Cooling them Hotties

[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

[Dirk Broer]

Fanless? I am a huge fan of fans...fans can't be huge enough, IMHO...
A nearby fan:
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?

[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:


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.

[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.

That just the modern ones: the old Dutch windmill remains where it is!

[Dirk Broer]

The old model is getting replaced with bigger new ones, the old go to Lithuania.

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.

[Dirk Broer]

When you want your SBC (single board computer) cooled -in proper colo(u)rs!:
Schermafbeelding 2021-04-16 015537.JPG (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]

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?

[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 -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 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 -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 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 (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	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	140	167	140.2	115.5	24.6	19.2	90
NH-U14S	140	162	140.2	115.5	24.6	19.2	80
NH-U12A	2x 120	169	102.1	84.5	22.6	18.8	109
NH-D12L	120	143	102.1	84.5	22.6	18.8	90
NH-U12S Redux+NA-FK1	2x 120	129+	120.2	115.5	25.1	19.2	72
NH-U12S SE-AM4	120	129	93.4	74.3	22.4	18.6	70
NH-U12S Redux	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	92	93	78.9	62.6	22.8	16.3	59
NH-D9L	92	88	78.9	62.6	22.8	16.3	50
Top-Down coolers
Noctua NH-C14S	140	119	140.2	115.5	24.6	19.2	75
Noctua NH-L12S	120	88	94.2	70.8	23.9	16.8	60
Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4	92	67	57.5	40.8	23.6	14.8	60
NH-L9a-AM4	92	61	57.5	40.8	23.6	14.8	47

L.N.A.=Low Noise Adapter

[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:

1. 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.
2. Water. Lots of commercial products around nowadays. Costs a bit more than air cooling, but is less noisy and seems to work better too.
3. Liquid nitrogen, aka LQN or N2. Works even better than water, because it is far colder.
4. 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...

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	-
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 and the IchBinLeise 225/800, which both get thoroughly trashed by the reviewers, just as they do the Yate Loon products 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 claims a 180mm SilverStone 180mm Air Penetrator beats all 200mm fans in performance...