ThermalRight XP-90

-mogwai · Post by **-mogwai** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:00 am

hehe, now you guys see my dilemma? i can totally see both sides, here. quiet badass aircooling or good watercooling for extra? it could be debated both ways... that's why i asked you guys about it (you know more than i do).

here is the review that i saw that actually made me consider the kingwin awc-1.... http://www.cluboc.net/reviews/super_coo ... ler/p4.htm

also, i think i saw them for pretty cheap on ebay...

part of what i was thinking, also, was whether or not i could use the watercooling kit in the future on an upgrade (whether i go amd or a different p4 chipset).

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:11 am

I will recommend nothing but Thermalright when it comes to air cooling, just simply way better than anything else out there.
Think about this, with a good heat sink and fan you are looking at about $65 (Including tax or shipping).
Look into that Cooler Master Mini, in MaxPC's testing it had the best idle temps and best overclock, for $100 you would have an easy to assemble, great cooling system.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:15 am

audiophile wrote: part of what i was thinking, also, was whether or not i could use the watercooling kit in the future on an upgrade (whether i go amd or a different p4 chipset).

Cooler Master Mini specs
Universal retention module for Intel® Pentium® 4 (Socket 478/LGA 775), Xeon® (Socket 603/604),Celeron® (Socket 478), Celeron® D Socket 478/LGA775), AMD Sempron™ (Socket A/754), Athlon™ XP (Socket A), and Athlon™ 64 (Socket 754/939/940) processors.

-mogwai · Post by **-mogwai** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:38 am

what's better, the coolermaster joint or the kingwin? why?

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Mon May 02, 2005 1:29 pm

The Kingwin has the ability to add on things like GFX blocks and chipset blocks, two things I don't do because the cooling for them has sreally improved over the last year and the heat they introduce into a small loop really hurts performance.
The Cooler Master is much smaller, which means it won't interfere with anything else in your case or reduce the air flow. I also like Cooler Master as a company, they make quality products and I have never had an issue with a Cooler Master product I have owned or tested, on the other hand, I have never used Kingwin, so I can't comment one way or the other.
It should come down to price, how much you want to spend, and what you want to do with it. If you have good case flow and no issues with your chipset and video card, then the Cooler Master should be fine. If you want to add blocks, you may want to see if the Kingwin allows you to do that.

-mogwai · Post by **-mogwai** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:47 pm

nice review.

my case = thermaltake tsunami dream

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Mon May 02, 2005 4:06 pm

The Thermaltake Tsunami has pretty good air flow with the 120mm fans in front and back, that being said, everything else in your case should be fine air cooled. I'd personally go with the Cooler Master mini in your specific case.

-mogwai · Post by **-mogwai** » Mon May 02, 2005 4:14 pm

it looks difficult to install... would it be easy to **** up?

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Mon May 02, 2005 4:20 pm

This months Max PC said it was the easiest to install of the four systems they used, taking about 20 minutes...then again, they said the Corsair rig took about 2 hours, and it took me 40 minutes with no instructions...so go figure. It seems to be an incredibly easy setup.

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Mon May 02, 2005 4:34 pm

i dont know about that when i put my hand infront of his case with the door closed it seemed very restrictive, it does have a 120 on the back and a 120 on the door, wich helps. I think if you can swing the price then water is a good idea rather then rely on just fans alone.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Mon May 02, 2005 4:39 pm

no, it moves adequate air to cool the other components if he wants to use that Cooler Master weater cooler.

-mogwai · Post by **-mogwai** » Mon May 02, 2005 4:59 pm

would it be ok to transport it or do i danger busting a hose off and getting all my stuff wet?

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Mon May 02, 2005 5:19 pm

it says its a closed loop system, no filling or changing. cooling levels a tad better than high end air with a high flow fan on low, and really decent on high..

-mogwai · Post by **-mogwai** » Fri May 06, 2005 7:38 pm

*sigh* at the moment, my cpu is running at 69C, according to abit eq

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Fri May 06, 2005 7:52 pm

youch! thats hot even at full load none of my cpus run over 55c not even the Extreme Edition.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Fri May 06, 2005 11:14 pm

might want to check the heat sink and make sure its seated right and has enough thermal paste....thats too hot. are you running it at stock specs or are you overclocked at all?

-mogwai · Post by **-mogwai** » Fri May 06, 2005 11:42 pm

stock specs.... and my heatsink is seated right. i only put a pea sized amount of paste on the cpu heatspreader. i'm thinking that it might have to do with dust. tomorrow, i'm gonna buy an air duster and dust this bad boy out.

-mogwai · Post by **-mogwai** » Sat May 07, 2005 11:05 pm

so, i dusted it all out and i'm still kinda high on the temp scale.... 62.5C.... not exactly 30C, but it's better than 69C

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Sun May 08, 2005 3:13 am

Yeah a good can of airduster is a must have, i have seen as much as a 10c drop in temps just by cleaning out my heatsinks.

-mogwai · Post by **-mogwai** » Sun May 08, 2005 6:26 am

yeah. i was sitting here thinking "dammit, why's it so high?" and then i realized that it probably needed to be cleaned. then, i remembered you saying at the seminar that just by cleaning the heatsink, some people experience a 10C degree drop.