2.5 to 3.5/i7 Cooler

Discussion in 'Building a new PC' started by Xplorer4, Nov 21, 2009.

  1. Xplorer4

    Xplorer4 Active member

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    What do you guys recommend for mounting 2.5 drives in a 3.5 drive bay? I need to mount 2 SSDs in my Mozart TX Case.

    Also looking for suggestions to see if there was a better cooler for a Core i7 860? More specifically is there anything better then a Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 pro?
     
  2. k7vc

    k7vc Regular member

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    If you don't have room for a full-size 120mm cooler, check out the Noctua U9B with their 1156 mounting kit. It comes with one 92mm fan and you can add a second if you want.

    Dick
     
  3. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    The Noctua U9 and Ultima-90 are good coolers for 92mm size, but the Mozart case is huge, you'd surely be able to fit an Ultra-120 in there...
     
  4. Xplorer4

    Xplorer4 Active member

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    The ulta-120 is discontinued on NewEgg. Havent looked elsewhere, but I dont see where it lists being compatible with Socket 1156.

    I am looking for the best air cooling heat sink i can get, although I am partially tempted to go with water cooling because I didnt realize the MSI P55-GD65 used the FoxConn sockets which are known to burn out. The burn outs only happen when OCed on air, while they dont happen on OC on water.

    I had an AC Freezer 7 Pro on my Core 2 Quad and was disappointed, so thats why I am seeing if there anything better.
     
    Last edited: Nov 22, 2009
  5. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Newegg have never sold Thermalright products since c. 2005. They just never deleted the items from the website. You need to source Thermalright products elsewhere.
    The Freezer 7 Pro is a good dual core heatsink, but it isn't up to the task of cooling quad cores, especially not i7s.
     
  6. Xplorer4

    Xplorer4 Active member

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    I found the extreme here

    Should I get the extra bracket for a push/pull configuration? Which fan:
    Scythe S-FLEX™ SFF21FScythe S-FLEX™ SFF21F
    Scythe S-FLEX™ SFF21GScythe S-FLEX™ SFF21G
     
  7. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    The SFF21F is fine, the SFF21G is more powerful, but quite noisy.
     
  8. Xplorer4

    Xplorer4 Active member

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    Thanks for the super fast responses Sam. I had a feeling you would say that about the fans.

    Just one last thing, what about doing a push/pull config? Is it worth it?
     
  9. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    I tend to find it's rarely worth it unless in a top-bottom airflow environment.
     
  10. Xplorer4

    Xplorer4 Active member

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    What do you mean by top-bottom airflow?
     
  11. k7vc

    k7vc Regular member

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    I added a second 92mm fan to a Noctua U9 and dropped the processor temps an extra 6 degrees (59 to 53C). This is on an i7-860 3.5 GHz running at 100% 24/7. These temps are still a little too high for me, but I have a side panel case fan sitting right over the cooler and don't have the room for a full-size 120mm cooler under it.

    Fortunately, I'm running a bottom-mount PSU case with bottom-top airflow and the push-pull Noctua blows directly into a top-mounted 14cm exhaust fan. In retrospect this build should have been in a larger case to give me room for a full-size cooler, but it is what it is.

    Xplorer4, I think what Sam means by top-bottom airflow is where you are trying to push air down against the normal upward flow of heated air and you need the extra fan to brute-force the air downward.

    Dick
     
  12. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Last edited: Nov 22, 2009
  13. Deadrum33

    Deadrum33 Active member

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    As for mounting the 2 SSD's there is a bracket to squeeze them both in one standard 3.5" drive bay.
    http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=25450
    I don't have 2 SSD's, only one, and a generic $10 adapter from Microcenter filled my needs. Of course since there are no moving parts in an SSD and cooling isnt a big issue, some people have used velcro tape and just slapped it on a interior wall of their case.
     
  14. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    When I trialled an early SSD, I didn't even go that far, I just sat it in the bottom of the HDD bay, it's small enough to be inconspicuous.
     
  15. k7vc

    k7vc Regular member

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    Amen. This build is in a CM-690 case with a total of 8 case fans (1 x 80mm, 3 x 120mm, 4 x 140mm). When you add two CPU fans, two on-board GPU fans and one built-in PSU fan, there is a lot of air being moved through this case.

    I could replace all these medium-speed fans with high-speed Scythe screamers, but I tend to like < 25 dBm fans for obvious reasons. I like this case, but between the OC'ed 860 and two GTX-260's I feel I may be asking it to do more than any mid-tower should be asked to do.

    I may take pity on this build and migrate it into a larger case. Which one would you recommend?

    Dick
     
  16. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Depends really. The HAF932 I use is excellent for airflow all round, but silencing it is not something I'd wish to try and undertake. Depends how noisy is too noisy. With some reasonable fans like Scythe SFF21Es, you could run a pretty respectably quiet system in a HAF. Don't use the stock fans, they're pretty rubbish, despite their substantial size. Four good 120mms are way superior to one naff 230mm.
     
  17. k7vc

    k7vc Regular member

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    I respect your opinion. Thanks.

    Dick
     
  18. Xplorer4

    Xplorer4 Active member

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    Ok thats what I thought you meant but just double checking.

    Are those the same bracket you used? Reason I ask is I looked on NewEgg hopping for something cheap, but most of the items had alot of complaints about either the mounting holes wont match up to a standard 3.5 bay, or the screws wouldnt thread properly. I might stop by the store tomorrow and see what they have locally.

    I have seen the Velcro thing references a few times, but regardless of how much heat is generated or moving parts or not, with a device that expensive, I dont want to take it to chance even if the chances of breaking are 1 in a million.
     
  19. Deadrum33

    Deadrum33 Active member

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  20. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    There aren't really any chances to take with an SSD. They don't get hot, so you can put them anywhere, they have entirely enclosed circuitry, so you can't put them at risk from static, they are pretty much immune to any form of shock, so you can drop them, they are essentially every bit as resilient as USB drives - moreso in fact, because you don't risk getting a cheaply made one.
     

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