Scythe ninja or si-120?

[ziplocpicker]

I'm building a completely new system with an opteron 144 (cac2e stepping from Tankguys. The other vendors are just too overpriced.) and a DFI nF4 ultra-D. Needless to say, i plan to OC it.

Question is, should i use the Scythe Ninja or the Thermalright Si-120 I've heard great things about the first two and i'm pretty sure they're compatible with the mobo but i dunno which is better. Quieter is better, but performance is more important. I've read tons of reviews about the two, but they seem to be about the same.

Anyone with personal experience recommend one or the other? Also, what is a good 120mm fan to use?

 

[TheRyuu]

I got an SI-120, didn't use it yet, but it looks cool. (and is bigger in person)

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

If you want real quiet go for the Ninja.

If you are going to OC go for the SI-120 because the discharge air will cool the RAM,
MOSFETs, and board capacitors. With the right fan and fan control it can get close to
the Ninja for quiet, plus it will fit all current boards/chips.


...Galvanized

 

[ziplocpicker]

Nice. I completely forgot about the additional cooling. I'm assuming the fan would need to mounted so that it blows air downward then, right?

Also, what is a good quality, quiet 120mm fan? I've heard good things about panaflo and nexus. Does anyone recommend anything in particular or are they pretty much the same?

 

[Ping to the Pong]

i would go for the Ninja. From all the constant threads about which is the best, it always seems that it comes down to the TT Big Typhoon, Zalman9500 and the Scythe Ninja. All these coolers seems to perform basically the same or with a degree or two with the Ninja being the frontrunner. Also, its the cheapest out of all these coolers including the Si-120.

Panaflos and Nexus fans are not the same fans and they are used for different setups. Nexus fans are one of the quietest fans you can get, but they dont blow that much air. Panaflos are one of the most efficient fans based on noise and CFM rating and come in a variety of speeds.

For me i like quiet, so my recommendation would be the Ninja and Nexus fan

 

[Elfear]

For a good fan I recommend getting either a Sanyo Denki or a Panaflo in the 38mm thick flavor. Both are excellent fans that can push the cfm at decent dbs. Just hook it up to a fan controller if you want silence.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: Elfear
For a good fan I recommend getting either a Sanyo Denki or a Panaflo in the 38mm thick flavor. Both are excellent fans that can push the cfm at decent dbs. Just hook it up to a fan controller if you want silence.

Sanyo Denki and Delta Triple Blade fans are nice...

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/index.html Go here. Look at the Akasa 120x25.
It's a light weight, high quality ball bearing fan that will give you just enough air=44cfm.
It has a tach/sensor wire. It's 18dBA.

If you wish to have a little more cfm for OCing, look at the Delta Triple Blade 120x25.
It's light, high quality ball bearings, has a sensor/tach wire, produces 57cfm.

I would go with the SI-120 and the DTB fan.

The Typhoon needs air...Lots of it. It's tall and heavy.
The Ninja needs little air but is tall and heavy.
The Zalman 9500 is VG but is a pita to mod in a differant fan if you ever have to change
it out. It also is tall and heavy.

The above is just my personal opinion. I have a Zalman 7000 and XP-90C with DTB 92x38@57cfm.


...Galvanized

 

[kruull]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/index.html Go here. Look at the Akasa 120x25.
It's a light weight, high quality ball bearing fan that will give you just enough air=44cfm.
It has a tach/sensor wire. It's 18dBA.

If you wish to have a little more cfm for OCing, look at the Delta Triple Blade 120x25.
It's light, high quality ball bearings, has a sensor/tach wire, produces 57cfm.

I would go with the SI-120 and the DTB fan.

The Typhoon needs air...Lots of it. It's tall and heavy.
The Ninja needs little air but is tall and heavy.
The Zalman 9500 is VG but is a pita to mod in a differant fan if you ever have to change
it out. It also is tall and heavy.

The above is just my personal opinion. I have a Zalman 7000 and XP-90C with DTB 92x38@57cfm.


...Galvanized

I wouldnt sy that Zalman 9500 is heavy - 530g and do not forget that the fan is allready included! The Ninja is heavier + cound the fan (cca 120g) + its taller so puts a bit mare pressure onto the board. I have currently a Primecooler HC4 which is actually a Zalman 7700Cu - it has !900g! but as its only 7cm high the prussure is find - at least i didnt recognize any problems transporting my case with the HSF mounted.
+ just to the fans: buy a Primecooler - any 12cm - 74CFM@24dB (no Nexus can beat that) and set it to medium or if going lownoise i would recommend an Akasa Pax Power Ultra Quiet Fan - 54CFM@18dB

 

[kalrith]

I would go with the Scythe Ninja if you're concerned about noise. I just installed one last night, and while running Prime I noticed no temperature difference between running my fan at full speed (rated at 69CFM) and running at half-speed. This reduced my load temps by a full 23 degrees celcius (from the stock hsf)! Actually, running the cooler fanless only increased the temp 10 degrees, which was still 13 degrees cooler than the stock hsf.

 

[ziplocpicker]

Does anyone know if the air running through the case is enough to cool the MOSFETS and other components taxed by OCing? I'm tending towards the Si-120 right now but it's still pretty much in the air.

Also, do you think two case fans running at 32 CFM would be enough case ventilation? These are not the fans i plan on placing on the HSF. I think i'll get a ~60 CFM one for that.

 

[klnyc]

I'll take SI-120, see if you take the Ninja make sure your CPU isnt too high on top. If it is....... think you will have problem fitting the Ninja. Due to the massive size.

 

[ziplocpicker]

I ended up getting the SI-120 because of the reasons Galvanized posted. The difference in temps between the Thermalright and the Scythe were negligible.

Thanks for the link to sidewinder. Those Akasa are really amazing, i dunno why i've never seen them anywhere else. Just ordered 3 of them.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Kewl !!

After you have the Akasa fans for awhile, please come back and post about them.

I'm very impressed with *quality* ball bearing fans=Delta Triples and Sanyo Denki.

The Akasas got VG reviews in the UK comp press. There is a link in the Akasa thread and

I'll find it.....Give it a bump


...Galvanized

 

[Apocalypse23]

I'm also looking to go for the SI 120 , but am confused as to which fan to buy. I'll be shopping from ncix.com, but id appreciate some advice for a good 120 mm fan. Im looking at Panaflow, Vantec , nothing orange in color tho . I've gotten sick of using my 92 mm vantec tornado, the thing is toooo loud , but id like something that pushes enough air for ocing and makes just the right noise i can bear with. THanks

 

[ziplocpicker]

The SI-120s don't need that much air (from what I've read, not from experience). Any 120mm with ~50-60 CFM should be able to do it. Thermalright recommends the Panaflo ultra quiet which runs at 68.9 CFM and 30 dB so that can't be bad. I'm sure you can search around and find some good fans. The posts at the top of this thread have some nice suggestions.

If you change your mind about where to shop, sidewinder, svc, and jab-tech are pretty good stores.

 

[anandtechrocks]

I say forget the SI-120 and get an XP-90 for $10-20 bucks less. My SI-120 performs exactly the same as my XP-90, but is heavier, larger, and uses a slightly quieter fan (but still has the same CFM ratting.)

 

[Apocalypse23]

problem is that i have an antec sonata II case, and Im using the air ducts with 2 fans installed, with the stock heatsink and fan for the 3000+. Im getting normal temps, 33-34 idle and 33-35 load. So Im wondering if the si 120 would fit with the 120 mm fan along with the airduct installed.....

ps - i have it overclocked also