, and if I can't find those, then I'll go with some Scythe Slipstreams.

I just wanted an opinion the slot coolers and if anyone else had any solutions to cooling crossfire cards.

 

[axipher]

Best answer selected by axipher.

 

[aznshinobi]

Oh I think slot coolers are a load of BS, I'd rather save money up and get an aftermarket cooler than the slot cooler.

 

[simonsez9]

@aznshinobi after reading such an informative message from you I've also decided to go for Cooler Master Hyper 212+ but one thing is bothering me as i dont wana use the stock fan as u mention its loud i also wana use the mention cooler master blue led fan but the thing which is bothering me is my Mobo CPU fan slot got 4 pins not the 3 pins so would that be alright to connect the fan using only 3 pins as using non stocked fan cos the stocked Hyper 212+ got 4 pin fan cable so what should i do about it please do reply appreciate it

 

[aznshinobi]

You could get a converter for 4 to 3 pin. They come fairly cheap on the egg.