Mini ITX heatsink

[Thegeek]

I posed a thread about an i3-540 processor in a socket 1156 about heat problems on idle using the stock cooler. The build is a mini ITX case, so I just wanted to ask if anyone can recommend a heatsink for me? I'm from England, so English prices please.


Thanks fellow geeks.

 

[davcon]

What case please?

 

[Thegeek]

Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot. =/

http://www.cable-trader.co.uk/items/Evo-Labs-E-S009BS-Slimline-Gloss-300W-Psu-Computer-Case---Black

Here is the case it's in.

 

[davcon]

I'll be honest there's alot of heatsinks available for your application.
I could suggest more but they simply won't perform to their potential.
Your case has no airflow! so the hsf has to deal with not only cpu heat but the rest of the built up heat.
I would buy a cheapy or consider moving the build to a case with better airflow.
I can think of some cases that cost less then some coolers.
Try the AC Freezer 11 it's the cheapest and no harm done if temps improve.
Arctic Cooling Freezer 11
http://www.dabs.com/products/arctic-cooling-freezer-11-low-profile-cpu-cooler-7H0V.html?utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00?ReferrerID=tb&utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00
Thermaltake slim X3
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/thermaltake-slim-x3-cl-p0534-36-mm-slim-htpc-cooler-for-intel-1155-56-and-775
Prolimatech Samuel 17
Scythe Big Shuriken
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/scythe-shuriken-big-120mm-fan-low-profile-3-heat-pipe-htpc-ready-s754-939-am2-am2plus-am3-1366-1156-

 

[Thegeek]

I'll be honest there's alot of heatsinks available for your application.
I could suggest more but they simply won't perform to their potential.
Your case has no airflow! so the hsf has to deal with not only cpu heat but the rest of the built up heat.
I would buy a cheapy or consider moving the build to a case with better airflow.
I can think of some cases that cost less then some coolers.
Try the AC Freezer 11 it's the cheapest and no harm done if temps improve.
Arctic Cooling Freezer 11
http://www.dabs.com/products/arctic-cooling-freezer-11-low-profile-cpu-cooler-7H0V.html?utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00?ReferrerID=tb&utm_source=td&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=TB00
Thermaltake slim X3
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/thermaltake-slim-x3-cl-p0534-36-mm-slim-htpc-cooler-for-intel-1155-56-and-775
Prolimatech Samuel 17
Scythe Big Shuriken
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/scythe-shuriken-big-120mm-fan-low-profile-3-heat-pipe-htpc-ready-s754-939-am2-am2plus-am3-1366-1156-

Thanks a lot. I could do with changing the case to something better, but that'll have to be sometime in the future. In the meantime, I'm going get one of them coolers that you listed below. Thanks again. Appreciated.

 

[davcon]

Thanks a lot. I could do with changing the case to something better, but that'll have to be sometime in the future. In the meantime, I'm going get one of them coolers that you listed below. Thanks again. Appreciated.

NP mate!
Cheers

 

[geofelt]

I posed a thread about an i3-540 processor in a socket 1156 about heat problems on idle using the stock cooler. The build is a mini ITX case, so I just wanted to ask if anyone can recommend a heatsink for me? I'm from England, so English prices please.


Thanks fellow geeks.

May I suggest you try the stock Intel cooler first?

You know that it will fit.

The stock cooler is generally adequate for cooling, but it can get noisy with it's small fan spinning up to high rpm's under load.

If you do not mount the cooler well, you can get heat issues.
Here's how:
To mount the Intel stock cooler properly, place the motherboard on top of the foam or cardboard backing that was packed with it.
The stock cooler will come with paste pre applied, it looks like three grey strips.
The 4 push pins should come in the proper position for installation, that is with the pins rotated in the direction of the arrow,(counter clockwise) as far as they can go.
Place the cooler so that all 4 pins are oriented over the holes in the motherboard.
The trick to getting it on is to push down on a diagonal pair of pins at the same time. Then the other pair.
If you do them one at a time, you will not get the cooler on straight.
Lastly, look at the back of the motherboard to verify that all 4 pins are equally through the motherboard, and that the cooler is on firmly.
This last step must be done, which is why the motherboard must be out of the case to do the job.
It is possible to mount the cooler with the motherboard mounted in the case, but you can then never be certain that the push pins are inserted properly.

If you should need to remove the cooler, turn the pins clockwise to unlock them. You will need to clean off the old paste and reapply new if you ever take the cooler off.

If noise is an issue, look for a cooler with a largish fan. For your case, it must be a low profile cooler.
The Big shiruken mentioned earlier would probably fit and do as well as anything.

 

[Thegeek]

May I suggest you try the stock Intel cooler first?

You know that it will fit.

The stock cooler is generally adequate for cooling, but it can get noisy with it's small fan spinning up to high rpm's under load.

If you do not mount the cooler well, you can get heat issues.
Here's how:
To mount the Intel stock cooler properly, place the motherboard on top of the foam or cardboard backing that was packed with it.
The stock cooler will come with paste pre applied, it looks like three grey strips.
The 4 push pins should come in the proper position for installation, that is with the pins rotated in the direction of the arrow,(counter clockwise) as far as they can go.
Place the cooler so that all 4 pins are oriented over the holes in the motherboard.
The trick to getting it on is to push down on a diagonal pair of pins at the same time. Then the other pair.
If you do them one at a time, you will not get the cooler on straight.
Lastly, look at the back of the motherboard to verify that all 4 pins are equally through the motherboard, and that the cooler is on firmly.
This last step must be done, which is why the motherboard must be out of the case to do the job.
It is possible to mount the cooler with the motherboard mounted in the case, but you can then never be certain that the push pins are inserted properly.

If you should need to remove the cooler, turn the pins clockwise to unlock them. You will need to clean off the old paste and reapply new if you ever take the cooler off.

If noise is an issue, look for a cooler with a largish fan. For your case, it must be a low profile cooler.
The Big shiruken mentioned earlier would probably fit and do as well as anything.

Hello, Geofelt

I made sure that the stock Intel cooler was mounted properly, twice. I also put aftermarket thermal paste on it. It sits around 50C on idle, which is high but this guy at PCworld said that it's ok, but I wasn't convinced. As davcon said, " your case has no airflow! ", so I thought buying a aftermarket cooler would help take the temperatures down a bit.

 

[geofelt]

Hello, Geofelt

I made sure that the stock Intel cooler was mounted properly, twice. I also put aftermarket thermal paste on it. It sits around 50C on idle, which is high but this guy at PCworld said that it's ok, but I wasn't convinced. As davcon said, " your case has no airflow! ", so I thought buying a aftermarket cooler would help take the temperatures down a bit.

In a restricted airflow case, 50c. is not too bad.
If your room/ambient temperature is highish, you might expect that.
How are you meaduring your temperatures?
I use realtemp or speedfan.
On my backup pc which has a G6950 in a lian li Q07 case that has no fans and the stock Intel cooler, I idle at 44/45c as measured by speedfan.
The chipset and cpu is similar to yours, but clocked lower.
If you do not have speedstep enabled(and I don't think I do) it will idle at full speed.

Regardless, cpu heat is not a problem unless you are overclocking, or the temperatures get past 70 or so.
If that happens, the cpu will simply downclock to preserve itself.
You can use cpu-z to check how the core speed is doing.

A better cpu cooler with a bigger fan will be quieter, and be somewhat more effective in getting heat off of the cpu chip. Bit it does not do too much good if you can not get the heat out of the case.
It looks like you have an option to mount an optional front fan. I would look into that first.

 

[Thegeek]

In a restricted airflow case, 50c. is not too bad.
If your room/ambient temperature is highish, you might expect that.
How are you meaduring your temperatures?
I use realtemp or speedfan.
On my backup pc which has a G6950 in a lian li Q07 case that has no fans and the stock Intel cooler, I idle at 44/45c as measured by speedfan.
The chipset and cpu is similar to yours, but clocked lower.
If you do not have speedstep enabled(and I don't think I do) it will idle at full speed.

Regardless, cpu heat is not a problem unless you are overclocking, or the temperatures get past 70 or so.
If that happens, the cpu will simply downclock to preserve itself.
You can use cpu-z to check how the core speed is doing.

A better cpu cooler with a bigger fan will be quieter, and be somewhat more effective in getting heat off of the cpu chip. Bit it does not do too much good if you can not get the heat out of the case.
It looks like you have an option to mount an optional front fan. I would look into that first.

I checked the temperatures in BIOS. The computer itself is been used for Web browsing, Email, films and so on, and I have no intentions to overclocking this computer. As for speed step, I would of thought that BIOS would have it on by default. I'll check that once I'm on that machine.