Please help me pick a heatsink for my particular case + MOBO workstation combination --Image + Links included

[WHATif]

Please view this image to get an idea of some of my questions Thanks

Link to the image with explanation

Ok I have ordered Silverstone Tj07 case Link to the case specs and Tyan Thunder K8WE dual core Opteron MOBO Link to the MOBO specs . I will be putting 2 Opteron 285s in it and a Quadro 4500fx graphic card. I need to decide a heatsink for this workstation and I can't come to a final decision :-(

Here are all the heatsinks Tyan reccomends for my MOBO and they all seem weak to me!

*) AVC Z7U7414001 Link to the heatsink

*) Cooler Master S3K-8FIHC-04-GP Link to the heatsink

*) Dynatron A23 Link to the heatsink

*) Thermal Take A1838 (only full copper one) Link to the heatsink

Questions

1) From the Tyan list only Thermal Take A1838 seems half decent. You think it's a good heatsink?

2) I was thinking of Zalman 9500 but I am not sure it will work with my cases airflow design as the rear fans on my case are intake fans and not exahaust fans. Can I install the Zalman 9500 so that it throws hot exhaust air toward the top of the case instead of the rear? Even if I could install it that way I guess it would not be ideal as it would suck hot air from the video card instead of sucking fresh air?

3) Any other air cooled heatsink you can suggest? That will fit in that MOBO and not block RAM slots or be too heavy?

4) I will be adding a 120mm fan at the front of the case. One of these.Based on the other fans and the heatsink you reccomend would it be better to make it an INTAKE OR EXHAUST fan?

Any advice would be appreciated as I keep going round in circles and I have read all the reviews everywhere including the sticky ones on top.

 

[TheRyuu]

Will the Scyth Ninja fit?

 

[WHATif]

wizboy no idea mate and I don't know how I can confirm if a particular heatsink will fit or not. Plus it looks like it would break the MOBO in half I would preffer one that came with the fan attached. Ninja's fan clipping seems fiddly to me.

 

[lifeguard1999]

Several comments:

1) You can always reverse the fans so that they blow out instead of in.

2) Dell is using heatsinks that look like the Noctua NH-U12 Tower Heatsinks on their Precision 670, which is similar to the Scythe Ninja.

3) AMD's stock heatpipe heatsink is no slouch.

"Despite the massive amount of processing power which two dual-core Opteron processors are capable of, these chips put out surprisingly small amounts of heat. All of the coolers in our shootout, ranging from the freebie AMD retail cooler to the high-end Zalman and Swiftech units, were able to run in a closed case environment with their fans at 5V (lowest) levels, and maintain respectable temperatures all around. "

GamePC review of stock AMD heatsink, Zalman CNPS7700, & Zalman CNPS9500

They say that the Zalman 7700 fits the Tyan Thunder K8WE.

 

[Jhhnn]

The zalman 9500 can be installed to push air in any of four directions. See the installation video here, pay close attention at the beginning when the crossbar installation is shown-

http://www.sharkacomputers.com/zacn95ledcpu.html

Order the black replacement fans if you don't want the led fans...

The heatpipe sinks on the retail version of the opterons are supposedly excellent- I'd start there. It's not like the price difference between oem and retail means much at the level of a $1200 cpu...

 

[WHATif]

So if I get the Zalman 9500 should I make it face upwards? ie the exhause from the 9500 goes toward the 2x 120mm fans at the top of the case? The front fan I will make intake fan. Fresh air will come in from the back and front of the case and leave from the top of the case. Does that sound ok? Is the black faned Zalman 9500 exactly same as the Led one? The reason I ask is because Zalman does not lists the black one under AMD socket 940 mobos and only under Intel socket ones.

Yes I read about the stock Opteron heatsinks. It's my 1st ever self build so I would preffer to use one heatsink and not experiment too much ie use one then remove and put another one etc etc.

>They say that the Zalman 7700 fits the Tyan Thunder K8WE.

Yes but it blocks the RAM slots. MY friend is using it on the K8WE.

 

[WHATif]

Anyone else?

 

[fire4effect]

I am also in the process of building a Tyan S2895 with Opteron 280s.
The fan connetors and CPU coolers have been one of the most difficult aspects to figure out. Tyan's tech support was of no help since they directed me to the wrong fans and couldn't provide any information on CPU or case fans for the S2895 connectors. Here's what I dug up:

The 4-pin fan connectors on the S2895 shouldn't be confused with the usual 4-pin or 3-pin power connectors on case fans or CPU fans. The S2895 connectors are for specially made fans that can take pulse width modulated (PWM) fans. PWM fan control is originally an intel spec for 775 series motherboards, but some makers of AMD boards like Tyan appear to be adopting the standard (good thing). With PWM controlled fans, there is no need of additional fan controllers, temp adjusting, and wiring. Just plug and go. The motherboard watches temps and controls the fans.

Regular 3-pin case and CPU fans can be connected but you lose motherboard control of the fans, which run full blast all the time. It is difficult to determine by reading through various fan specs if 4-pin fan connectors are the usual 4-pin power supply connectors, or for 4-pin PWM control.

Of the 4 CPU heatsink recommendations by Tyan for the S2895, only the Cooler Master S3K-8FIHC-04-GP appears to have a PWM controlled fan. The others have 3 wire fans.
The Cooler Master with 4 heat pipes, PWM control, and a copper base appears to me to be the best choice. Only place I was able to find one was at OrbitMicro. I got the weak AVC Z7U7414001 cooler packaged with my Opteron 280s.

There are other Cooler Master coolers that appear the same, but are for highend Athlon CPUs (CMHK8-8I22A-A2). Instead of PWM control, these coolers have a heat sensor built into the fan frame that directly controls fan speed. These don't appear to me to be a good method of detecting CPU temperature, as the heat has to soak through the fins to the fan to be measured.

An effective CPU cooler outside of Tyan recommendations is the CNPS9500. There are 2 versions of this, the 9500LED which has the usual 3 wire fan and can attach to Opteron CPUs, and the 9500AT which has the 4-pin PWM fan but lacks the brackets for attaching to an Opteron, since it is for an intel 775 motherboard. I have emailed Zalman requesting the addition of brackets to attach the 9500AT to AMD CPUs.

The S2895 has 6 fan connectors, so there are another 4 connectors for direct control of PWM case fans. The best source of PWM case fans appears to be JMC Products. I found my 120mm PWM fans at performance-pc.

Good hunting.