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Cooling Best Low-Profile CPU Cooler on the Market?

ricochet

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Oct 20, 2016
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Edit: I just noticed on your build specs........Noctua NF-S12B redux 1200 PWM Case Fan (120 mm x 25 mm) placed under the lid right over the CPU/MB Hmmmm.. This assistance thus enables BIOS silent mode on the E27. So not a strict assessment of the E27 "as is" but as part of a cooling system.
I also see you note a low machine like hum even then....... granted, as a complete cooling system it works, but the E27 is not in too demanding a position as if it were the sole CPU cooler.

Concur, it definitely is not in a demanding system currently. Will have to wait and see how it performs with a new CPU when Kaby Lake comes out. I will run some stress tests here shortly and report back the findings. Cheers,
 
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ricochet

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Going back to your observation of the poor finish of the Silvretta, I may lift it and replace it so I can have a look, if it is a poor finish ( as it probably will be!) I will lap it............I am familiar with lapping technique from my woodworking shop, Plane blades, chisels, machine parts etc, so out with the plate glass and granite block and the cutting pastes!
If I do lift it I will get some pics up, before and after lapping and respective performance in each state.

Please do, I am sincerely interested in seeing the finish on your model. Wish I had the skills and tools for lapping/lathing and/or any metal work for that matter. Cheers.
 

stree

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Dec 10, 2016
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If I get positive results from the lapping I may do some before and after test with my other coolers.
Silvretta
PC-Cooling S-185
Kodati (FM2+ )
Gelid slim silence
Gelid Slim Hero
Plus I have various fans, right sizes but better quality than cooler originals, going to try those out too sometime..
Out of curiosity, which thermal paste do you use?
I use Arctic Cooling MX4 and/or Halnziye HY610 gold, most supplied by manufacturers with cooler is not so good, mayonaisse does just as well.
 
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ricochet

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Out of curiosity, which thermal paste do you use?
I use Arctic Cooling MX4 and/or Halnziye HY610 gold, most supplied by manufacturers with cooler is not so good, mayonaisse does just as well.

Cryorig Cyro-Paste CP5 and CP7
 

stree

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Dec 10, 2016
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Been looking around and saw Rajintek Zelos, very much along lines of the Silvretta and others, does not do well in cooling tests, not found anyTDP rating for it yet. So on face of it looks like another also ran. and fell over.
But:

All tests, reviews, feedback agree, it is exceptionally quiet. near on silent. Even under load.
Plus it is very cheap £12.50..............
Thinking of getting a couple, one to lift fan to try on the Silvretta, then the Kodati as supplementary fan, the other to lap to a good mirror finish and try on G3258 for a comparison ttest. Cheap enough to buy just for a 4 pin PWM silent fan, even if it is red and white.....
 
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Thehack

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Mar 6, 2016
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Been looking around and saw Rajintek Zelos, very much along lines of the Silvretta and others, does not do well in cooling tests, not found ant TDP rating for it yet. So on face of it looks like another also ran. and fell over.
But:

All tests, reviews, feedback agree, it is exceptionally quiet. near on silent. Even under load.
Plus it is very cheap £12.50..............
Thinking of getting a couple, one to lift fan to try on the Silvretta, then the Kodati as supplementary fan, the other to lap to a good mirror finish and try on G3258 for a comparison ttest. Cheap enough to buy just for a 4 pin PWM silent fan, even if it is red and white.....

It is probably the same cooler. Looks like silveretta and id cooling. Same fan design as well.
 

Thehack

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yup
But not the same fan.
Soon see anyway.
It's the same.

 
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Arboreal

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Oct 11, 2015
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Availability and price seems to be a big factor in the UK! Seems hard to get hold of a lot of the coolers that have had good reviews for a reasonable price. I'm glad the C7 is coming back in stock on amazon soon though for ~£40.

What's happened to Cryorig in the UK? I could only find them listed on & off at Ebuyer, then the prices shot up by nearly 100%.
C7 was about £19, and is now £35 to £40 if you can find it. The M9i was £16, then £23 and now well over £30.
Brexit Tax??? Greed?
At that money I may as well save a few more pounds and go for one of the Noctua 92mm fan CPU coolers in the £45 to £50 range.
/rant
 

zovc

King of Cable Management
Jan 5, 2017
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Hey Josh, do you have any idea why that Zalman cooler worked out so well? Did you have to modify it to put the fan on top?

How exactly do you mean that the Noctua is probably better all around? I know Noctua is known for their quality fans, but could there be merit to trying other fans on the Noctua's heatsink?
 

Josh | NFC

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Hey Josh, do you have any idea why that Zalman cooler worked out so well? Did you have to modify it to put the fan on top?

How exactly do you mean that the Noctua is probably better all around? I know Noctua is known for their quality fans, but could there be merit to trying other fans on the Noctua's heatsink?

Thank you very much for watching and for asking the questions!

My thinking is that the Zalman's omni-directional low restriction fin design gets hot air away from the cooler faster than any of the other designs. Extruded heatsinks have poor airflow obviously, and the bi-directional fins are taller and only allow air to travel in two directions. This is my hypothesis...I'm not a physics major or a thermodynamics engineer.

No mods are needed to put the Scythe fan on top. Please note that you need the 1900 to 2000 RPM scythe fans for this to work. The lower RPM versions are useless in this setup, and that is one of the reasons why I say the Noctua is an all around better choice:

1. Noctua is quieter than the Zalman by itself (though both are very quiet)
2. Noctua is easier to install
3. Noctua has good thermal paste, Zalman does not
4. Noctua's fan rigidly mounts to heatsink, Zalman clips in and can pop out in shipping

I have no idea why anyone would change out the fan on the NH-L9i. What else is there in the 80x15 range? I could see this if the Noctua didn't include a fan, but you would be throwing away money. The only thing I would replace it with would be a 25mm thick Noctua fan if you were putting it in a different PC...but then I would buy a bigger Noctua! XD

Drawbacks to the Noctua is the price, but that is about it...some people hate the color scheme. I admit it is far off from matching anything reasonably, but their coffee and creme color scheme I associate with premium quality so it has grown on me. I respect them for going against the grain and doing it well.

The theme of the video I was aiming for is that there is no such thing as "best" but rather there are choices we all need to make to fine tune--we can, however, narrow the range.

I've a Id-cooling Is-vc45 on order, and maybe that will be the best...it certainly is priced like it is. For now, I will continue recommending the Noctua and Zalman...but really I'm going to recommend the Noctua, because it is time consuming answering the question "which one should I choose?" every time. :D
 

Thehack

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Mar 6, 2016
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Thank you very much for watching and for asking the questions!

My thinking is that the Zalman's omni-directional low restriction fin design gets hot air away from the cooler faster than any of the other designs. Extruded heatsinks have poor airflow obviously, and the bi-directional fins are taller and only allow air to travel in two directions. This is my hypothesis...I'm not a physics major or a thermodynamics engineer.

No mods are needed to put the Scythe fan on top. Please note that you need the 1900 to 2000 RPM scythe fans for this to work. The lower RPM versions are useless in this setup, and that is one of the reasons why I say the Noctua is an all around better choice:

1. Noctua is quieter than the Zalman by itself (though both are very quiet)
2. Noctua is easier to install
3. Noctua has good thermal paste, Zalman does not
4. Noctua's fan rigidly mounts to heatsink, Zalman clips in and can pop out in shipping

I have no idea why anyone would change out the fan on the NH-L9i. What else is there in the 80x15 range? I could see this if the Noctua didn't include a fan, but you would be throwing away money. The only thing I would replace it with would be a 25mm thick Noctua fan if you were putting it in a different PC...but then I would buy a bigger Noctua! XD

Drawbacks to the Noctua is the price, but that is about it...some people hate the color scheme. I admit it is far off from matching anything reasonably, but their coffee and creme color scheme I associate with premium quality so it has grown on me. I respect them for going against the grain and doing it well.

The theme of the video I was aiming for is that there is no such thing as "best" but rather there are choices we all need to make to fine tune--we can, however, narrow the range.

I've a Id-cooling Is-vc45 on order, and maybe that will be the best...it certainly is priced like it is. For now, I will continue recommending the Noctua and Zalman...but really I'm going to recommend the Noctua, because it is time consuming answering the question "which one should I choose?" every time. :D

It's also a matter of R&D budget. Noctua does make some of the best fans. They have great engineering. The reason the NH-L9i does so well is definitely because of the fan.

If you look at all the other choices on the market in the super low-profile size (smaller than 47mm) then you start seeing how little there is in terms of fan design. Just about all the coolers use the same fan design and it shows in static pressure and noise. Since they are inferior fans, this mean the cooler is also inferior.

The only 92mm fans you can buy on the market, is the generic one all the other OEM uses, or the Noctua 92mm x 14mm.

Engineering wise, the NH-L9 is pretty simple. A fin-array and 2 heatpipes. Nothing fancy here to see. I know Scythe makes some pretty nice coolers as well, but their inferior mounting and fan options are areas for improvement.

All-in-all the NH-L9i is a great cooler because it does what it is supposed to do and has a great fan. Once you get above the 47mm reference height, then you start seeing some stiff competition.
 
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stree

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Dec 10, 2016
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Agree with Thehack there on the points made re fans and heatsinks..........
I am experimenting as follows:
I have a cheapo (ii5x) unit from PC-Cooler, model S-85, very small and low heatsink with raised sides, fan sits in the lowered section in the middle, total height only 27mm..........good for around 65TDP but gets noisy at top end.........after a while noisy most of the time........What do you expect for £12.00? This has now been in the bits box for 12 months or so.
Decided to find a fan to use with it........Settled on the fan from an Arctic Cooling Freezer 11 LP, size about right and from a 95TDP unit and noted for its silent running. So bought 2 from AC spares section.......Looks promising, will figure out a mounting and see how it goes........
Basic heatsink and decent fan, what could go wrong ???? ( soon find out.................)
PS: total height of this unholy marriage is 53mm, so not too bad..
 

Josh | NFC

Not From Concentrate
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Jun 12, 2015
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Thanks Josh for this video.

I like the Scythe Kozuti myself, which has a very effective design and is less expensive than the Noctua.
However, even if its 80x10mm fan is pretty silent, Noctua 92mm fan still sounds smoother, especially when ramping up.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1209-page1.html

I love this cooler too and use it often. It does not fit in the S4 MINI, however, and that is why it was not included in the list. If you have the room I definitely second the recommendation!!!

Although it does have fitment issues with some ram on mini itx boards.

Thanks for watching!!!
 

zovc

King of Cable Management
Jan 5, 2017
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Hasn't it been shown that the Dynatron T318 with the L9i fan is superior to the stock L9i?

Has it been shown?

Just glancing at that CPU it doesn't seem like it's designed to accept a fan, and it doesn't explicitly say that it fits 1150 or 1151.