Decent Fans

[Mercutio]

Simple question: What's a decent HSF combo in the $10 - $20 range for an AMD chip?

Mostly I buy retail chips, and when I don't, I pick up $7 Cooler Master combos.

So what's better?

 

[blakerwry]

cooler master isn't that bad actually...


But I prefer thermaltake's stuff... I don't know how much their stuff runs for locally, but there are a decent number of distributors that sell their merchandise for a resonable price.

Their volcano series is for k7's and they are introducing the Venus series for K8

http://www.thermaltake.com/products/k7&370MenuR.htm


http://www.thermaltake.com/products/VenusMenuR.htm

 

[CougTek]

I have started to see this unit on my pricelists. Haven't tried it yet, but the three-notch clip is a plus IMO. Only 22$CDN here, so you should be able to find it for ~15U$ or less. Not too loud and relatively light so it should be a good all-around solution.

The Thermaltake Volcano 6Cu used to be a great value, but it's not aging and I wouldn't use it to cool off a >2100+ Athlon XP.

Although I'm unable to get them here, I'm quite curious about the Cooler Master CP5-6J31C. The fins aren't very thin, but the copper plate should make it a decent heatsink nonetheless. And not too noisy too. Their SP5-6G31C isn't recommended for higher than 2100+ Athlon XP, but Dan's Data (which is currently down ) found that it's a respectable cooler for mid-range Athlon CPUs. Too bad that Cooler Master doesn't make a SP5-6G31C with a cooper plate on the bottom. That would be a great heatsink.

 

[Mercutio]

Ended up buying a small assortment of fans from newegg, including a thermaltake volcano unit, a YS Tech, and a large, low-rpm unit from a company I've never heard of, Speeze.

 

[blakerwry]

All kids love Speeze!
What rolls down stairs,
Alone or in pairs,
Rolls over your neighbours cheese?
What's great for a snack,
And fits on your back,
It's Speeze..Speeze..Speeze!!
It's Spe-eze, Spe-eze
It's big, it's heavy
It's Cheese!
It's Spe-eze, Spe-eze
It's better than bad
It's good!!!
Everyone want's a Speeze
You're gonna love it Speeze
Come on and get your Speeze
Everyone needs a Speeze
Speeze from Blammo!

 

[Mercutio]

[No message]

 

[LiamC]

Slightly different fan request. What would you recommend for top end Athlon that doesn't have a 7000rpm fan and doesn't bolt on? If you know that it is available in Aus that'd be a bonus. I'm thinking Thermaltake 7+ or 9....

 

[The JoJo]

I'm using an SLK-800 with a 19db Papst fan. Works great with an overclocked XP1800

 

[blakerwry]

I'd say either the 7 or the 9 would be fine... if you want to control fan speeds get the 7+ or the 9.

I don't know if you're concerned about weight.. i cant find the specs on the thermaltake website.. but the volcano 7 is AMD recommended.. the volcano 9 is probably too new to have been tested.

 

[Mercutio]

The Speeze wound up being best of the bunch. It doesn't cool quite as well as the Volcano 97, but it isn't quite as loud with the 7 at the "low" setting, and it cost about a third of what the 7 did as well. Good deal for a budget fan if it turns out to be a reliable unit.

 

[Mercutio]

That's a Speeze Model 5F263B1M3. I had to go look it up.

 

[blakerwry]

i have to laugh every time I read that song....


i'm glad the budget solution turned out to be the best.