Alpha heatsink without a fan w/new rear fan mount.

[Bluefront]

I picked up an Alpha heatsink on clearance at CompUSA....model PAL8942. Right now I'm running a Celeron 2.0 on a Gigabyte board. I'm not overclocked...running stock. I'm wondering if I could run this Celeron without a fan on the CPU. I'd use the rear 80mm case fan and direct it's airflow by a shroud directly onto the heatsink. That way I could eliminate one fan...less noise. Seems to me some Dells have a setup similar to this....ideas?

 

[chizow]

??? CompUSSR sells Alpha heatsinks??? My CompUSSR only sells PCToys stuff that looks like Zalman stuff. :|

Btw, how much was it on clearance? Need a 2nd good HSF for my other rig.

You could probably get away with it, just keep an eye on your temps. Cellies have CPU throttling right? Its worth a shot, but you might be better off with a 2000rpm ~20CFM Panaflo for a quiet rig.

Chiz

 

[Bluefront]

It was $19. It was over $40 normally. The Dells I've seen with that setup run real quiet.

They had one left at that price (Friday)....CompUSA Crestwood, Mo.

 

[Pothead]

You have to remember that Dell uses a 92mm NMB case fan (quieter and moves out air better). If you looking for a quiet rig, throw on a Papst 12dba fan. I have an alpha on my p4 1.8 @2.3. I tried it with a Papst but ended with a panaflo l1a, 21dba, fan. Rig is as quiet as my other 3 dell systems.

 

[Jhhnn]

If you really want to try the ducting method, leave the shroud on the Alpha, build a tight fitting duct so that the rear fan pulls air thru the sink, exhausts it out of the case.... Alphas are supposed to work that way, and you'll get double duty from the fan. I have an overclocked p3-550 w/ alpha 6035 set up like that, it's worked perfect for years... I also have an Athlon XP1700 w/ 8045 and silencer fan set up similarly, except the fan is ducted straight out the side of the box, with the rear fan mount blocked off...

If your case has large unobstructed front or lower side air intake areas, you probably don't need a front fan at all....

 

[RalfHutter]

You should easily be able to run that Celly with a Panaflo L1A on the 8942. This is a very quiet fan. It may very well work fine if it was 7-volted. I'm using an L1A on my 8942 to cool my P4 2.66 running at 3.0Ghz.

 

[Bluefront]

Thanks for the feed-back. According to the directions, you are supposed to blow air away from the heatsink.....but I'll probably try reversing the direction. Blow cool air from the rear case fan onto the heatsink through a shroud. Seems to me the CPU would benefit heat-wise with outside air blowing directly onto the heatsink.

Too bad I have to remove the motherboard to mount this heatsink.....:frown:

 

[Lizardman]

Originally posted by: chizow
??? CompUSSR sells Alpha heatsinks??? My CompUSSR only sells PCToys stuff that looks like Zalman stuff. :|

That is Zalman Stuff. So if the price is right get some.

 

[RalfHutter]

Originally posted by: Bluefront
Thanks for the feed-back. According to the directions, you are supposed to blow air away from the heatsink.....but I'll probably try reversing the direction. Blow cool air from the rear case fan onto the heatsink through a shroud. Seems to me the CPU would benefit heat-wise with outside air blowing directly onto the heatsink.

Too bad I have to remove the motherboard to mount this heatsink.....:frown:

Try running the fan both directions and check your temps. Most of the time you will get lower temps from an Alpha HS by sucking air off the CPU. That's how it's designed to work. YMMV though.

 

[D1vine]

Originally posted by: Bluefront
Thanks for the feed-back. According to the directions, you are supposed to blow air away from the heatsink.....but I'll probably try reversing the direction. Blow cool air from the rear case fan onto the heatsink through a shroud. Seems to me the CPU would benefit heat-wise with outside air blowing directly onto the heatsink.

Too bad I have to remove the motherboard to mount this heatsink.....:frown:

NEVER blow air ONTO the CPU.
HSF's are designed to work in an exhaust fashion pulling the hot air off the cpu through the HS either by direct fan or by ducting.
If you blow air ONTO the CPU you basically create an air pocket of warm and hot air insulating the CPU in a pocket of hot air. You may not fry it off the bat but you'll definitely end up frying it eventually.

FYI

EDIT: I'm a fscking moron. Forget everything I just said.

 

[Bluefront]

Well now that's a new one on me.....Every computer I've built so far, at least 20, has had the cpu fan blowing onto the heatsink. That's the way this particular celeron was configured, straight from Intel. The stock setup blows air onto the heatsink. Where did you find this thing about a stagnant air pocket?

 

[D1vine]

Originally posted by: Bluefront
Well now that's a new one on me.....Every computer I've built so far, at least 20, has had the cpu fan blowing onto the heatsink. That's the way this particular celeron was configured, straight from Intel. The stock setup blows air onto the heatsink. Where did you find this thing about a stagnant air pocket?

Ok forget everything i just said. Self induced dislexia (sp).

I just got my ass handed to me (figuratively) and you're right.

 

[SWScorch]

hehe @ divine. We've all gotten mixed up before. And I've made a bigger ass out of myself before than you just did... (how does defending VIA in the days of the 440BX sound? )

As for heatsinks and fan direction, Alphas tend to run better with the fan sucking air out of the heatsink, although right now I am using your theory, and have a 92mm Panaflo fan set as an intake, with a shroud over the heatsink, and it is in effect acting as the CPU fan. Works quite well.

Anyway, on the topic of PCToys, I know the guy who started that company; he works for Coolerguys and he's a great guy. I almost came up with the slogan for the company, but alas, they chose another one.

 

[muddocktor]

D1vine, you might have made an ass out of yourself, but in the case of the Alpha heatsinks you are right. They are designed to suck air through the heatsink according to Alpha Novatech, not blow air into the heatsink. With that said, try it both ways and see which way works best for your situation and run it accordingly, Bluefront. I have an Alpha PAL 8045 and an Alpha PEP66 and I've found that it's best to experiment with the airflow direction on them.

 

[D1vine]

Well i definitely made an ass out of myself but i did manage to fry my Athlon XP 1800 one of these ways (sucking or blowing) a few months ago. Now the problem is i can't remember which way i had the heatsink on at the time (i had a Volcano 9 and have since switched to an Alpha).

 

[Nardman]

Originally posted by: SWScorch

how does defending VIA in the days of the 440BX sound?

ouch brudda

Guess that goes to show that everyone makes mistakes

YEHAR!

 

[Nardman]

Originally posted by: D1vine
Well i definitely made an ass out of myself but i did manage to fry my Athlon XP 1800 one of these ways (sucking or blowing) a few months ago. Now the problem is i can't remember which way i had the heatsink on at the time (i had a Volcano 9 and have since switched to an Alpha).

Sounds to me like your HSF wasn't contacting the core correctly...if fan direction alone killed your processor then you are living way too close to the edge as far as heat goes on your processor to begin with. Fan direction should only change processor temps by 5c MAX, that'd mean that you were running your processor above 65c to beging with....don't do that. I'd be a little more careful with HSF installation on your next processor.

 

[Bluefront]

OK...Here's an update on my Alpha setup. The Celeron 2.0 is now running with the Alpha only....no attached fan. Amazing....my idle temp is now around 26c. Under load I've only seen a high of about 36c.

I'm using the rear case fan to blow cool air directly on the Alpha, by means of a shroud. This fan is mounted somewhat differently from normal. I cut the fan motor and blades out of two old 80mm fans. Used the shells as spacers so the rear fan is mounted more toward the center of the case, with a short shroud directing the airflow right on the Alpha.

The end result of this setup is one less fan, 1/3 less noise, a 7c drop in idle temps, about the same drop in load temps. Mounting the rear fan further inside the case also lessened the noise. This has to be my most successful mod ever.....what a hoot!

 

[RalfHutter]

Verrry nice dude! Got any pics?

 

[Bluefront]

Sorry no pics yet. I'm still working on different quieting methods.