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Passively cooling a pair of Pentium 3’s

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First post, by saturn

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I have a vp6 setup and I want it to be as silent as possible. Right now I have a noctua fan for intake and a passively cooled 6800 in the works.
But what about passively cooling my P3's ? it should not be hard even at 2v that sould be less then 40w if my math is right.
So what are my options? Newer chipset heatsinks? socket A/462 heatsink? I don't know of any pasive a/462 heatsinks, but I could remove the fan from a Cooler Master Hyper 6+ and use it, but I think it would be to big for the system. any ideas? I was thinking of this http://www.performance-pcs.com/new-logisys-nb … set-cooler.html or this http://www.performance-pcs.com/evercool-serpe … er.html#Details
However with them I might have to mod the base and make my own mounting clip. I can do that, but I rather not. I could use a Enzotech heatsink but I would have to either mod it or make my own mounting clip. That and they might not do to well. But they will not be to big.

What are you ideas?
The SilenX IXN-40c might work too.

Reply 2 of 23, by TELVM

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Piece of cake, to go passive with low TDP processors like PIII you just need decent CPU heatsinks and enough case ventilation.

You could use something like this thing, Arctic Cooling Copper 3. Just kick away the crappy fan and there'll be plenty of Al and Cu for passive.

copper_silent_3_g05.png

For the case a couple 120mm fans (one intake at front bottom and one extractor at top rear) spinning at low-mid rpm will be plenty enough. Noctuas are ghostly quiet.

Let the air flow!

Reply 4 of 23, by kanecvr

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Those AC3 socket a coolers are really quiet. Your case fans might be louder. I got two 1000 rpm 80mm fans myself and stuck them on top of two old titan socket a alu heat sinks. CPUs never go over 38c even in full load and the noisyest thing in my machine is the fan from the GF4 Ti.

Reply 5 of 23, by PCBONEZ

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saturn wrote:

I don't know if I have the air flow for that. I only have a 80mm intake and 2 60mm sucking air out. And I'm not getting a different case.

It's not that fan's diameter that matters, it's the CFM.
A quick check at one of my suppliers shows 12vdc 80mm fans can be anywhere from 20 CFM to 160 CFM.
So telling only the fan diameters doesn't tell anyone anything.
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Reply 6 of 23, by saturn

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PCBONEZ wrote:
It's not that fan's diameter that matters, it's the CFM. A quick check at one of my suppliers shows 12vdc 80mm fans can be anywh […]
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saturn wrote:

I don't know if I have the air flow for that. I only have a 80mm intake and 2 60mm sucking air out. And I'm not getting a different case.

It's not that fan's diameter that matters, it's the CFM.
A quick check at one of my suppliers shows 12vdc 80mm fans can be anywhere from 20 CFM to 160 CFM.
So telling only the fan diameters doesn't tell anyone anything.
.

True, but seeing that I'm trying to keep my system silent I would think most would guess that they don't more much.
I don't know what the 2 60mm fans push but in intake is a noctua nf-a8. I'm going to replace the 60mm fans with a pair of noctua nf-a6 fans.
From the looks of it, my best bet would be to get the beat 370/462 heat sink and kick the fan.
The Zalman CNPS6000 might be a good idea. Bit it might be abit too wide at the base.

Last edited by saturn on 2015-12-17, 01:34. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 7 of 23, by PCBONEZ

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Contrary to popular myth, passive CPU heatsinks still require fans. The fans just aren't -attached- to the heatsink.
You also need much bigger (higher capacity) or more fans to use passive heatsinks - so the system is inclined to be louder than using heatsinks with attached fans.
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I don't remember the fans exact specs but dual P3 servers using passive heatsinks usually had 2 to 4 fan fans - NOT counting the one in the PSU or those on the external plane of the case.
Those fans were internal between the drives and the CPUs (and blowing on the CPU heatsinks). They were high capacity and really loud.
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When I want it quiet I use fan adapters (the funnel shape things) so I can use 90/92 or 120 mm fans on the heatsinks.
I choose the CFM to meet or slightly beat the original fan's specs.
This way I get the same airflow with a fan that turns at a lower RPM - so it's quieter.
.

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Reply 8 of 23, by PCBONEZ

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PCBONEZ wrote:
When I want it quiet I use fan adapters (the funnel shape things) so I can use 90/92 or 120 mm fans on the heatsinks. I choose t […]
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When I want it quiet I use fan adapters (the funnel shape things) so I can use 90/92 or 120 mm fans on the heatsinks.
I choose the CFM to meet or slightly beat the original fan's specs.
This way I get the same airflow with a fan that turns at a lower RPM - so it's quieter.
.

They basically use that same idea on factory PSUs.
Those 120mm fans you see in PSUs rarely have more CFM than their 80mm counterparts (on a simialr wattage PSU) but they get that CFM using fans that turn slower - so they are quieter.
.

GRUMPY OLD FART - On Hiatus, sort'a
Mann-Made Global Warming. - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.

Reply 9 of 23, by saturn

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I thought about getting a heat sink that can take a 60mm fan so I can use nactua fans. I don't think I could fit 80mm fans were the CPUs are. The rear 60s and the gpu heatsink would get in the way.

Reply 10 of 23, by PCBONEZ

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saturn wrote:

I thought about getting a heat sink that can take a 60mm fan so I can use nactua fans. I don't think I could fit 80mm fans were the CPUs are. The rear 60s and the gpu heatsink would get in the way.

I've never been impressed with Noctua products. Their cost vs airflow made them not worth it.
Bear in mind I probably haven't looked Noctua products for 3 or 4 years so they may have gotten better.
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Just looking at photos of VP6 it looks to me like a pair of 80mm fans would be tight but would fit okay. Maybe even 92mm.
Mounts that rotate the fan a little would certainly help.
You will have to break out your ruler and measure to be sure though.
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Reply 12 of 23, by gdjacobs

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You can potentially do air path shaping using some homemade cardboard duct. This way you could utilize case fans for better airflow over the heatsinks.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 13 of 23, by saturn

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gdjacobs wrote:

You can potentially do air path shaping using some homemade cardboard duct. This way you could utilize case fans for better airflow over the heatsinks.

Why did I not think of that? Some air ducts would be nice idea. I don't Know how well it would do with the gpu.

Last edited by saturn on 2015-12-17, 02:18. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 14 of 23, by PCBONEZ

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gdjacobs wrote:

You can potentially do air path shaping using some homemade cardboard duct. This way you could utilize case fans for better airflow over the heatsinks.

A 3D printer would be nice for custom shrouds and fan adapters.
.

GRUMPY OLD FART - On Hiatus, sort'a
Mann-Made Global Warming. - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
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Reply 15 of 23, by saturn

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PCBONEZ wrote:
gdjacobs wrote:

You can potentially do air path shaping using some homemade cardboard duct. This way you could utilize case fans for better airflow over the heatsinks.

A 3D printer would be nice for custom shrouds and fan adapters.
.

Dang it now I wished I bought that 3D printer. 😒

Reply 16 of 23, by PCBONEZ

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Duct work is very often seen in servers that use passive heatsinks. It still requires 'more fan' to get the job done though.
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GRUMPY OLD FART - On Hiatus, sort'a
Mann-Made Global Warming. - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.

Reply 17 of 23, by saturn

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Keep in mind here that I'm dealing with 2 30w CPUs that will. It will not always be at full load. Even with my socket 7 heatsink and crappy 50mm fans I'm loading at 45c at 1.9v. Good passive heat sink and stock voltage will be more them good for me.

Last edited by saturn on 2015-12-17, 03:43. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 18 of 23, by PCBONEZ

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saturn wrote:

Keep in mind here that I'm dealing with 2 30w CPUs that will. It always be at full load. Even with my socket 7 heatsink and crappy 50mm fans I'm loading at 45c at 1.9v. Good passive heat sink and stock voltage will be more them good for me.

The max temp for a Tualatin 1.4GHz is 69°C so you are well within the spec even with those crappy fans.
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GRUMPY OLD FART - On Hiatus, sort'a
Mann-Made Global Warming. - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.

Reply 19 of 23, by PCBONEZ

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If you ever decide on a fan diameter let me know and I'll check my usual sources to see if there are any cream puffs.
Also need to know what the min airflow and max dBA you'd consider is.
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When I buy fans outright I usually get Sanyo Denki, Delta or Panasonic.
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Also if you are planning on a fan adapter make sure they even exist for the sizes you need.
Some sizes that should exist just don't.
.

GRUMPY OLD FART - On Hiatus, sort'a
Mann-Made Global Warming. - We should be more concerned about the Intellectual Climate.
You can teach a man to fish and feed him for life, but if he can't handle sushi you must also teach him to cook.

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