Clayton said:
I want to replace the stock Intel HSF with something quiet, has copper heat
pipes and fan with 4 pin, what is the best? the Intel one supplied with the
CPU is far to noisy and is only aluminium, I hear copper is better for the
heat than aluminium is
The fluid in the heat pipes is hundreds of times more effective at moving
heat, than just metal. The heatpipe(s) should be as close as possible to the
top of the chip package, so they can directly carry the heat from there,
into the fins. Heatpipes are a means, to make distant fins as
effective as if they were right on top of the lid. Normally, the
spread of heat in a solid chunk of metal, reduces the effectiveness
of fins that are a distance from the heat source. With heatpipes at
work, an aluminum fin can be almost as good as a copper one, especially
if the fin is not that tall to begin with. (A tall fin would rely on
the conduction properties of the fin moreso than a less-tall fin.)
The only downside of heat pipes, is they can fail. For example, there is a
tiny quantity of fluid inside the heat pipe, and if that leaves the pipe
for any reason, the pipe is then just a piece of metal. Which is why
it is good if the cooler design uses more than one pipe - if one pipe
fails, you still get some cooling effect from the remaining pipes.
This one has a four pin fan on it, at least as depicted in the
installation manual. There may be others with four pin fans.
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/view.asp?idx=231&code=009
The diameter of the cooler is such, that it can bump into the
power supply, if it is turned a certain way. The compatibility
page demonstrates the kind of gap that should exist, between the
bottom surface of the power supply, and the upper edge of the
motherboard. Since your system is already assembled, it should be
pretty easy to check the clearance between the power supply
bottom surface, and the edge of the motherboard. (In using this
link, my assumption is the 9500AT and the 9700NT have the same
dimensions. Actually, when I look at the 9500 AT installation
manual, it has a four pin connector on the fan as well.)
(9500 AT page - where I got the second link)
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/view.asp?idx=193&code=009
(9500 compatibility page)
http://www.zalman.co.kr/product/cooler/9500_LED_775_eng.html
Paul