LGA 1366 - Which is the Best Heatsink and Fan

Gerb68

I'm building an i7 system and all I'm waiting on is the Heatsink and Fan. I'm looking at the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme 1366 RT it seems to be very popular but hard to find. I'm also looking at the Zalman CNPS9900 because I've previously used Zalman with no problems. I'm also aware of the Titan Fenrir TTC-NK85TZ being popular but I believe it is very noisy on full load. Noise is a very big issue for me infact the main issue I hate unnecessary noise especially in addition to a high end Graphics cards.

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme 1366 RT - Noise level = 28.0 dBA
Zalman CNPS9900 - Noise level = 19.5 - 35.0 dBA
Titan Fenrir - Noise level = 17.2 - 39dBA

also I've always used Speedfan to control the CPU fan and not PWM.


Anyone with any experience, thoughts or opinion on this would be much appreciated. At this stage my head is starting to hurt.

Thanx

uberpixie

Gerb68 wrote: »

I'm building an i7 system and all I'm waiting on is the Heatsink and Fan. I'm looking at the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme 1366 RT it seems to be very popular but hard to find. I'm also looking at the Zalman CNPS9900 because I've previously used Zalman with no problems. I'm also aware of the Titan Fenrir TTC-NK85TZ being popular but I believe it is very noisy on full load. Noise is a very big issue for me infact the main issue I hate unnecessary noise especially in addition to a high end Graphics cards.

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme 1366 RT - Noise level = 28.0 dBA
Zalman CNPS9900 - Noise level = 19.5 - 35.0 dBA
Titan Fenrir - Noise level = 17.2 - 39dBA

also I've always used Speedfan to control the CPU fan and not PWM.


Anyone with any experience, thoughts or opinion on this would be much appreciated. At this stage my head is starting to hurt.

Thanx

Get a good heatsink first: if the fan is ****e replace fan. Thats it! Don't ever get too bogged down about fans: they are very easily replaced.

Titan Fenrir, from what I have read, is pretty quiet on slow fan speed with the default fan and still runs the cpu very cool.

I have always used scytheflex 120mm fans either the 1200 rpm or the 1600 RPM: pissed about with a lot of different brands of fans when I built last time and settled on the scythe flex fans: best fans I have come across for their quiet operation even when dialed up or down.
Scythe flex fans can be gotten form quietpc.com last I checked.

The 1200 RPMs are extremely quiet at full tilt and push a lot of air: they make great case fans.
The 1600RPMs are a little louder, even when dialed down, and do make a bit of noise when dialled up, but much less than say the default antec tricool case fans. Not a bad option as an exhaust fan or a fan on a heatsink for the cpu.

Personally I would look at the thermalright or the Fenrir and skip the Zalman.
Noctura fans are always worth a look also.

Gerb68

Thank Uberpixie. Great reply

uberpixie wrote: »

Titan Fenrir, from what I have read, is pretty quiet on slow fan speed with the default fan and still runs the cpu very cool.

I suppose I could use Speedfan to control the fan speed and therefore keep noise down but 39dBA is a bit high. I think thats the max legally allowed in the workplace.

kaimera

got a noctura 1366 kit on mine atm in a push pull config; ~80e on ocuk; by all accounts i've read an awesome hsf for the price.

uberpixie

Gerb68 wrote: »

Thank Uberpixie. Great reply
I suppose I could use Speedfan to control the fan speed and therefore keep noise down but 39dBA is a bit high. I think thats the max legally allowed in the workplace.

I would assume that you wouls either be throttling the cou fan via the motherboard fan control or a software/hardware fan controller.

Most people would rarely have their cpu fan running at ull tilt unless they are running a very heavy overclock....

I would go with the fenrir and again if the fan casues issues replace fan with ascythe felx 1200RPM 120mm fan which you can run at full tilt and bearly hear.

Solitaire

At least two design groups broke away from Thermalright following bitter arguments and their stuff is the best, so long as you can actually find both it and a LGA1366 bracket for same (they're extremely scarce) The Thermolab BARAM is good, but the Prolimatech Megahalems is allgedly the most powerful air cooler ever made, and AFAIK has the LGA1366 bracket included. It does come with a pretty meh fan though.

Both are better than any incarnation of the Ultra with like-for-like fans, much less CCF clones/spinoffs. With like-for-like fans they also cream the Fenrir :P

PogMoThoin

Another runner here would be the Tuniq Tower. It comes with a unique 9 blade fan, no other fan will perform as well as this fan, they've obvoiusly done alot of testing. I've tried a 80cfm Yate loon fan but it was nowhere near the performance (and louder too). I've a stepping B3 Q6600 at 3.2Ghz 24/7 with a Tuniq with 1.4v, it still handles it well even in this heat, idling now at 39-42' with 9v. The Tuniq was the best performing cooler before the Thermalright Ultra came out, but the Ultra came without a fan, this comes with a great one


Edit: Sorry, Totally disregard that, after a google I see there's no upgrade mountings for Lga1366 for it, there was talk of it last yr. Some on Xs are using zip ties

somakasvh

I've heard the Scythe Mugen 2 is quite good. Has anyone given it a shot?

This group test puts it above the Megahalems and on par with the BARAM for cooling, but says it's quieter than either

Solitaire

Pog has it - buy a Tuniq Tower and a Prolimatech Megahalems, and strap the Tuniq fan onto the Megahalems for ultimate win

Gonzales24

i would go for the Mugen 2 or Titan Fenrir TTC-NK85TZ there the best for amd and intel, personly i have a MUGEN-1, it runs my uber hot phenom 9950 BE @ 3.1Gz at 35`C IDLE + u can put us much as 4 120mm fans to the mugen for extreme performance, then u have tu attache a wire to the case top holding the monstrum, otherwise the MB could crack from execessive weight good places to buy komplett.ie or pixmania.ie

Gerb68

I have read that the Scythe Mugen 2 is a bit of a bitch to install. Right now I'm looking at the Titan Fenrir TTC-NK85TZ and the Noctua NH-U12P SE1366.
My main concern is noise. The only thing is that I have a Silverstone TJ09 case with a side panel window and the Noctua doesn't look that great.

The Noctua seems to be easy to purchase and it seems once you choose which LGA 1366 Heatsink you want it seems to be very hard to find it in stock anywhere.

Solitaire

Noctua: Good cooling, virtually silent, fugly (yuck! flesh-fans! )
Titan: Excellent cooling, noisy, fair looking (bit crude IMHO, and those fans cool well because they're portable wind tunnels, with a "proper" fan the Fenrir can't cool worth poo :P)

Gonzales24

didnt get u... wil u look trough the side panel of ur case, and enjoy the nice looking cooler u istalled, wich is burning ur cpu away??? or u look at ure monitor and follow the performance getting out of bulky, but UBER cooler.. :P
my antec 1200 is on the ground, no one is looking trough the side panel... ok.. u can put the case on the table, like some people do, and then complaining about the noise..LOL.... ever tryed to play a game, with a light-show next to ure head??? Sidepannel = show off... inviting people over, for 1$ u can have a look trough my sidepannel.. sorry, just messing..

Gerb68

OK, so looks aren't everything. Right now its the

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme 1366 RT or the
Noctua NH-U12P SE1366

I really like the Thermalright but if the Noctua is best with noise. We know which one is the ugliest but for noise control which one is voted the best?

Solitaire

With good fans (e.g. Scythe) in a push-pull the TRUE can beat the Noctua heatwise with minimal extra heat, but getting that far is messy. The new TRUE now has a fan, which sucks. Not the way a fan is supposed to suck either. So you now have to rip it off and mod a second bracket on before you can stick your Pair 'O Fans on. Whereas the Noctua 1366 is good straight out of the box. So unless you have extreme OC needs the Noctua is probably your best bet for a cool semi-silent tower.

kaimera

the notcua comes with 2 extra fan power cables that let you lower the fan speed so it's virtually silent.

I'm not using either of them and she's very very quiet. loudest part of mine is now the case fans and hdds.

+1 for the noctua tbh. dual fan config is mint for cooling but just be careful of lowering the fan speed too much

Gerb68

Thank Solitaire and kaimera.

Just to note second brackets are easy to buy for the TRUE but I'm now leaning towards the Noctua.
The Thermalright seems very Heavy.

Gonzales24

when u wana go with the noctua u can have a look at the ocz vendetta-2... i would go for the mugen 2... it looks good and is smaller then the mugen 1, u can put 4 silent coolers around for high-end OC( when u go for 4x fan around the grill, dont forget to fix it with a wire at the top of the case , otherwise the weight could crack the board) i have a mugen 1 with fan is about 1kg... thats fine, dont have any problems with that, super cooling.. got my x4 9950 @3.1 at 31-35`C Idle 35-40`C load and that thing(cpu) is really HOT

Gerb68

As I am upgrading my system to i7. I presently have a core 2 duo which is Overclocked from 2.4GHz to 3.0. I also eventually will be upgrading my ATi 2900 HD which is very very noisy. That is why I'm concerned about any additional noise for now. Maybe I will OC in the future but I'm sure all Heatsinks can handle this. Well not an extreme OC anyway.

I suppose I'm trying to find a balance with a light OC and Silence.

Gonzales24

u wana new cards, i have my HD 4870 for sale.. adverts.ie with the noise, just change the fan to a silent one, u can do it for the cpu cooler, uswell as for the graphic card... for the card there are upgrade options 2x80mm video card cooler for about 30,-eur. VGA COOLER low noise, high cooling. my mugen-1 runs on 1200rpm. at the most... not much of a noise