Cooling them Hotties

[Dirk Broer]

Cooling is getting more and more important now CPUs and GPUs are spilling heat like there's no tomorrow in your casing.
How to keep the system cool? There are lots of choices:

Air. Add fans till there's no more room for them, though it may depend on your casing and the outside temperature whether air will be enough and the noise of 10+ fans in one system alone may be prohibitive.:5eek:
Water. Lots of commercial products around nowadays. Costs a bit more than air cooling, but is less noisy and seems to work better too.:cool:
Liquid nitrogen. Works even better than water, because it is far colder.:5cold:
Phase changer(s). For those who like to be on the cutting edge. You can even put a few in series to approach the absolute zero...:biggrin:


Air
There are a few things that are important for air coolers: The amount of air that gets moved, the pressure the fan can deliver while moving the air and the noise it takes to do so. In the past a 40mm fan was enough, now 120mm is the pretty much standard in modern casings. Fans have gotten bigger and bigger because bigger fans can push more air while making less noise. Those who buy a Cooler Master HAF 932 can get three 230mm(!) fans with it! The biggest problem with air cooling remains that you can not get lower temperatures than the ambient temperature -if you find air cooling who can achieve such a feat in the first place-, a problem that already painfully rises with our Australian and Southern US members, let alone those who live even closer to the equator...

Part 1: super-sized case fans (>200mm) Let's start with the utter kings of cool -at least in looks- of the air department:


Brand
Type
Diameter in mm
Speed in rpm
Noise in dB(A)
Airflow in cfm
cfm/dB
Airflow in m3/h
m3h/dB
Air pressure in mm H2O
pressure/dB



1st PC Corp.
FN-250

250

820

20.00

105.00

5.25

na

-

na

-


Akasa
AK-F2230SM

220

600

23.48

95.00

4.05

162.10

6.90

0.66

0.03


BitFenix
Spectre Pro

230

900

25.6

156.27

6.10

na

-

1.81

0.07


BitFenix
Spectre

230

800

19.9

97.80

4.91

na

-

1.08

0.05


Ichbinleise
EKL 225/800

225

300-800

11-29














Rexus
Rexflo 250mm

250

800

24.90

105.20

4.22

na

-

na

-


Rexus
Rexflo 360mm

300

600

21.60

126.70

5.84

na

-

na

-


ThermalTake
Thunderblade 23

230

800

15.00

76.00

5.06

na

-

0.49

0.03


Yate Loon
D22SL-12H

220

600

25.50

135.00

5.29

na

-

na

-
[/tr]

Yate Loon
D22BL-12H

220

750

31.80

168.00

5.28

na

-

na

-



These figures, however, are the manufacturers claims. In real life/testing other values might be measured, such as with the Akasa AK-F2230SM (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2009/10/09/whats-the-best-supersize-case-fan/2) and the IchBinLeise 225/800 (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2009/10/09/whats-the-best-supersize-case-fan/3), which both get thoroughly trashed by the reviewers, just as they do the Yate Loon products (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2009/10/09/whats-the-best-supersize-case-fan/4) to a lesser extent. With these biggies air pressure is less important, as that parameter only becomes really useful when pushing air through/around things (water cooler radiators, CPU heatsinks, hard disks, SSDs)

to be extended....

[Terry1953]

Dirk I have one of these that I bought years ago: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835702001 I guess I'll dig it out and see if I can get it to fit on the AM3+ board somehow. I was able to push the 939 socket 4800+ 2.4 GHz to over 3.3 GHz with it. It was stable at 3.2 GHz.

[Dirk Broer]

Hi Terry,

That's CPU cooling, coming to that later in the article. Safe to say for now that bigger is not always better, as the 200+ case fans do not always deliver -a fact that nicely gets pointed out in the Bit-Tech article-.
There's such an awful lot of CPU coolers around and so much tests/reviews that I might even write about RAM cooling before I come around to CPU! And then there's the aftermarket GPU cooling to consider...

[Brucifer]

GPU cooling is a biggie..... The powerful gpu's put out a LOT of heat. A lot of it!!!!

[Dirk Broer]

Hi Brucifer,

When you're into water cooling, you can consider cooling the GPU as well
http://cdn.overclock.net/6/64/648e1bf4_outletpc_2207_513925211.jpeg
Then again, you can do all you want using air of course...
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/193/p1014852vj5.jpg
Now for big BitFenix 230mm bottom, front and top fans! (and a 140mm rear exhaust)

[NeoGen]

Holy mother of heatsinks!! :shocked:

Has that motherboard not cracked with all that weight on it? I would pay to see what would happen if you flipped that motherboard vertically. :icon_lol:


EDIT- Awesome work on that post Dirk! Just the fact that you took time to compile all that info into a neat looking table and easy to read is fantastic. :icon_thumright:

I myself have on my shopping list to buy a Noctua NH-D14 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018) soon to (finally!!) replace this god awful noisy AMD Stock HSF that came with the Phenom II X6 1100T. It seems to have some good reviews on NewEgg.

[Brucifer]

Lol, that is quite the cpu cooler there NeoGen. :-) And yes, that is quite the artistic endeavor on the motherboard there Dirk!!! The liquid cooling is still the ultimate answer for me I think. It's just that I have to make some time in my schedule and force myself to spend some bucks to start experimenting with some gpu/cpu setups. Anyone got any pictures of their actual water cooled gpu's???

[Dirk Broer]

Being a staunch member of the AA (That's Aircooling Addicts, not Alcoholics Anonymous -I do like a beer or two-), I exchanged my A8-3820 with my A8-3870K, as the latter was having trouble losing it's heath in a A-Open micro-ATX casing. Now the A8-3870K sits on my ASUS F1A75-V EVO, together with the G.Skill 2133 Mhz memory -no problems pushing these sticks to 1866Mhz and further- while the A8-3820 sits on my Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H, which has no trouble running the Corsair 1866Mhz at their rated value, like the ASUS board had.
The 3820 inherited the AMD stock cooler from the 3870K, while that hothead is now being kept cool under my trusted ThermalTake Big Typ 120 260
I'll post a picture of the 3870K in it's Corsair Carbide 300R casing on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/164304406792/) later.

[Brucifer]

My problems with air are that no matter what I use/do with air coolers, it still exhausts the heat into the room air supply which the A/C unit still has to move out of the room. And house A/C systems are expensive to replace when they get tired, not to mention the current they use in operation. Thus my push on the knowledge for the liquid cooling. However the air cooling is interesting, and for the majority of folks is the answer. :-)

[Dirk Broer]

My only problems with cooling are in high summer, when temperatures can rise above 30 degrees centigrade for a few days (30ºC is equal to 86ºF). Most of the times temperature is far cooler though.
At the moment it is still winter here and the combined cooling from my computer workroom raises temperature in that room to about 20 degrees, one degree above the rest of the house.
A mere open window is enough to dump eventual excess heat during summer. During wintertime I let the door of the computer room open to let eventual excess heat into the house.
We have no A/C, nor do we need one.

[Dirk Broer]

Water cooling has a very bright future: the first 11 places in last month's Hardware Secrets monthly cooler test are for water cooling systems (http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Scythe-Kabuto-II-CPU-Cooler-Review/1746/6) -as far as the cooling aspect goes, noise is quite another matter: Intel's high-end i-series stock cooler has a very good score there!-

Best air cooler -according to Hardware Secrets- is the ThermalTake Frio Extreme (http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Thermaltake-Frio-Extreme-CPU-Cooler-Review/1583)
It should be possible to fit three 140mm fans to this cooler to obtain even better results, IMHO. I even coin a name for this mod: Thermaltake Trio Extreme.

While I'm busy coining: The Ford Ka Cabriolet should be called Ford Kabriolet, shouldn't it?
http://static.blogo.it/eurocarblog/RenderFordKacoupcabriolet.jpg

[Dirk Broer]

120mm Case fan Shoot-out

What do we want in case fans? Silence and performance! These two criteria unfortunately do not quite match each other. The more silent, the less performance - and vice-versa.
Which fans stick out in the crowd? I've found a review that compares no less than 393 case fans -between 80 and 140mm- that came up with the following results for the best 120mm case fans, the most popular size these days. Are my CoolerMaster Sickleflows that bad and are Vaughan's Noctuas that much better? We'll see!

A small selection of the best fans in the various categories (noise under 12V, air displacement under 12V). I also took the opportunity to set real life performance against manufacturer's claims...


Brand
Type
Diameter in mm
Speed in rpm
Real Noise in dB(A)
Claimed Max Noise in dB(A)
Real Airflow in cfm
Claimed Airflow in cfm
real cfm/real dB


Akasa
Viper 120

120

1900

50.8

28.9

92.1

83.63

1.81


Bitfenix
Spectre

120

1000

28.2

20.0

40.8

43.50

1.45


Coolermaster
Sickleflow

120

2000

44.2

19.0

81.1

69.69

1.83


Coolink
SWiF2 1200

120

800

27.1

8.5

40.6

60.40

1.50


EKL Alpenföhn
Föhn120 Wing Boost

120

1500

39.0

24.8

74.3

106.0

1.91


Nexus
Real Silent Case Fan

120

1000

31.6

18.0

46.5

36.80

1.47


Noctua
NF-P12

120

1300

38.9

19.8

55.9

92.30

1.44


Scythe
Gentle Typhoon

120

5400

68.1

50.5

163.8

150.1

2.41


Scythe
Gentle Typhoon

120

4250

61.9

44.0

129.5

116.5

2.09


Scythe
Gentle Typhoon

120

1850

40.2

28.0

70.8

58.3

1.76


Scythe
Slip Stream PWM

120

1900

52.7

37.0

109.9

110.3

2.09


Tacens
Aura II

120

1200

33.8

12.0

50.2

50.00

1.49



You could argue that, at 5400 rpm, the Scythe Gentle Typhoon is not gentle anymore. Scythe Full Cyclone might be a better marketing name! But it delivers the most cfm (cubic feet of air per minute) per dB(A).
You also need a more or less seriously sound-proofed casing for this Gentle Typhoon, like the Corsair Obsidian below. Note that with a decrease of rpm the value in the last column for the Gentle Typhoon drops like a brick. The Sickleflow performs on a par with the Gentle Typhoon, would a 2000 rpm model of that type had been included. The Noctua does not quite live up to it's imago.

Note that I've left out another important variable in choosing the best fan: the Air Pressure. Given the huge gaps between claimed and actual performance I thought it wise not to supply you with just the manufacturer's claims.

A true Noctua Fan, using -at least- seven Noctua fans (we can't see what he has hidden in the top):
http://www.techpowerup.com/gallery/3360/__10.jpg
It turns out he has nothing hidden under the top. I'd replace the bottom 92mm fan with a 140mm fan and add an extra two under the top in his case (pun intended),
but that might distort his wind-tunnel....

And why is it that case makers have not aligned the rear-exhaust with the CPU? If that were the case, noctua could add another lump of aluminium between the third fan and the case exhaust.
And by using the three lower drive bays to fit yet more 120 or 140mm fans you then could make one continuous wind-tunnel...

[Terry1953]

I just ordered 5 of these for a box I'm building si I'll let you know how it works out. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186080 The fans are actually costing me more than the box but I really like the boa since I already have 6 of them. If I get what I asked for for Xmas I'll finish it up then. I7, 32 Gb. 128Gb SSD, 2 7970's and room tor 2 more on the MoBo. It'll need some serious air flow.

[Dirk Broer]

140mm Case fan Round-up

And how will Terry's Arctic F-14's fare? Unfortunately this model was not amongst the tested fans. All figures again under 12V. Noise was measured by placing the fan in a sound-proofed box and taken at an angle of 90 degrees at 10cm distance.



Brand
Type
Diameter in mm
Speed in rpm
Real Noise in dB(A)
Claimed Noise in dB(A)
Real Airflow in cfm
Claimed Airflow in cfm
real cfm/real dB


Antec
TrueQuiet

140

800

26.6

20.0

51.10

32.40

1.92


Antec
TwoCool

140

1200

38.4

26.0

78.10

58.90

2.03


Be quiet!
SilentWings USC

140

1000

35.4

16.5

77.50

60.40

2.19


Cougar
VortexHDB

140

1400

41.9

19.2

104.0

70.50

2.48


Noctua
NF-P14 FLX

140

1200

44.2

19.6

97.30

110.3

2.20


Noiseblocker
NB-BlackSilentFan XK1

140

800

29.4

19.0

54.90

35.00

1.87


NZXT
Enthusiast

140

2000

55.6

37.0

150.6

98.30

2.71


Scythe
Slip Stream

140

1700

50.0

36.4

114.6

92.40

2.29


Thermalright
TY-140

140

1300

39.4

21.0

92.80

74.00

2.35


Titan
Kukri PWM

140

1800

47.2

28.8

110.9

89.43

2.35


Xilence
2ComponentFan

140

1200

48.1

26.7

111.0

71.80

2.31

[Nflight]

After years of learning and appreciating my system for how it works, and works well. I think the best solution in any build from now on is to remove the PWR Supply from the mainframes location. This unit creates heat by itself that can overwhelm the whole system, and thus it takes up space as well. So why not devise a remote PWR supply for any hardware application. Heat produced and located out side the realm of the rest of the heat generating units like the CPU & GPU etc.

My Thinking is to take the PWR supply one step farther and create a true supply of PWR by developing a Heat Pump inside the PWR Supply that could allow an installer to arrange the pipes transporting the working fluid into a systematic arrangement of individual chillers or condensers to locate each excessive heat machine unit (aka CPU & GPU) and take each units heat and evaporate the working fluid then capture the fluid in a circulating system to return the fluid back through a radiator and then back into the system. There is one location I did not mention and that is the incoming and exhausting air flow for each box. The incoming Air to the boxen would have a radiator/condenser that would chill the incoming air coming into the boxen where all the working crunching is taking place. A single fan would be necessary to be either in the very beginning or the very back of the system to bring the air in. No more 10 or 12 fans per box. Just one fan and channeled air flow.

Having that PWR Supply sitting farther away from the existing operating electronics may cause inherent spurious emissions of flux or electromagnetic emissions that could cause communication interference. So how about some shielded power cabling to solve that dilemma before it even gets mentioned.

Its a National Holiday and I had some time to postulate my thoughts... :blob3:

P.S. One more thing I forgot to mention is that I plan to use this type of scenario with incorporating my own Geothermal home unit with a secondary zone in my yard providing for chilling capacity for my boxen once I reach the threshold of income I hope to one day come by!

[Brucifer]

If a system puts out X amount of heat, it really doesn't matter how it exhausts it when viewed from a purely heat produced perspective as no matter how you get rid of it you are still getting rid of X amount of heat. The only thing this impacts on is the noise factor......

[Dirk Broer]

As for getting rid of heat: We're mounting our coolers in the wrong direction (http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Which-is-The-Best-Position-for-a-Tower-CPU-Cooler/1815)!
Traditionally we have, after years of either blowing down or sucking up, coolers that blow in the direction of the rear ventilator.
This appears not the ideal solution for modern cases that have ventilation on top.
The new way of blowing is in the direction of the top-ventilator, which needs to suck the hot air out of the case.
The CPU-cooler doubles as secondary GPU cooler by sucking hot air from the back of the videocard upwards to the top ventilator.

[Terry1953]

I find that the PWS is a fairly closed off unit in most boxes. On my bottom mounted boxes it takes in room air with it's own fan and expels it out of the box back into the room. On a top mount it takes the warmest air in the box and expels it out of the box and into the room. And on it's worst day it can't begin to match the heat output of 2 6970's that are in the center of the box. The trouble is the total amount of heat generated and what to do with it. In the winter it is useful once you get it out of the box as a supplement to the furnace by moving it around the house. In the summer it would be more helpful to put it out of the house, or focus it on something useful like supplementing the water heater. At this Jason seems to excel with his watercooling. He has spent years learning to move the heat where he wants it to either dissipate it or use it to his advantage and turn it into money savings. The real problem as I see it is getting use out of the excess heat at a cost of less than the cost of just expelling it and eating the cost of generating it in the first place. As in if it cost me $10 to generate 1000 btu's and I expel the btu's outside, I have a total cost of $10. But, if I take my $10 worth of btu's and spend $4 extra to run a system that moves it to supplement the water heater and it only saves me $1 I have a net cost of $13 and I'm better off tossing it out the window. For some reason I get a picture of a Chevrolet Leaf popping into my head.

[Jason1478963]

Nflight did you share a similar cooling tactic used in data centers? It was done with cooled air delivered to the front of the racks and the hot pulled from the rear of the rows of racks. I believe it was two rows back to back with a door to access the back of the racks. I believe they reduced the fan noise greatly with this setup. I'm not sure how the air was treated, but with a newer building and heat pumps connected to water loops this heat could be put to use in the building elsewhere. I look forward to pictures of your completed systems for your geothermal home.

Dirk Broer This sounds like a great idea if you have a cooler that allows different mounting positions. I have still been using stock AMD coolers for my systems that are on air yet and they aren't that fancy yet. When the case allows it i try and make an intake duct from a plastic juice bottle to draw air from the vented cover. This works ok for systems I have running cpu based projects.

Terry1953 thanks for the recognition of the system for heating water. The biggest chunk of the cost for me was the initial waterblocks and pieces parts. I would say with my setup in the basement it doesn't really use more electricity to pump the water for heating as one 50 watt pump replaces 6 or more cpu fans and/or gpu fans. The week spot in my system is the thermal siphon heat exchanger and small tank. I don't overclock all that much as I like the ability to heat water and don't always use the hot water fast enough in summer time when running several systems. In the winter time I plan on maintaining a certain temp with the koolance controller in the pre-heat tank by circulating the water into the living room zone to help heat it. I'm not sure you could run an exhaust fan for the power the 2 cooling loop pumps draw. :P What are your doing to cool your facility with all heat producing machines your running? If you can do it without using a/c to fight the extra BTUs it would be a considerable energy saver. (1 kWh is the energy equivalent of 3412.3 BTUs)

[Dirk Broer]

This sounds like a great idea if you have a cooler that allows different mounting positions. I have still been using stock AMD coolers for my systems that are on air yet and they aren't that fancy yet. When the case allows it i try and make an intake duct from a plastic juice bottle to draw air from the vented cover. This works ok for systems I have running cpu based projects.

AMD are still using old-fashioned down-blowers for their products, even for the 125-Watt FX line. Though I would gladly put it on one of my 65-Watt APUs (it looks more than twice as high as the AMD coolers that came with my 65-Watt APUs and the fan looks bigger too), this seems a bit inadequate for overclocking a FX as compared to a good air-cooler:
http://www.aria.co.uk/dynres/Z2FsbGVyeV9pbWFnZS53aWR0aD01MDA=/bWFpbmltYWdlcy9wcm9kdWN0X2ltYWdlcy9vcmlnaW5hbC9hbW RzdG9jay1jb29sZXIuanBn.jpghttp://www.guru3d.com/miraserver/images/2009/noctua-nh-d14/topper.jpg

[Terry1953]

Terry1953 thanks for the recognition of the system for heating water. The biggest chunk of the cost for me was the initial waterblocks and pieces parts. I would say with my setup in the basement it doesn't really use more electricity to pump the water for heating as one 50 watt pump replaces 6 or more cpu fans and/or gpu fans. The week spot in my system is the thermal siphon heat exchanger and small tank. I don't overclock all that much as I like the ability to heat water and don't always use the hot water fast enough in summer time when running several systems. In the winter time I plan on maintaining a certain temp with the koolance controller in the pre-heat tank by circulating the water into the living room zone to help heat it. I'm not sure you could run an exhaust fan for the power the 2 cooling loop pumps draw. :P What are your doing to cool your facility with all heat producing machines your running? If you can do it without using a/c to fight the extra BTUs it would be a considerable energy saver. (1 kWh is the energy equivalent of 3412.3 BTUs)

LOL Right now I'm just paying an Air Conditioning bill. Next week I'll be moved into my shed hideaway and it will become my source of heat through the winter. I have an 8,000 BTU window air unit to get by till cooler air moves in and then the insulation, and it only being a 12x12 room should take care of it till spring when I'll bring the air conditioning back online. I will be venting much of the heat out the wall next spring and the air bill should be minimal. I just got another 6970 up and running this afternoon. I need one more to pair it up then I'm moving on to 7000 series.

[Dirk Broer]

When it comes to declaring a cooler 'the best' it ultimately comes to a trade-off between cooling performance and noise.
I've tried to set a few of the best coolers in a graph where one Y-axis is noise in dB(A) and the other Y-axis is the difference between ambient and CPU temperature under full load.
Data per courtesy of Hardwaresecrets.com
322
Anybody wanting his/her cooler mentioned here too, just name it...

[Dirk Broer]

As for getting rid of heat: We're mounting our coolers in the wrong direction (http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Which-is-The-Best-Position-for-a-Tower-CPU-Cooler/1815)!
Traditionally we have, after years of either blowing down or sucking up, coolers that blow in the direction of the rear ventilator.
This appears not the ideal solution for modern cases that have ventilation on top.
The new way of blowing is in the direction of the top-ventilator, which needs to suck the hot air out of the case.
The CPU-cooler doubles as secondary GPU cooler by sucking hot air from the back of the videocard upwards to the top ventilator.

There seems to be a logical explanation for this as explained on Tomshardware (http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/thermal-paste-heat-sink-heat-spreader,review-32799.html):
http://media.bestofmicro.com/6/0/395496/original/Heatspreader-DHT.pnghttp://media.bestofmicro.com/thermal-compound-review-test,5-Y-395494-13.png
Note: "AMD CPUs are typically not as affected due to their larger die area and CPU orientation; in most cases, all heat pipes cross the rectangular hot spot."

[Dirk Broer]

I had already mentioned the low-profile Thermalright AXP-200 hadn't I?
A low-profile (73mm high, including the 140mm(!) TY-14013R fan) cooler, also available in AMD/Ati friendly colors:
http://thermalright.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ROG_AXP200_03-600x600.jpg

These utter kings of cool also have the SilverArrow SB-E (http://www.thermalright.com/html/products/cpu_cooler/silverArrow_sb-e.html?panel=4),
another attempt at dwarfing the competition.
It has two fans of which the biggest is no less than L170 mm x H153 mm x W25.5 mm, but in butt-ugly colors:
https://www.thermalright.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Silver-Arrow-SB-E-600x600.jpg
Must have had a preview in the Noctua factories....

[Nflight]

Butt ugly or not if it works don't mock it! Thanks for the fan points. Always nice to see they are moving towards more precisely pushing air not massaging it through the air. :blob3:

[Dirk Broer]

Butt ugly or not if it works don't mock it!
But they can do so much better than a camouflaged piece of aluminium:
https://tweakers.net/i/7HSmoArYp_fIKspYDdM_cbrbNxM=/i/1369905292.jpeg
Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E Special Edition with 2x 140mm fans

[Jason1478963]

I'm still cooling most of mine with this antique (http://koolance.com/cpu-300-h06-processor-water-block) Most of the fancy air cooled setups like this didn't exist when I purchased most of my water blocks. The quiet fans and heat-pipes has made liquid cooling less necessary for most people. :)

[Dirk Broer]

http://www.blogulous.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/PC-Perspective-Logo.jpg
Am I stupid or does this Corsair H105 review (http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Cases-and-Cooling/Corsair-H105-Extreme-Performance-Liquid-CPU-Cooler-Review/Noise-Testing-an) really make a very big plea for the Noctua NH-D14 or NH-15? http://www.pcper.com/files/imagecache/article_max_width/review/2014-04-05/H105_hero_fans.png
The Noctua is expensive -for an air cooler- but the H105 is far more expensive. And look at those results......

[Nflight]

I am sorry for the extra price I will go with Liquid Cooling thanks. Nice writeup but that is extreme and excessive funds for a fan! :blob3:

[Jason1478963]

I'm not sure this would be a good review if your mounting yours in a case as case airflow would change things. This could possibly reduce 2 case fans from your shopping list, but it surely looks like their setup in an open system the corsair wouldn't be worth the extra cost.

[Dirk Broer]

I'm not sure this would be a good review if your mounting yours in a case as case airflow would change things. This could possibly reduce 2 case fans from your shopping list, but it surely looks like their setup in an open system the corsair wouldn't be worth the extra cost.

Why so obsessed with placing the radiator inside the casing? You could also place it/them outside:
http://coolermaster-usa.com/microsite/hafstacker/images/server/case1.png
Cooler Master HAF Stacker (http://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Cooler-Master-Unveils-HAF-Stacker-Series-PAX-Prime-2013)

[Jason1478963]

The H100 I have doesn't really have enough hose to make this an easy task. It would also require slotting the case to get the hoses outside of the case. On the plus side the fans pushing the air out of the case should be very helpful at keeping the rest of the components cooler.

[Dirk Broer]

Those Cooler Master Stacker 935/915 cases have those slots already (http://www.coolermaster.com/case/full-tower-haf-series/haf935/)!

And what would be wrong with a H110 lying on top of e.g. a Carbide 200R/300R with two 140mm top fans blowing from the inside out of the case and two others sucking the hot air out of the radiator on top?

[Jason1478963]

That sounds like an option if your hoses are long enough and you can make a hole to pass the waterblock through and notch for the fittings. That may not be that hard, but I didn't think using an old water heater and some copper to make an external heat exchanger was that hard either. :)

[Terry1953]

I've been using the I80's and the cases I've been using have 2 slots for fans on top so, it works out great.

[Dirk Broer]

http://hexus.net/media/img/hexus_web_shadow_trans.png?402516240412
For those who thought that the Noctua NH-D14 was the best: Noctua has brought out a new cooler, the NH-D15
Hexus Review: Noctua NH-D15 by Parm Mann (http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cooling/69073-noctua-nh-d15/)
Noctua themselves about the new cooler (http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=news_list&news_id=91&lng=en)
Specs by Noctua (http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=68&lng=en&set=1)
https://noctua.at/pub/media/catalog/product/cache/74c1057f7991b4edb2bc7bdaa94de933/n/h/nh_d15_1_10.jpg
A look at the twin 140mm fan beauty (though as Parm Mann already said: Brown and beige isn't for everyone)

[Dirk Broer]

There are hot CPUs and there are 'hot' CPUs, and the renewed battle for more cores between AMD and Intel has brought us some real beauties.

AMD first did a P4-like attempt into giving the Bulldozer-architecture a final kick, GHz-wise, with the FX-9370 and FX-9590. These had a TDP of 220 Watt and needed some real serious (water)cooling.
Intel i7 CPUs are known to go to a respectable 140 Watt when fitted into Socket 2011 or 2011-3 boards, while Xeon's can get up to 200 Watt (the 20-core Xeon E5-2679 v4) even.

In that light, Threadripper and Epyc are 'cool' CPUs, Threadripper supposedly not reaching higher/hotter than 180 Watt on 16 cores and Epyc doing the same on 32-cores, reaching far higher clock speeds than their Intel counterparts (EK Water Blocks reportedly having a 16-core Threadripper running 4.2 GHz on all 16 cores (https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/6spjt7/ek_confirm_42ghz_easily_attainable_on_threadripper/)). Still, it is a lot of heat to transfer into the air. Added problem is that the aftermarket has no standard-of-the-shelf coolers for Sockets TR4 and SP3. But I bet the coolers for Socket 2066 are not that common too, let alone Socket 3647, though the professional server market has their own coolers -not known for silent running.

And behold my surprise when I came across this article, promising an aftermarket cooler for both Socket SP3 and Socket 3647 (https://www.overclock3d.net/news/cpu_mainboard/noctua_showcases_a_skylake-ep_lga_3647_compatible_cpu_cooler/1).

[Nflight]

Now, this is something new I can't wait to utilize in many things! I hate the noise of bearings making noise. As with the post in Facebook Page - Calyos Fanless (https://youtu.be/hPCQq9TNWjA)

[Dirk Broer]

Fanless? I am a huge fan of fans...fans can't be huge enough, IMHO...
A nearby fan: http://www.prodeon.nl/upload/iblock/5b9/5b9a3ef2a1b4da4887748f1f4d861907.jpg
And when I don't want noise, I take a mobo with onboard CPU and passive cooling, take a fanless PSU, trust upon the onboard graphics and take a SSD.
Result? Zero dB.
Costs? About 55 euro for the mobo (ASRock QC5000M), 125 euro for a Seasonic Platinum Series 400 Watt Fanless (80+ Platinum!) and a Samsung 850 EVO 250GB (95 euro)
Grand total: 275 euro and guaranteed noiseless. How much for a Calyos?

[Nflight]

My only super sized Cooler Master Fan is dying, Amazon Prime to the rescue. Guaranteed Delivery Monday Setp 11th.

All else is in working order, making short visits to get things done then back off till I need to access the internet, I am not dead yet!

[Dirk Broer]

The old model is getting replaced with bigger new ones, the old go to Lithuania.
http://www.prodeon.nl/upload/iblock/2da/2da8e90249fc4049b8c98955dbcc09dc.jpg
That just the modern ones: the old Dutch windmill remains where it is!

[Dirk Broer]

My only super sized Cooler Master Fan is dying, Amazon Prime to the rescue. Guaranteed Delivery Monday Setp 11th.

All else is in working order, making short visits to get things done then back off till I need to access the internet, I am not dead yet!

Did you have a model with red or blue led-light, or a led-less fan?

[vaughan]

Hey Dirk it looks as if it takes two of the new windmills to replace the old one.

[Dirk Broer]

No, it doesn't. The old one still performs for what she was intended: keeping the water level in the canals of the 'polder' steady.
The new ones are for electricity.

[Dirk Broer]

The old model is getting replaced with bigger new ones, the old go to Lithuania.
http://www.prodeon.nl/upload/iblock/2da/2da8e90249fc4049b8c98955dbcc09dc.jpg
That just the modern ones: the old Dutch windmill remains where it is!

New ones still haven't been built, but Zoeterwoude also has windmills at the lands surrounding the Zoeterwoude-Rijndijk Heineken Brewery.
http://www.themanieuws.nl/app/uploads/1/330/editor/Image/17_windmolens.jpg

[Dirk Broer]

All-In-One (AIO) watercoolers have been made popular by the famous 'Corsair' brand, but how do these coolers compare themselves to each other?
https://z-p3-scontent-ams4-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/78821339_2672521542823527_8167279771072331776_o.jp g?_nc_cat=108&_nc_ohc=sZcIlyRkSgAAQlB8MEsWsqXvcM6eUM2skRujqttTP4 L6-AF-aVPlZnZAw&_nc_ht=z-p3-scontent-ams4-1.xx&oh=614dc1f66ec04017ab831605228ec15d&oe=5E6CEAD0

Cranked up to 2300 rpm the H115i shows its might:
https://www.gamersnexus.net/images/media/2017/coolers/cpu-cooler-roundup-all-thermals.png

An in-depth review of the H115 models, with an emphasis on the H115i Platinum (https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3457-corsair-h115i-rgb-platinum-cooler-review-asetek-vs-coolit) (there appear to be three, The H115i, the original, is an older Asetek design. The newer H115i Pro uses the Asetek Gen6 pump. The H115i Platinum uses CoolIT’s solution.)

[Dirk Broer]

There are some common pitfalls when judging CPU coolers. One of them is 'Bigger is Better'.
While generally true, it is not the mere size. Not every 140 mm fan is better than the average 120 mm fan, but on average a 140 mm fan will generate more airflow at the same RPM, and at less noise.
And it is not the mere size of the cooling block, but the amount of square inch aluminium that is exposed to that airflow.
The theoretically best air cooler has, IMHO, two cooling blocks and three 140 mm fans (three blocks and four fans would be even better, but would result is one massive cooler that won't fit any case) and would preferably be build with Noctua-quality cooling blocks and fans, like this
https://i.redd.it/8sn7zmbthi9z.jpg


With AIO cooling there are more things to consider. The bit about the fans remains the same, but the cooling block gets replaced with the radiator and an extra variable comes in with the pump.
Those single radiator Corsair AIOs show that the 'el cheapo' H45 outperforms its more expensive brothers and sisters (or are they mere cousins? Who really makes the H45? Not Asetek or Coolit...).
How is that possible?
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/media/image/thumbnail/HS039CS_141340_800x800.png
The H45 has a fan that runs at a much higher speed than most other Corsair AIOs, resulting in more CFM airflow and a higher static pressure. Its pump is much bigger -sitting on the radiator instead of the heatplate, as with the Coolit and Asetek produced AIOs- and runs the water faster through the radiator. That radiator might have the same size in square inches, but in cubic inches it is much bigger. And we haven't yet started about yet another possible parameter: FPI, or fins per inch -both factors together read: how much water is in the radiator at a given time, and how much is it stretched out in your radiator so the fan can do its job blowing cool air over hot piping? The H45 wins here too.

So, especially for its money, the H45 is my favorite Corsair single radiator AIO cooler. I might want to cool a Raspberry Pi 4 with it, in an attempt to reach the 2500 MHz. Sadly, it lacks fittings for the Pi but it will do good as well on any 35 or 65 Watt TDP Ryzen CPU and/or APU and might even still do a good job on 95 and 105 Watt Ryzens.
No Threadripping performance though, and a bit noisy -more noisy (according to actual users) than Corsair will report themselves.

[Dirk Broer]

Single radiator AIO coolers kind of defy the reason why you take watercooling: to enlarge the cooling surface. There are plenty of 120 or 140 mm air coolers, some even with a double cool block and two (or three fans).
The next logical step is to enlarge the radiator, so more water can be cooled at a given time. On average the dual radiator AIO is better than the average single radiator AIO, but things can vary due to before mentioned set of variables: fan efficiency (more RPM/CFM is better), pump efficiency (faster is better) and radiator efficiency (how much water is dispersed over how much centimeter tubing? The more, the merrier). Apart from the radiator improvements all others give you more noise as an added bonus.

King of the Corsair dual radiator portfolio seems to be the H115i, but it comes in three flavours. The H115i (the original, let's call it the H115iV1) is an older Asetek design. The newer H115i Pro (or H115iV2) uses the Asetek Gen6 pump. The H115i Platinum uses CoolIT’s solution. The Pro is my personal favorite, because it has no RGB.

Even better(?) than the dual radiator solution is the triple radiator if the previous logic still applies. All AIO models are stuck at 3x 120mm it seems, in the case of Corair the H150i Pro.
This table is quite revealing as to the added value of AIO coolers:
https://www.techtesters.eu/pic/CORSAIRH150IPRO/501.png

In a next post I will show you the holy grail of water cooling: the DYI, Do-It-Yourself. Buy you own pump, tubing, connectors, radiators, fans, etc. And bring money, lots of it.

[plonk420]

eh, i prefer air still. don't have to worry about any leaks down the road. and my friend says he doesn't miss the pump noise of his corsair AIO. not to mention way WAY cheaper.

in the $45 range, Mugen 5, Windale 6 (i have a slightly larger Ninja 4, and the smaller Windale 4 which i like for its performance bracket). maaaybe the Cooler Master MA610P or Dark Rock Pro or Thermaltake True Spirit 140?

personally, i still hold a grudge against the 212 series because of one of the older AM3 Cooler Master 212s where i had to apply so much pressure, my thumb ended up with internal bleeding. i even stumbled across some review site that pointed it out in a later 212 that got rid of it:

https://i.imgur.com/hDDkiZe.jpg

one short term deal for 4 cores, maaaaaybe 6: the Scythe Grand Kama Cross 3 (i'm seeing for $30 at Newegg). massive, but at least it's quiet. and is a down blower, so if you need to keep your VRMs cool (say, if you're running an APU with poor/no SoC cooling/heatsinking). not sure if i installed it poorly, but my 2400G sometimes spikes to 75C with it. and if you can find a Ninja 4 for $40 or less (might need a $5ish AM4 adapter). this one rivals a Noctua D15.

also, if any of you get a Zen 2 AM4 chip, probably don't freak out about temps unless you're hitting over 85C outside of Prime95. looks like even reviewers are hitting about 85C on say the 3900X in Blender

[Dirk Broer]

Recycling and updating an older posting (from June 2013)


Cooling is getting more and more important now CPUs and GPUs are spilling heat like there's no tomorrow in your casing.
How to keep the system cool? There are lots of choices:

Air. Add fans till there's no more room for them, though it may depend on your casing and the outside temperature whether air will be enough and the noise of 10+ fans in one system alone may be prohibitive.:5eek:
Water. Lots of commercial products around nowadays. Costs a bit more than air cooling, but is less noisy and seems to work better too.:cool:
Liquid nitrogen, aka LQN or N2. Works even better than water, because it is far colder.:5cold:
Phase changer(s). For those who like to be on the cutting edge. You can even put a few in series to approach the absolute zero...:biggrin:


Air
There are a few things that are important for air coolers: The amount of air that gets moved, the pressure the fan can deliver while moving the air and the noise it takes to do so. In the past a 40mm fan was enough, now 120mm is the pretty much standard in modern casings. Fans have gotten bigger and bigger because bigger fans can push more air while making less noise. Those who buy a Cooler Master HAF 932 can get three 230mm(!) fans with it! The biggest problem with air cooling remains that you can not get lower temperatures than the ambient temperature -if you find air cooling who can achieve such a feat in the first place-, a problem that already painfully rises with our Australian and Southern US members, let alone those who live even closer to the equator...

Part 1: super-sized case fans (>200mm) Let's start with the utter kings of cool -at least in looks- of the air department:


Brand
Type
Diameter
in mm
Speed
in rpm
Noise
in dB(A)
Airflow
in cfm
cfm/dB
Airflow
in m3/h
m3h/dB
Air pressure
in mm H2O
pressure/dB



1st PC Corp.
FN-250

250

820

20.00

105.00

5.25

na

-

na

-


Akasa
AK-F2230SM

220

600

23.48

95.00

4.05

162.10

6.90

0.66

0.03


BitFenix
Spectre Pro

230

900

25.6

156.27

6.10

na

-

1.81

0.07


BitFenix
Spectre

230

800

19.9

97.80

4.91

na

-

1.08

0.05


Ichbinleise
EKL 225/800

225

300-800

11-29














Rexus
Rexflo 250mm

250

800

24.90

105.20

4.22

na

-

na

-


Rexus
Rexflo 360mm

300

600

21.60

126.70

5.84

na

-

na

-


ThermalTake
Thunderblade 23

230

800

15.00

76.00

5.06

na

-

0.49

0.03


Yate Loon
D22SL-12H

220

600

25.50

135.00

5.29

na

-

na

-
[/tr]

Yate Loon
D22BL-12H

220

750

31.80

168.00

5.28

na

-

na

-


These figures, however, are the manufacturers claims. In real life/testing other values might be measured, such as with the Akasa AK-F2230SM (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2009/10/09/whats-the-best-supersize-case-fan/2) and the IchBinLeise 225/800 (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2009/10/09/whats-the-best-supersize-case-fan/3), which both get thoroughly trashed by the reviewers, just as they do the Yate Loon products (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2009/10/09/whats-the-best-supersize-case-fan/4) to a lesser extent. With these biggies air pressure is less important, as that parameter only becomes really useful when pushing air through/around things (water cooler radiators, CPU heatsinks, hard disks, SSDs)


Seven years ago, the best big fan seemed to be the still available BitFenix Spectre Pro, how does it fare against e.g. a recent big Noctua?


Brand
Type
Diameter
in mm
Speed
in rpm
Noise
in dB(A)
Airflow
in cfm
cfm/dB
Airflow
in m3/h
m3h/dB
Air pressure
in mm H2O
pressure/dB


BitFenix
Spectre Pro

230

900

25.6

156.27

6.10

na

-

1.81

0.07


Noctua
NF-A20-PWM

282

800

18.1

86

4.75

146.9

8.12

1.08

0.06



BTW: Gamers Nexus (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXsUdK05Nyw) claims a 180mm SilverStone 180mm Air Penetrator beats all 200mm fans in performance...

[Dirk Broer]

When you want your SBC (single board computer) cooled -in proper colo(u)rs!:
400 (click image for larger version)
There are 5V PWM models for every size, but only the A4x10 5V PWM shows differences in scores as compared to the standard model.

[Dirk Broer]

When my Ryzen 5 2400G arrived I double-checked whether I received the right cooler, as it was just so small...In fact smaller than the stock cooler that came with my Ryzen 5 3400G.
So I decided to buy a better cooler and let the 2400G cooler cool my A12-9800GE, because that came with an even smaller cooler -about the size of the coolers of the Asrock A300 barebone series (that have a maximum cooler height of just 46mm, you'd need to take off the outer ring from the 2400G cooler).
My choice fell on the Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4 (https://noctua.at/en/nh-u12s-se-am4) -the AM4 only version. For the future I think of buying the Noctua NH-U12S -for all contemporary consumer sockets, and the Noctua NH-U12S Redux (https://noctua.at/en/nh-u12s-redux) as well to cool my other 65 Watt TDP AM4 systems. Linus Sebastian (of the YouTube Tech Tips) was very enthusiastic about the Noctua NH-U12S Redux (https://youtu.be/hqfUo4MZvZo) -in Canada $20 cheaper than the standard version -but here it is just 10 Euro's difference for an extra heat pipe, less noise and more cables, amongst them the L.N.A. cable...the L.N.A. cable is included in the NA-FK1 Redux upgrade fan (https://noctua.at/en/na-fk1/specification) though, specially made for the NH-U12S Redux. There is also a Noctua NH-U12S Chromax Black, but that performs slightly less and costs 20 Euro's more.



Type
Fan Size in mm
Noctua's Standardised
Performance Rating (https://noctua.at/en/noctua-standardised-performance-rating)
(NSPR)
Max. airflow
m3/h
Max. airflow
m3/h with L.N.A.
Max. acoustical noise
dB(A)
Max. acoustical noise
dB(A) with L.N.A.
Price in Euro's


Tower model coolers









NH-D15 SE-AM4 (https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15-se-am4/specification)

2x 140

183

140.2

115.5

24.6

19.2

100


NH-U14S 2x NF-A15 PWM

2x 140

179

140.2

115.5

24.6

19.2

104


NH-D15S (https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15s/specification)

140

167

140.2

115.5

24.6

19.2

90


NH-U14S (https://noctua.at/en/nh-u14s/specification)

140

162

140.2

115.5

24.6

19.2

80


NH-U12A (https://noctua.at/en/nh-u12a/specification)

2x 120

169

102.1

84.5

22.6

18.8

109


NH-D12L (https://noctua.at/en/nh-d12l/specification)

120

143

102.1

84.5

22.6

18.8

90


NH-U12S Redux+NA-FK1 (https://noctua.at/en/nh-u12s-redux/specification)

2x 120

129+

120.2

115.5

25.1

19.2

72


NH-U12S SE-AM4 (https://noctua.at/en/nh-u12s-se-am4/specification)

120

129

93.4

74.3

22.4

18.6

70


NH-U12S Redux (https://noctua.at/en/nh-u12s-redux/specification)

120

129

120.2


25.1


54


NH-D9L 3x NF-A9 PWM

3x 92

134+

78.9

62.6

22.8

16.3

87


NH-D9L 2x NF-A9 PWM

2x 92

134

78.9

62.6

22.8

16.3

68


NH-U9S 2x NF-A9 PWM

2x 92

118

78.9

62.6

22.8

16.3

77


NH-U9S (https://noctua.at/en/products/cpu-cooler-retail/nh-u9s)

92

93

78.9

62.6

22.8

16.3

59


NH-D9L (https://noctua.at/en/nh-d9l)

92

88

78.9

62.6

22.8

16.3

50


Top-Down coolers









Noctua NH-C14S (https://noctua.at/en/products/cpu-cooler-retail/nh-c14s)

140

119

140.2

115.5

24.6

19.2

75


Noctua NH-L12S (https://noctua.at/en/products/cpu-cooler-retail/nh-l12s)

120

88

94.2

70.8

23.9

16.8

60


Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 (https://noctua.at/en/nh-l9x65-se-am4)

92

67

57.5

40.8

23.6

14.8

60


NH-L9a-AM4 (https://noctua.at/en/nh-l9a-am4)

92

61

57.5

40.8

23.6

14.8

47


L.N.A.=Low Noise Adapter

[Dirk Broer]

Today my newest cooler arrived: A NH-U14S, my 4th Noctua.
It will be used for a Ryzen 7 5700G that replaces my Ryzen 5 3400G in my ASRock B450 Pro4 mobo.
The 3400G will then be used in a X370 iTX system that till today worked with my Athlon-A12 9800E, taking with it the 3400G stock cooler -for the time- and the RAM sticks.
The 9800E will be used to rebuild its original configuration -but with the 5700G stock cooler.


The NH-U14S is quietly humming along in the ASRock B450 Pro4, pushing the performance of the Ryzen 7 5700G to the desired level.
The Athlon-A12 9800E does what it is supposed to do in the ASRock A320M Pro4 with the stock 5700G cooler.
The Ryzen 5 3400G however won't play nice with my ASRock Fatal1ty X370 Gaming-ITX/ac. I suspect that it can't handle the 2x 16GB 3200MHz Kingston Fury RAM sticks and will try with 2x 8GB 3000MHz Corsair Vengeance sticks.
If that fails too I'll try two Patriot 2400MHZ sticks. In case that also fails I'll first start howling and, after that, rip the system apart to perform some hardware surgery, and the innards will be transferred into a MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX II.
The Fatal1ty will then have to do with a Ryzen 5 2400G.

[Dirk Broer]

When we discuss cooling here it is mainly whether (AIO) water-cooling is better than air cooling, where air cooling usually means: BIG air, e.g. the Noctua NH-D15 or likewise dual tower/twin fan coolers.

But suppose such a cooler won't fit your case? You can usually find good performing 120mm coolers too, or small AIO coolers. In case your casing is even smaller there's the 92mm department. But how well do these coolers perform when you're into BOINC?

Let take our friends from Noctua as an example. They have both single- and dual tower models beside the usual 92mm board-huggers.

To start with the board-huggers: DON'T! Noctua themselves give them a Noctua's Standardised Performance Rating (or NSPR) of 59 to 61, depending on the model. They can only be used for BOINC-systems with 25 Watt or less of power draw -and even then I'd advise a very well ventilated casing. They also have extended board-huggers with bigger heat sinks, but these are hardly better with a NSPR of 67.

Things are beginning to get interesting with the NH-D9L, a dual tower cooler with -standard- a single fan and with a NSPR of 88. The next model price-wise -the NH-U9S- is a single tower cooler with the same single fan, but it gets a NSPR of 93 due to the bigger heatsink and extra heat pipe.
Adding a second fan to that NH-U9S gets you an equivalent to the NH-U9 TR4-SP3 (https://noctua.at/en/nh-u9-tr4-sp3/specification) or the NH-U9 DX-4677 (https://noctua.at/en/nh-u9-dx-4677/specification), both scoring a NSPR of 118.
But adding a second fan to the NH-D9L gets you an equivalent to the NH-D9 DX-4677 4U (https://noctua.at/en/nh-d9-dx-4677-4u/specification), with an NSPR of 134....
....and then we're in the NSPR regions of the well-known 120mm Noctua coolers. Adding a third fan will even more increase the capabilities....

https://youtu.be/kqetLpbZxMo?t=2
We will forgive the guy the small mistake for his efforts.

The NH-D9L (including one fan) weighs 531 gram, two additional NF-A9 PWM fans weigh 184 gram, so the triple fan cooler weighs 715 gram, 0.715 Kg. It looks far more massive than it is, on the picture. Mind you, the NH-D9 series is also rated for 3U servers.

A NH-D15 (with two fans) weighs 1,320 gram, 1.32 Kg.
A NH-D15S (with one fan) weighs 1,150 gram, 1.15 Kg.

184 gram is the difference between the weight of the NH-D9 DX-4677 4U: Weight (without fans) 584 g and Weight (with fans) 769 g
The NH-D9 DX-4677 4U itself is some heavy fu**er compared to the NH-D9L.....weighing more without fans than the NH-D9L does with one! Must be the big ground plate for socket 4677...

[Dirk Broer]

This posting 10 years ago kicked this thread off, let's see if the biggies are still for sale! It is exit for the Ichbinleise/IamSilent EKL 225/800 and the ThermalTake Thunderblade 23, there are new ones (hello to newcomer SXDOOL 250mm).
I will also actualize/expand the content a bit:


Cooling is getting more and more important now CPUs and GPUs are spilling heat like there's no tomorrow in your casing. How to keep the system cool? There are lots of choices:

Air. Add fans till there's no more room for them, though it may depend on your casing and the outside temperature whether air will be enough and the noise of 10+ fans in one system alone may be prohibitive.:5eek:
Water. Lots of commercial products around nowadays. Costs a bit more than air cooling, but is less noisy and seems to work better too.:cool:
Electricity. Via Peltier Thermoelectric Cooling.:shocked:
Liquid nitrogen. Works even better than water, because it is far colder.:5cold:
Phase changer(s). For those who like to be on the cutting edge. You can even put a few in series to try to approach the absolute zero...:biggrin:


Air
There are a few things that are important for air coolers: The amount of air that gets moved, the pressure the fan can deliver while moving the air and the noise it takes to do so. In the past a 40 mm fan was enough,
now 120/140 mm is the pretty much standard in modern casings. Fans have gotten bigger and bigger because bigger fans can push more air, while making less noise. Those who once bought a Cooler Master HAF 932
could get three 230 mm(!) fans with it! The biggest problem with air cooling remains that you can not get lower temperatures than the ambient temperature -if you find air cooling who can achieve such a feat in the
first place-, a problem that already painfully rises with our Australian and Southern US members, let alone those who live even closer to the equator...

Part 1: super-sized case fans (>200 mm) Let's start with the utter kings of cool -at least in looks- of the air department:


Brand-Type
Diameter in mm
Speed in rpm
Noise in dB(A)
Airflow in cfm
cfm/dB
Airflow in m3/h
m3h/dB
Air pressure in mm H2O
pressure/dB
Amps
Watts


1st PC Corp. FN-250 (http://www.1stpccorp.com/fan_250mm.htm)

250

820

20.00

105.00

5.25

178.40

8.92

na

-

0.90

10.80


Akasa AK-FN066-BK (https://akasa.co.uk/update.php?tpl=product/product.detail.tpl&type=FANS&type_sub=Standard%20Case%20Fans&model=AK-FN066-BK)

220

600

23.48

95.63

4.05

162.10

6.90

0.66

0.03

0.28

3.36


BitFenix Spectre Pro (https://www.bitfenix.com/products/fan/spectre-pro/spectre-pro-specs/)

230

900

25.60

156.27

6.10

265.50

10.37

1.81

0.07

0.11

1.32


BitFenix Spectre (https://www.bitfenix.com/products/fan/spectre/spectre-specs/)

230

800

19.90

97.80

4.91

166.16

8.35

1.08

0.05

0.10

1.20


Rexus Rexflo 250 mm (https://www.rexususa.com/fans/new-250x30.html)

250

800

24.90

105.20

4.22

178.74

7.18

na

-

0.40

4.80


Rexus Rexflo 360 mm (https://www.rexususa.com/fans/new-360x30.html)

360

600

21.70

126.70

5.84

215.26

9.92

12.3

0.57

0.50

6.00


SXDOOL 250mm (https://www.amazon.com/SXDOOL-Cooling-Computer-Server-Cooler/dp/B08LH4DWK8)

250

1200

40.00

120.00

3.00

203.88

5.10

na

-

1.50

18.00


Yate Loon D22SL-12H (https://www.yateloon.com/en/product-87401/DC-FAN-SERIES-220x220x30.html)

220

600

25.50

135.00

5.29

229.37

8.99

na

-

0.60

7.20
[/tr]

Yate Loon D22BL-12H (https://www.yateloon.com/en/product-87401/DC-FAN-SERIES-220x220x30.html)

220

750

31.80

168.00

5.28

285.43

8.98

na

-

0.60

7.20



These figures, however, are the manufacturers claims. In real life/testing other values might be measured, such as with the Akasa AK-F2230SM (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2009/10/09/whats-the-best-supersize-case-fan/2) and the IchBinLeise 225/800 (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2009/10/09/whats-the-best-supersize-case-fan/3), which both get thoroughly trashed by the reviewers, just as they do the
Yate Loon products (http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2009/10/09/whats-the-best-supersize-case-fan/4) to a lesser extent. For newcomer SXDOOL 250mm read the user reviews on Amazon! Oh, and that 18 Watt sure is not "low power consumption".....it's easily twice or thrice that of most competitors, and a far cry from the Bitfenix offerings!
The reported air pressure for the Rexflo 360 mm sticks out like a sore finger, my guess is that they have floating point problems...But with these biggies air pressure is less important, as that parameter only becomes really useful when pushing air
through/around things (water cooler radiators, CPU heatsinks, hard disks, SSDs)

[Dirk Broer]

Blast from the past, some of the fans are years out of production....

120mm Case fan Shoot-outWhat do we want in case fans? Silence and performance! These two criteria unfortunately do not quite match each other. The more silent, the less performance - and vice-versa.
Which fans stick out in the crowd? I've found a review that compares no less than 393 case fans -between 80 and 140mm- that came up with the following results for the best 120mm case fans, the most popular size these days. Are my CoolerMaster Sickleflows that bad and are Vaughan's Noctuas that much better? We'll see!

A small selection of the best fans in the various categories (noise under 12V, air displacement under 12V). I also took the opportunity to set real life performance against manufacturer's claims...


Brand
Type
Diameter in mm
Speed in rpm
Real Noise in dB(A)
Claimed Max Noise in dB(A)
Real Airflow in cfm
Claimed Airflow in cfm
real cfm/real dB


Akasa
Viper 120

120

1900

50.8

28.9

92.1

83.63

1.81


Bitfenix
Spectre

120

1000

28.2

20.0

40.8

43.50

1.45


Coolermaster
Sickleflow

120

2000

44.2

19.0

81.1

69.69

1.83


Coolink
SWiF2 1200

120

800

27.1

8.5

40.6

60.40

1.50


EKL Alpenfőhn
Főhn120 Wing Boost

120

1500

39.0

24.8

74.3

106.0

1.91


Nexus
Real Silent Case Fan

120

1000

31.6

18.0

46.5

36.80

1.47


Noctua
NF-P12

120

1300

38.9

19.8

55.9

92.30

1.44


Scythe
Gentle Typhoon

120

5400

68.1

50.5

163.8

150.1

2.41


Scythe
Gentle Typhoon

120

4250

61.9

44.0

129.5

116.5

2.09


Scythe
Gentle Typhoon

120

1850

40.2

28.0

70.8

58.3

1.76


Scythe
Slip Stream PWM

120

1900

52.7

37.0

109.9

110.3

2.09


Tacens
Aura II

120

1200

33.8

12.0

50.2

50.00

1.49




Some good nowadays fans, (data via https://hwbusters.com/, which uses a LongWin LW-9266 Fan PQ Performance Measurement Apparatus):


Brand
Type
Diameter in mm
Speed in rpm
Real Noise in dB(A)
Claimed Max Noise in dB(A)
Real Airflow in cfm
Claimed Airflow in cfm
real cfm/real dB


Noctua
NF-A12x25

120

2000

31.3

22.6

56.1

60.1

1.79


Phanteks
PH-F120T30 (High speed)

120

3000

43.6

39.7

105.2

101.0

2.41



Missing your favorite 120mm fan? Just mention it...perhaps it is even in this excerpt I made (click on it to make bigger)
450

If it is static pressure you want and loads of air transported, you might consider the Silverstone FHS 120X, which delivers 141,3 CFM and 11,71 mmH20 -but at the cost of 56,50 dB(Aa) and 11,83 Watt....

[plonk420]

i got a 2000 and 3000 RPM industrial 140mm noctua, both too loud for my taste. tho i think the 3000 is currently strapped to my Scythe Ninja 4 on my 7900X, but i'm a bit too tired lately to swap it or the cooler out

[Dirk Broer]

i got a 2000 and 3000 RPM industrial 140mm noctua, both too loud for my taste. tho i think the 3000 is currently strapped to my Scythe Ninja 4 on my 7900X, but i'm a bit too tired lately to swap it or the cooler out

The industrial 140mm Noctua fans illustrate quite nicely the dilemma computer users face when cooling their systems: Performance (Air Displacement and/or Static Pressure) vs Environment (Noise and Power Use).
The 3000 RPM industrial 140mm Noctua fan is great in moving lots of air forcibly through your case and against your heatsink or radiator, but does so in a very loud way (62 dB(a) in some tests, way more than the advertised 41.3 dB(a)) and at a high power use of some 6.6 Watt -Noctua's own figure. Noctua-wise the 2000 RPM Industrial model comes second in performance, is a bit less loud (still hitting the 50 dB(a) in tests, way more than the advertised 31.5 dB(a)) and running far cheaper at 2.16 Watt.

If you want both silence and low power use, performance sucks -at least a bit. Sad, but true. The Noctua NF-A14 ULN (https://noctua.at/en/products/fan/nf-a14-uln) illustrates this good. It is -especially when you use the LNA adapter- whisper quiet and runs at a mere 0.48 Watt, but does the performance still suit your needs?

Here are the 140 mm fans so far tested at hwbusters in a very condensed way. See the site itself (https://hwbusters.com/best_picks/best-case-heatsink-radiator-fan-picks-hardware-busters/) for more detail.
451click unto to make bigger