View Full Version : Making a Thermalright Ultra Extreme competitive with a Zalman 9700 NT
WonderSausage
06-30-2008, 05:55 PM
Ha, thought I was trolling didn't you, actually I'm serious.
There is no question that the TRUE is a better high-performance heatsink than the Zalman 9700 NT, but it doesn't replace the 9700 in the systems I build and recommend, because the 9700 is a great all-rounder. It's dead quiet at low CPu load, and yet provides great cooling at high load. The secret to the 9700's success is the perfectly-tuned variable fan speed controlled by 4-pin PWM.
The problem with the TRUE in this context is that I haven't been able to find a decent 120mm PWM fan that works at a similar noise/performance curve to the Zalman. There is a very small selection of 120mm PWM fans and virtually none by name-brands. Petra's and Sidewinder don't even carry a single model.
I have 3 or 4 brands of 120mm PWM fan but all of them are either too noisy at idle, or don't provide enough airflow at full load (i.e. they don't match the Intel chipset PWM power curve).
Has anybody had success iwth a particular make/model of PWM fan on the TRUE, matching the range of a Zalman 9700 NT?
Spawne32
06-30-2008, 06:07 PM
Well im not really sure that you can make a Zalman 9700 competitive with a TRUE because its limited by the fan design. Personally i think your better off sticking with your Ultra 120 Extreme as the fans are interchangable with most good fans ranging from 120x15 to 120x38 most of which have 3 pin headers which work fantastic with the onboard speed controls. I myself like the yateloons the best but i dont see how you would fit that to a zalman and even then, it still wouldnt compete with the TRUE just because of how its designed.
WonderSausage
06-30-2008, 07:23 PM
Uh, dude, I don't think you read my post :)
Spawne32
06-30-2008, 07:43 PM
Uh, dude, I don't think you read my post :)
What post? http://smiliesftw.com/x/cookiemonster2.gif (http://smiliesftw.com)
Retro
06-30-2008, 07:46 PM
What post? http://smiliesftw.com/x/cookiemonster2.gif (http://smiliesftw.com)
:rofl:
Chewbenator
06-30-2008, 08:12 PM
I'd take the Zerotherm BTF90 over the Zalman any day in terms of a fixed fan solution. I have enough air heatsinks that I won't have to buy another till I get a computer with new mounting holes (Nehalem? first one is going to be under water). But, I'd like to try out one of those newfangled open heat-pipe coolers as they seem cheaper, easier to change the fans, and better than the 9700.
Vapor
06-30-2008, 09:23 PM
I'm a little surprised that no one has pointed this out....
Take the 9700NT. Put the fan at the low setting. Then MATCH that noise output with best fan you can find (probably ~1000-1200RPM?)...let's say an S-Flex E.
Put THAT fan on the TRUE and run tests. Then compare those results with the 9700NT at HIGH speed. Does the TRUE not win? Or are we on stock clocked dual cores here?
cabbspapp
06-30-2008, 09:35 PM
TRUE's are safer too. I've cut myself several times on my 9700 without noticing, until my hand was bloody.
WonderSausage
06-30-2008, 10:01 PM
I'm a little surprised that no one has pointed this out....
Take the 9700NT. Put the fan at the low setting. Then MATCH that noise output with best fan you can find (probably ~1000-1200RPM?)...let's say an S-Flex E.
Put THAT fan on the TRUE and run tests. Then compare those results with the 9700NT at HIGH speed. Does the TRUE not win? Or are we on stock clocked dual cores here?
Well naturally that sort of comprehensive test would work, but that's the equivalent of telling someone who asked for motherboard advice to go buy all of them and do a comparative analysis.
Besides, obviously I wasn't clear in my OP, the point here is to find a 120mm PWM fan that can deliver the same flexible range of CFM/noise ratio as the 9700. I already said that the TRUE obviously is superior at high CFM.
WonderSausage
06-30-2008, 10:03 PM
TRUE's are safer too. I've cut myself several times on my 9700 without noticing, until my hand was bloody.
How exactly is an unguarded 120mm fan safer than an unguarded 92mm fan?
Or did you mean to say that a TRUE is safer (for yoU) because in your case, you put a wire fan guard on the 120mm before attaching it to the TRUE?
Vapor
06-30-2008, 10:08 PM
He's talking about the metal fins. I've been cut by both...no fun.
The PWM fan market really hasn't developed TBH. It might be worth it to try a few non-PWM fans on the motherboard headers and see how they fare?
i dont really se the point actually. If u can have the same cooling on the true as with the 9700fan at full speed, but with the same noise as the 9700fan at low speed. What would u want the 9700for then?
Anyways. Plug the true fan on the motherboard header and just use speedfan to control the speed. or u can use an 3,5"/5,25" bay fancontroller, or u can use: this (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=190886), or a zlaman fan mate2: link (http://www.petrastechshop.com/zafanma2fans.html), or maybe this is the best option for u: sunbeam pci fan controller (http://www.xoxide.com/sunbeam-pci-fan-controller.html), or this similar one: evercool pci fan controller (http://www.xoxide.com/evercool-pci-fanspeed-control.html), another simila one, but only goes down to 7v:Noseblocker pci fan controller (http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/products_id/2207)
No?
cabbspapp
07-02-2008, 08:45 PM
How exactly is an unguarded 120mm fan safer than an unguarded 92mm fan?
Or did you mean to say that a TRUE is safer (for yoU) because in your case, you put a wire fan guard on the 120mm before attaching it to the TRUE?
The fins on the 9700 are much thinner than the TRUE's fins. The cuts from one have made my finger look like a hot dog lol.
It's a good cooler, it just kinda annoyed me that I kept cutting myself on it without realizing it.
Jsunn
07-03-2008, 08:49 AM
TRUE's are safer too. I've cut myself several times on my 9700 without noticing, until my hand was bloody.
Me too...Damn they are sharp!
-Jsunn
9700NT's fan is really quite when set on <1400RPM, I found Xilence 120mm LED fan to be really good.
http://www.watercoolingshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=686
It's exactly 1400RPM and it's reeealy quiet, and I really mean it, I got myself 3 fans and all of them are almost silent, can't hear em at all from more then 15-20cm, and the airflow is pretty good, you can feel the cool air from like ~35cm from it or soo, pretty good airflow imo.
So take a look.
In my experience with Zalman (the CNPS9500) fan is very quiet at low speed but insanely loud at high speed. There are better fans available, the S-Flex E being one of them, or Noctuas are dead silent as well even at full speed. I run Yate Loon low speed fans at full and my PC is very quiet even with two of them and a Vantec Stealth fan in there.
The TRUE is just a better cooler.