Small coolers, any good?

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Dirk Broer
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#1 Small coolers, any good?

Post by Dirk Broer »

When we discuss cooling here it is mainly whether (AIO) water-cooling is better than air cooling, where air cooling usually means: BIG air,
e.g. the Noctua NH-D15 or likewise dual tower/twin fan coolers.

But suppose such a cooler won't fit your case? You can usually find good performing 120mm coolers too, or small AIO coolers.
In case your casing is even smaller there's the 92mm department. But how well do these coolers perform when you're into BOINC?

Let take our friends from Noctua as an example. They have both single- and dual tower models beside the usual 92mm board-huggers.

To start with the board-huggers: DON'T! Noctua themselves give them a Noctua's Standardised Performance Rating (or NSPR) of 59 to 61, depending on the model. They can only be used for BOINC-systems with 25 Watt or less of power draw -and even then I'd advise a very well ventilated casing.
They also have extended board-huggers with bigger heat sinks, but these are hardly better with a NSPR of 67.

Things are beginning to get interesting with the NH-D9L, a dual tower cooler with -standard- a single fan and with a NSPR of 88.
The next model price-wise -the NH-U9S- is a single tower cooler with the same single fan, but it gets a NSPR of 93 due to the bigger heatsink and extra heat pipe.
Adding a second fan to that NH-U9S gets you an equivalent to the NH-U9 TR4-SP3 or the NH-U9 DX-4677, both scoring a NSPR of 118.
But adding a second fan to the NH-D9L gets you an equivalent to the NH-D9 DX-4677 4U, with an NSPR of 134....
....and then we're in the NSPR regions of the well-known 120mm Noctua coolers. Adding a third fan will even more increase the capabilities....

We will forgive the guy the small mistake for his efforts.
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scole of TSBT
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#2 Re: Small coolers, any good?

Post by scole of TSBT »

How much does that weigh and does it require the mobo be horizontal to reduce stress on the mounting points on the mobo?
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#3 Re: Small coolers, any good?

Post by Dirk Broer »

The NH-D9L (including one fan) weighs 531 gram, two additional NF-A9 PWM fans weigh 184 gram, so the triple fan cooler weighs 715 gram, 0.715 Kg.
It looks far more massive than it is, on the picture. Mind you, the NH-D9 retail series is rated for 3U servers (max height 133 mm).

A NH-D15 (with two fans) weighs 1,320 gram, 1.32 Kg.
A NH-D15S (with one fan) weighs 1,150 gram, 1.15 Kg.


220 gram each (including package, that is!) 184 gram is the difference between the weight of the NH-D9 DX-4677 4U
Weight (without fans) 584 g and Weight (with fans) 769 g
The NH-D9 DX-4677 4U itself is some heavy fu**er compared to the NH-D9L.....weighing more without fans than the NH-D9L does with one!
Must be the big ground plate for socket 4677... the NH-D9 DX-4677 4U is also higher and 4U rated, as it is 134mm high.
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#4 Re: Small coolers, any good?

Post by scole of TSBT »

At nearly a kilo, I'd rest the mobo horizontally
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