CPU Fan Cooling/Heatsink Education

[fate72]

I'm working on building my very first gaming PC from the ground up. Conducting my own research and self education hasn't been too hard up until i came across the CPU Cooling fan/heat-sink. I couldn't find any full blown information, so basically I want to know everything there is about choosing a cooling fan for your CPU.

I just don't want opinions, I want hardcore number crunching. I need to know the different types of cooling methods, the different variations of those methods if any, the effectiveness of each of those methods, other factors to consider, and reliability/quality of brands. I would consider myself a well-round individual when it comes to PC's but as I stated earlier, this is my first PC I will be building from the ground up (ive done ram, heat-sink, and GPU installations before).

For my chipset: the AMD FX-8320 Vishera 3.5GHz for my CPU and the ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 for my Motherboard. (NOTE: if the other parts I chosen matter let me know.) I'm not OC'ing anything for this PC, im focused on durability here, not performance. Also, if its not worth investing the extra $20-50 in a after market CPU fan, since i'm not OC'ing, then let me know. otherwise, If anyone knows of a website or a crash course they could give me that would be great.

One other thing does anyone here think its worth the extra money for the ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0 compared to ASUS M5A99FX PRO R2.0? Again, i'm not going to be OC'ing anything, just factory defualts. The only "value" I saw in the Sabertooth for my purpose's was better quality in parts, ie TUF, and the dissipation of heat.

 

[sparkz89]

if your not gonna sli/xfire go 970 instead of 990

 

[fate72]

Thanks for the input,i dont need the crossfire support right away but i do want the capability in the future so the 970 isnt a good choice for me, any thoughts on cpu fan?

 

[sparkz89]

since your not gonna really oc just get this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065


also what kind of case do you have so that we know it will fit in it lmao

 

[Cazalan]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_cooling


There are thousands of CPU cooler reviews out there. From Air to Water to Peltier to Liquid Nitrogen to Liquid Helium. Cooling solutions vary from $5 to $1000+.

For non-overclocking anything between $20 and $40 should do. Fan+ heatsink with 3-4 heatpipes.

Normal overclock expect in the $50-100 range. Dual-Fan+ heatsink with 5-8 heatpipes.

Extreme overclocking with water is $100 plus which is where the difficulty level starts to increase. More
maintenance and risk of leaks. Single loop, dual loop, radiator sizes from 2-6 fans.

Ultra overclocking with TEC cold plates ($400+) that can go below zero, and you have to deal with condensation on the motherboard.


Then there are variations depending on how silent you like your computer. Larger fans move more air at lower frequency and less noise. 200mm > 140mm > 120mm > 90mm > 80mm.

Aesthetics if you have a windowed case. Many color options for the fans.

 

[fate72]

havent chosed case yet so assume size isnt an issue... have anymore information of the diffrent types of barrings used? im looking for longevity here...

 

[Calculatron]

To first answer the question of bearing types, one can essentially boil them down into three categories:
1) Ball Bearing
2) Sleeve-type
3) Magnetic

That is over-simplifying the matter, because as we all know simplicity gets in the way of truth, and vice-versa. The truth of the matter is that several variety of sleeve-type bearings exist: Standard sleeve-bearings, rifled-sleeve bearings, and fluid (or hydro) dynamic bearings (which are, ultimately, a type of rifled-sleeve.) As a general rule, sleeve bearings are cheaper to make, but lack in the long-term high-tier performance department. Ball bearings, in contrast, are more expensive, but are acceptable as being slightly louder in performance. Fans with ball bearings are also more "fragile" - even a short drop can cause a change in performance. Modified sleeve bearings seek to eliminate their downfalls: longer life at higher temperatures, quieter at higher RPMs, the ability to actually be mounted horizontally, while still being affordable. The Fluid/Hydro dynamic bearing is really kind of the pinnacle in this, because the rifling is shaped in such a way that the rotating shaft "hydro-planes" on the lubricant. They manage to be remarkably quiet and can have longer life-spans than ball bearings fans. (There is more to say on what exactly qualifies a Fluid Dynamic Bearing, but, HardwareSecrets already has an article on that.)

Two types of common aftermarket cooling are readily available and affordable: Air and Water. As a general rule, water is better in terms of cooling performance, but it is more expensive. I am not the biggest expert on water, because I am a big believer in Murphy's Law: what can go wrong, will. Many others feel the same way, even if the chance of getting water on their system and destroying it is almost negligible. *Shrugs* to each their own.
Water cooling comes in two popular flavors, though: Custom and Closed-Loop. Custom is essentially a very expensive, home-built rig that will give you unparalleled performance. Closed-Loop is a pre-filled all-in-one set-up that, like said before in general, offers superior performance for a premium. The noise levels of water set-ups is a slight area of debate. There are notable amount of people who look for quieter fans to replace the stock fans, and some people are just driven up the wall by the sound of the pump. Your average user probably wouldn't be put off by it, though.
Air cooling has a varying amount of form factors and configurations. Tower coolers are the most popular, coming in single and double, and top-down coolers have a niche market for low-profile cases. The downfall of air-cooling is that large heatsinks can be very heavy, and put stress on the board. Motherboards already stress and bend, slightly, from the change in temperatures, and having a literal massive outside factor affecting that can be bad news bears. In one of Tom's Hardware's very own articles lies an example where a double-tower heatsink, the Noctua NH-D14, laid a processor (or two?) and a motherboard down low. On the upside, air cooling is generally more affordable, quieter, and more reliable (one only needs to worry about the operation of the fans). Exceptions always exist, of course.

Air versus Water is going to be debated for a long time to come. Water cooling has come a long way to become common-place, but it still has a ways to go. A lot of people recommend the cheap $30-40 Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO air cooler, because it can play in the same ball field of all but the highest-tier water coolers. The before-mentioned Noctua NH-D14, considered by many, especially on this site, to be the king of air cooling, has went up against a number of water coolers and has come out on top both in terms of quietness and cooling. Even if water cooling is wave of mainstream cooling in the future air will still be blowing around with a niche market. (See what I did there?)

Further subjects involve thermal compounds and their proper application, and proper case cooling/air flow. Not going to touch them at this point.

If you want a seriously in-depth analysis, like Direct-Touch versus solid copper base, sadly, that is beyond your average forumer's abilities and means. There is not much incentive for people to own more than one aftermarket cooling system, and even if they have more than one, not many people want to butcher a product they spent good money on. One site, can't remember the name off hand, did butcher a couple heatsinks to show some of the differences of internal heatpipe designs. Another one kept a running list of the number of fins of heatsinks, their spacing, and thickness - that was neat. All of this is useful information, but what sucks is that some of these features and rendered null and void by other aspects, like by just simply have a different method of mounting the heatsink. What is the use of spending extra money on say, vapor chambers, when better performance can be achieved by having a superior method of mounting for better contact between the heatsink and CPU surface?

That's the end of (what will be considered by many to be) my excessively long post. I typed this up late night, I'll be back later to triple-check for errors and to see if I typed what I actually thought - also to answer any questions! Cheers!