How to organize the processor passive cooling

| 19.03.2013
What are the pros and cons of passive CPU cooling
A good computer is not only fast but also relatively quiet. This rule holds true for any desktop, be it an office typewriter, a gaming station, or a media center. In the latter case, quiet operation is especially important, since watching your favorite movie or listening to music accompanied by a howling cooler is a pleasure.

It is for this reason that passive cooling attracts users so much: no fan - no noise. However, when you solve one problem, another one arises, namely an increase in processor temperature. When decoding HD video or running a game in 3D mode, the processor runs to its full potential and heats up intensely. If you do not provide adequate cooling, it will begin to degrade performance, or even turn off your PC. That is why in order to organize high-quality cooling of the CPU, it is necessary to increase the radiator area and organize heat removal from the case. As a result, the dimensions (of both the radiator and the case) increase, the load on the motherboard increases (the weight of the cooling system can reach a kilogram). It is possible that you will have to replace the case or equip it with large low-speed fans or make additional ventilation holes.
So, among the advantages of the solution is the absence of noise (if no other fans are installed in the system), among the disadvantages are the increase in size, problems with the installation of the system, additional costs. Of course, this is only relevant for a powerful computer, since a low-performance office PC is not so demanding, and installing even a relatively inexpensive (budget) passive cooling system will only give advantages.

What coolers are good for passive CPU cooling
When your system is not equipped with a powerful processor, if the computer acts as a typewriter, then you can install the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus cooler (about 1000 rubles) - it will cool any dual-core processor (and even the lower quad-core models), provided that it works at a moderate load.

If a large and relatively expensive cooler is redundant for your tasks, I recommend paying attention to the affordable Thermalright HR-02 Macho model (about 1,700 rubles). It fits all the most popular socket types with high efficiency. The heatsink will cope with cooling a processor with a power (TDP) of up to 80 W without a fan (unless, of course, the room temperature does not exceed 24 degrees).

A good alternative is Scythe Ninja 3 (about 1,500 rubles). True, its capabilities in passive mode are unlikely to be enough to cool a processor with a TDP of 80 W, but in less powerful systems it is quite effective.

Perhaps the brightest representative - Thermalright HR-22 ... Not equipped with a fan, it has a massive heatsink with fins of the original shape, united by eight heat pipes. It is assumed that the power of the cooler is sufficient to remove heat from the processor operating in the medium load mode even without a fan, but, perhaps, in some situations it is indispensable. At a minimum, you will need to install a cooler in the case, and if the processor will constantly work under load, it is better to install a slow-speed fan directly on the heatsink. However, the developers have taken care of this: the design allows mounting 120-mm or 140-mm "Carlson" on the wide side and 80-mm on the narrow side. Of course, it makes no sense to put two at once: the choice of the type of active element is determined only by your tasks and the dimensions of the case. In any case, the radiator is large enough, and this must be taken into account during installation.

conclusions
There are no fanless cooling systems - the heat has to disappear somewhere from the closed case. The good thing about a passive cooling system is that most of the time it does not require forced airflow: the fan attached to it turns on only in critical mode.

When planning to convert a cooling system to a passive one, remember that there are no miracles in physics: the power released by the processor must be dissipated by spending it on heating the environment. Inside the case, it will not dissolve by itself - it must be taken out. In theory, a power supply unit should successfully cope with such a task, but in practice this is not enough, you have to re-equip the system with an exhaust fan. So you can't do without coolers.
Another important point: on boxes with coolers you can see the mark "dissipates up to 90 W!" Get it right: up to 90 watts is most likely a third less. That is, about 65 W (primarily typical for inexpensive models). Remember that a processor costs a lot more than a cooler and trying to save on cooling can unexpectedly hit your budget.

After buying my first computer, for some reason I wanted to work on it at night. Maybe because no one bothers, maybe because they think differently at night, I don't know. However, there was a desire and in order to realize it, a computer with a minimum noise level was needed. This idea remained an idea, if not for the boss, who was also fond of upgrading and reducing the noise from his computer. The result was silent computer whose photo can be seen at the end of the article.

There are two types of noise: vibration and acoustic (from air flows). There are several sources of noise: case fans, a power supply, a processor cooling system, a video card cooling system, a motherboard cooling system (and this happens), optical disc readers and HDD drives.

There are two options reduce computer noise: reduce the number of noise sources and reduce the noise level of the sources themselves. The greatest effect is obtained when using two options. There is nothing you can do about optical disc readers, except not to install them at all. (You can read how to install the operating system from a flash drive in this case).

Consider noise reduction options for the main components of the computer.

Test configuration:

• Processor: Intel Core2Duo E8500
• Video card: Radeon HD3870
• Body: AEROCOOL AeroEngine Plus Black

2. Fans and case

In the basic configuration, the case had 3 fans with diameters: 180, 140 and 120 mm. 180 mm on the side wall - blow-in, 140 - in front - blow-in and 120 - back-out.

There was also a turbine in front of the 140 mm fan, which rotated from the air flow created by the fan. Since the function of the turbine was purely decorative, it was immediately removed.

For rational cooling of the case, it is necessary that cold air flows inside, and hot air is thrown out. It is known from the school curriculum that cold air goes down and hot air rises. Proceeding from this, it is recommended to put the lower fans on blowing, and the top ones on blowing out. Then cold air enters the case from below, heats up, cooling the components, rises and is thrown out by the upper fans.

Since I had two exhaust fans: one for the case and the other on the power supply, it was decided to turn off the case and look at the temperatures. It is convenient to monitor the system using the AIDA64 program (formerly called Everest). Almost nothing changed and the fan left my case.

Further, it is worth paying special attention to the air flow inside the case in order to reduce resistance and improve system cooling. It is necessary to determine all the openings of the case and understand what kind of air enters or exits through them. In this case, like most, the holes were everywhere, except for the bottom and top.

To eliminate other sources of noise 180 mm and 140 mm, it was necessary to provide sufficient cooling of the hard drive. To do this, I made the side covers of the case airtight, removing 180 mm and inserting acrylic inserts there instead of plastic grilles.

It turned out beautifully and efficiently. After these improvements, cold air could enter the case through the front panel using 140 mm and through the holes on the rear surface of the case (where 120 mm for blowing was removed).

With such a cooling system, it turned out that the power supply, which should draw warm air from the entire case, draws out the air that entered through the rear panel. It was decided to close the rear vents.

Now the cold air only entered through 140 mm on the front panel. This fan was the loudest as it was closest to me. I tried to disable it. The temperature of the HDD and the video card has slightly increased. Everything was normal and 140 mm left the hull.

The system has become much quieter. There are only 3 fans left: in the power supply unit, in the graphics card cooling system and in the processor cooling system. Also, for better cooling, the plates covering the expansion slots were removed, so that cold air would enter through the lower front and rear openings and cool the HDD and the video card. On this my executions over the corps stopped.

Output... It is necessary to make sure that cold air enters the body from below, and warm air is thrown out from above. The perforations on the bottom and top of the case are ideal. I did not do it myself, as it greatly spoiled the appearance of the case. Excess openings that interfere with or interfere with the passage of air in the housing must be closed (openings in the side covers). I also think that fans less than 120 mm in a quiet, especially in a silent computer should not be. A fan of 92 mm and 80 mm, to create the same air flow as 120 mm, requires a higher speed and, as a result, higher noise. Therefore, if you have such fans, try replacing them with 120 mm. Regarding the company, pay attention to Noctua fans. They are all made using a fluid dynamic bearing. Those. there is practically no friction, which has a positive effect on durability, reliability and noise performance. Also, some models contain adapters with soldered resistors in the kit to reduce the speed.

As you can see in the picture above, the kit can also include silicone holders for the fan (used to prevent vibration transmission from the fan to the case).

3. Video card

The next element that craved my attention was the video adapter. This series of cards is distinguished by the fact that without a driver it heats up to its fullest and, accordingly, makes a decent noise. This is perfectly audible until the operating system boots.

I tested the construction with WarCraft 3. The temperature reached 95 degrees, but the game ran smoothly. The idle temperature did not rise above 50 degrees Celsius. It's already good, but if you play, you will have to set 120 mm for airflow.

After a thorough search, an add-on from the same company was found, which was installed on the back of the graphics chip. Another 30 minutes and the temperature dropped by almost 5 degrees. This completes the process of modernizing the cooling of the video adapter

Output... If possible, use the built-in graphics. If the first option is not suitable, pay attention to video cards with passive cooling.

If you want to play serious games then choose a video adapter and immediately a cooling system for it.

The latest version of the DeepCool Dracula cooler is able to cope even with the Radeon HD 7970, but with two 120mm fans installed. With such capacities, you can forget about passive cooling, but this cooling system is made so that you do not hear the video card in the system.

4. Motherboard

In most cases, motherboards are manufactured with passive cooling, but there are exceptions.

He has already expressed his attitude towards fans less than 120 mm in diameter. This board bribes with only a 5-year warranty. In any case, you should choose a motherboard with a passive cooling system. Fewer moving parts, higher product reliability.

My computer was built on the basis of ASUS P5Q

Everything was fine, but when feeling the radiator on the south bridge (the leftmost yellow small one), a high temperature was noticed (subjectively about 70 °). Naturally, the question of replacing the cooling system with Thermalright Chipset Heatsink HR-05 SLI / IFX.

Everything was great, but during the installation I tightened the radiator tightly and damaged the board. The situation was successfully resolved by choosing the ASUS P5Q Pro motherboard with a more advanced chipset cooling system).

From P5Q to P5Q Pro, only the radiator has migrated to the mosfets (processor batteries) at the very top of the motherboard.

The system took the following form

After the replacement, nothing else in the motherboard was upgraded.

The Taiwanese company Thermalright is one of the leaders in the production of air cooling systems. The products of this company have long been present on our market and are represented by a wide range of coolers for various purposes. One of the priority areas in the company's work, of course, is the production of high-performance processor coolers. Today we have received an unusual cooler in our test lab. Its peculiarity lies in the ability to work in passive mode, that is, without blowing by fans. At least, according to the manufacturer's assurances, this product is designed precisely as a passive cooler. How well the heatsink cope with cooling a modern processor in the absence of airflow remains to be seen. So, the hero of our testing was the Thermalright HR-02 processor cooler.

In general, the idea of \u200b\u200bassembling the quietest computer is not new. Many users don't need prohibitive performance at the cost of noise and exorbitant power consumption. A home computer can handle multimedia tasks and not too resource-intensive games without overclocking at all. A completely silent PC has several advantages. For example, you can queue up downloads from the Internet at night and your computer will not disturb your sleep with its noise. In addition, the quiet operation of the system unit will be appreciated by connoisseurs of high-quality sound and owners of professional speaker systems. There are many more such examples, but let's go directly to the review.

Packaging and equipment

The cooler comes in a medium-sized cardboard box. The packaging design style is usual for Thermalright products - a strict appearance of the box, no unnecessary pictures, windows and other marketing tricks.

The radiator itself is in a bag and is tightly packed in a protective polyurethane foam form. The likelihood of damage in transit is minimal. Accessories are in a separate white cardboard box.

A pleasant surprise for the buyer will be a fairly high-quality screwdriver supplied with the cooler.

The delivery set is as follows:

• user's manual;
• sticker with the manufacturer's logo;
• a set of mounts for LGA 775/1155/1156/1366;
• brackets for attaching a 120 mm fan;
• brackets for mounting a 140 mm fan;
• crosshead screwdriver;
• key for holding down the cooler;
• anti-vibration corners for the fan;

Radiator design

The Thermalright HR-02 cooler was originally designed to remove up to 130 watts of heat from the CPU without using fans. Of course, such a mode of operation requires a large heat dissipation area. The heatsink is a structure made up of a copper base and six copper heatpipes piercing 32 perforated aluminum fins. The diameter of the tubes is 6 mm. The ribs are 0.5 mm thick and the rib spacing is 3 mm. The radiator is completely nickel plated.

The total calculated area of \u200b\u200bthe radiator is about 9770 sq. cm. For comparison, the area of \u200b\u200bthe heat dissipator Noctua NH-D14 is equal to 12020 sq. see The thickness of the plates, the large intercostal spacing and the perforations in the plates indicate that the radiator is designed to work in passive mode.

Undoubtedly, this is one of the largest (if not the largest) single-section tower coolers. The radiator looks massive even against the background of the two-piece Silver Arrow. It is also clearly noticeable how much greater the intercostal distance of the HR-02 is than that of the “arrow”.

The workmanship is at the highest level. Taking this radiator in hand gives the impression that it is a cast part, and not a construction of many segments. All connections of the heat pipes with the base and fins are high-quality soldered. No "snot" in the form of solder drips was found.

One of the features of Thermalright HR-02 is the non-standard arrangement of heat pipes. The entire radiator is, as it were, offset to the side relative to the base. According to the manufacturer's idea, such a design should make operation more convenient and simplify user access to the case fans on the back of the case. We looked from a slightly different angle and noticed that this design can allow installing memory modules with high radiators in all DIMM slots. Whether this is so remains to be seen.

This form should not harm productivity in the least. The heat pipes are well placed and should distribute heat fairly evenly across the fins. If we are talking about installing a fan, then the position of the heat pipes will just correspond to the highest air flow, bypassing the “dead zone” of the fan.

The base is not ideal, but it is even enough to provide more or less uniform heat dissipation from the heat spreader cover. If we compare the workmanship with the Noctua NH-D14 cooler, the Austrian company is still ahead.

The radiator sole is polished to a mirror finish. Of course, the traces of the cutter are visible upon close inspection, but this is not critical for the cooling efficiency.

In order not to disappoint fans of active cooling, engineers have provided the possibility of installing fans. Assembled with a 140mm Thermalright TY-140 cooler looks like this.

The brackets are threaded through special holes in the radiator fins, then the fan is pressed. It should be noted that such a system for installing fans is typical for all coolers from this manufacturer and has one noticeable drawback. Removing or installing fan brackets requires disassembling the cooler. Again, Taiwanese engineers should pay attention to the NH-D14, in which the fans are mounted more efficiently and conveniently.

Well, the looks and workmanship of the Thermalright HR-02 radiator is impressive. Let's take a look at the specifications and go directly to testing. Installation and compatibility

The heat sink can be installed on all Intel platforms. The mounting system is exactly the same as on all modern Thermalright CPU coolers. First, you need to attach the stiffening plate to the motherboard:

Then the mounting frame is installed, to which the radiator will be screwed. The frame allows you to install the radiator in any of four possible positions. This is very convenient as it makes the product more versatile. We have chosen a position where you can install memory modules with high "combs".

The radiator itself is screwed on with two union nuts, and then clamped with a large bolt in the middle of the base.

There are special holes in the plates for mounting the radiator using a screwdriver. It's just not clear why it was necessary to make these holes so large, because smaller ones are enough for a screwdriver. Perhaps this was done for beauty, but the loss of working area is obvious.

Supplied brackets fit one 120mm and one 140mm fan. We used brackets from Thermalright Silver Arrow and installed two TY-140 fans.

And then another unpleasant feature of the fan mounting was discovered. Brackets prevent high scallop memory from being inserted into the first DIMM slot. Considering the design of the cooler, engineers could work hard to create new brackets (like Noctua or Prolimatech). Then the cooler would become even better, and the fan located immediately behind the RAM “combs” would also provide air purging.

Specifications

Cooler model		Thermalright Silver Arrow	Noctua NH-D14
Connector	LGA775 / 1155 / 1156/1366 AM2 (+) / AM3	LGA775 / 1155 / 1156/1366 AM2 (+) / AM3	LGA775 / 1155 / 1156/1366 AM2 (+) / AM3
Radiator dimensions, mm	102x140x163	147x123x165	140x130x160
Radiator weight, g	860	830	900
Radiator material		Copper base and heat pipes, aluminum fins, all nickel plated	Copper base and heat pipes, aluminum fins, all nickel plated
Number of plates	32	55x2	42x2
Distance between plates, mm	3	1,7	2,5
Fan model (s)	-	Thermalright TY-140	NF-P12 / NF-P14
Fan (s) dimensions, mm	-	160x140x26	120x120x25 140x140x25
Weight of each fan, g	-	140	170
Fan speed (s), rpm	-	900—1300 (PWM control)	900—1300 900—1200 (using U.L.N.A. adapters)
Air flow, cubic meters f / min	-	56—73	37—54,1 48,8—64,7
Declared noise level, dBA	-	19—21	12,6—19,8 13,2—19,8
MTBF, thousand h	-	n / a	>150
Estimated cost, $	80	90	80

Stand and testing methodology

The test bench configuration was as follows:

• motherboard: ASRock P67 Extreme4 (Intel P67 Express);
• central processor: Intel Core i7-2600K ES (3, [email protected], 0 GHz, VCore 1.45 V);
• rAM: Kingston KHX2333C9D3T1K2 / 4GX (2x2 GB);
• video card: HIS Radeon HD6950 2GB;
• hard drive: Western Digital WD6401AALS;
• power supply: Hiper Type RII 680W (680 W).
• thermal paste: Noctua NT-H1.

Testing was carried out on an open bench at an ambient temperature of 22 degrees Celsius. The processor was warmed up in Windows 7 Ultimate Edition x64 using the LinX 0.6.4 program (10 Linpack passes in each test cycle with 2048 MB of RAM used). To monitor the temperature, we used the CoreTemp and AIDA 64 utilities. For each cooler, the tests were repeated three times with the thermal paste replaced.

The processor operated at 4 GHz at 1.175 V with passive cooling and at 5 GHz at 1.45 V with radiator airflow. The Noctua NH-D14 cooler was also tested with Thermalright TY-140 fans, due to the fact that the latter are somewhat more efficient than its standard NF-P12 and NF-P14.

Test results

It should be noted right away that all tested coolers were able to ensure the operation of the Intel Core i5-2600K processor at a frequency of 5.0 GHz at a voltage of 1.45 V.

Analysis of the diagrams shows that the performance of the coolers that have been in our laboratory is at a high level. Two-piece "towers" Noctua NH-D14 and Thermalright Silver Arrow are comparable in efficiency, with
insignificant superiority of the latter. Thermalright HR-02 outperforms this tandem in fanless mode, but loses even more noticeably in active mode. Taking into account the peculiarities of its design, in particular the small number of radiator fins, this result is quite logical and logical. In the first case, a competent design of the cooler plays a decisive role, in the second - a smaller area of \u200b\u200bheat dissipation.

Conclusion

The results of testing coolers in passive mode show a slight superiority of the HR-02 over its competitors, but two other participants can also be operated without blowing. Therefore, we cannot say that only models specially designed for this are suitable for passive cooling. Almost any high-efficiency radiator with a large dissipation area can provide normal heat dissipation without the use of fans. However, do not forget that our test processor Intel Core i7-2600K is much colder than, for example, LGA1366 processors, and there are not so many powerful video cards with passive cooling on sale. That is, fans of a silent computer will have to take care of choosing the appropriate components in any case. Either way, the tested Thermalright HR-02 cooler is a great choice when building a silent PC. If we talk about active cooling, then this product, although it shows good results, is far from optimal in terms of price / performance ratio. The fanless HR-02 costs about $ 80. In total, the purchase of this radiator and an additional fan will cost significantly more than purchasing more efficient two-piece coolers.

Summing up, the Thermalright HR-02 can be unconditionally ranked among the cohort of high-end processor coolers. The product does not claim to be a leader, but at the same time has a set of rare qualities, thanks to which it will undoubtedly find its buyer.

The only serious drawback is its cost, but the Thermalright HR-02 Macho version has already entered the market, which is equipped with a fan and costs significantly less due to the lack of nickel plating. Maybe soon Macho will get into our test lab, and we will check how important the nickel plating is, or it serves a purely aesthetic role.

Testing equipment was provided by the following companies:

• ASRock - ASRock P67 Extreme4 motherboard;
• Intel - Intel Core i7-2600K processor;
• Noctua - Noctua NH-D14 cooler and NT-H1 thermal paste;
• Thermalright - Thermalright HR-02 and Silver Arrow coolers.

Often used to build a large radiator heat pipes (English: heat pipe) - hermetically sealed and specially arranged metal tubes (usually copper). They transfer heat very efficiently from one end to the other: thus, even the farthest fins of a large radiator work effectively in cooling. This is how the popular cooler works

To cool modern high-performance GPUs, the same methods are used: large radiators, copper cores for cooling systems or all-copper radiators, heat pipes to transfer heat to additional radiators:

The recommendations for selection are the same here: use slow and large fans, as large as possible radiators. This is how the popular cooling systems for video cards and the Zalman VF900 look like:

Usually, fans of video card cooling systems only stirred the air inside the system unit, which is not very efficient in terms of cooling the entire computer. Only recently, to cool video cards, they began to use cooling systems that take hot air out of the case: the first were and, a similar design, from the brand:

Such cooling systems are installed on the most powerful modern video cards (nVidia GeForce 8800, ATI x1800XT and older). This design is often more justified from the point of view of the correct organization of air flows inside the computer case than traditional schemes. Organization of air flows

Modern standards for the design of computer cases, among other things, regulate the way of building a cooling system. Since the production of which was started in 1997, the technology of cooling the computer with a through air flow directed from the front wall of the case to the back has been introduced (in addition, air for cooling is sucked in through the left wall):

Those interested in the details refer to the latest versions of the ATX standard.

At least one fan is installed in the computer's power supply (many modern models have two fans, which can significantly reduce the rotational speed of each of them, and, therefore, the noise during operation). Additional fans can be installed anywhere inside the computer to enhance airflow. Be sure to follow the rule: on the front and left side walls, the air is forced into the inside of the case, on the back wall, hot air is thrown out... You also need to check that the flow of hot air from the back wall of the computer does not go directly into the air intake on the left side of the computer (this happens at certain positions of the system unit relative to the walls of the room and furniture). Which fans to install depends primarily on the presence of appropriate mounts in the walls of the case. Fan noise is mainly determined by its rotation speed (see section), therefore it is recommended to use slow (quiet) fan models. With equal installation dimensions and rotation speed, the fans on the back of the case subjectively make a little less noise than the front ones: firstly, they are farther from the user, and secondly, there are almost transparent grilles behind the case, while in front there are various decorative elements. Often, noise is created due to the air flow around the elements of the front panel: if the transferred volume of air flow exceeds a certain limit, vortex turbulent currents form on the front panel of the computer case, which create a characteristic noise (it resembles the hiss of a vacuum cleaner, but much quieter).

Choosing a computer case

Almost the overwhelming majority of cases for computers on the market today comply with one of the versions of the ATX standard, including in terms of cooling. The cheapest cases come with neither a power supply nor additional accessories. More expensive cases are equipped with fans for cooling the case, less often with adapters for connecting fans in various ways; sometimes even with a special controller equipped with temperature sensors, which allows you to smoothly adjust the rotation speed of one or more fans depending on the temperature of the main units (see for example). The power supply is not always included in the kit: many buyers prefer to choose a power supply themselves. Among other options for additional equipment, it is worth noting special mounts for side walls, hard drives, optical drives, expansion cards, which allow you to assemble a computer without a screwdriver; Dust filters that prevent dirt from entering the computer through the ventilation holes; various nozzles for directing air flows inside the housing. Exploring the fan

To transport air in cooling systems, use fans (English: fan).

Fan device

The fan consists of a casing (usually in the form of a frame), an electric motor and an impeller, fixed with bearings on the same axis with the motor:

The reliability of the fan depends on the type of bearings installed. Manufacturers claim this typical MTBF (years based on 24/7 operation):

Taking into account the obsolescence of computer equipment (for home and office use it is 2-3 years), fans with ball bearings can be considered "eternal": their life is not less than the typical life of a computer. For more serious applications, where the computer has to work around the clock for many years, it is worth choosing more reliable fans.

Many have come across old fans in which the plain bearings have worn out their resource: the impeller shaft rattles and vibrates during operation, making a characteristic roaring sound. In principle, such a bearing can be repaired by lubricating it with solid lubricant - but how many would agree to repair a fan that costs only a couple of dollars?

Fan characteristics

Fans differ in size and thickness: usually computers have standard sizes 40 × 40 × 10 mm for cooling video cards and hard drive pockets, as well as 80 × 80 × 25, 92 × 92 × 25, 120 × 120 × 25 mm for cooling the case. The fans also differ in the type and design of the installed electric motors: they consume different currents and provide different speed of rotation of the impeller. The performance depends on the size of the fan and the speed of rotation of the impeller blades: the generated static pressure and the maximum volume of transported air.

The volume of air carried by the fan (flow rate) is measured in cubic meters per minute or cubic feet per minute (CFM). The fan performance indicated in the characteristics is measured at zero pressure: the fan is operating in an open space. Inside the computer case, the fan blows into the system unit of a certain size, so it creates excess pressure in the serviced volume. Naturally, the volumetric capacity will be approximately inversely proportional to the generated pressure. Specific view consumption characteristics depends on the shape of the impeller used and other parameters of the particular model. For example, the corresponding graph for a fan:

The simple conclusion follows from this: the more intensively the fans in the back of the computer case, the more air can be pumped through the entire system, and the more efficient the cooling will be.

Fan noise level

The noise level generated by a fan during operation depends on its various characteristics (for more details on the reasons for its occurrence, see the article). It is not difficult to establish the relationship between performance and fan noise. On the website of a large manufacturer of popular cooling systems, we see: many fans of the same size are equipped with different electric motors, which are designed for different speeds. Since the impeller is used the same, we get the data of interest to us: the characteristics of the same fan at different speeds. We draw up a table for the three most common standard sizes: thickness 25 mm, and.

The most popular fan types are in bold.

Having counted the coefficient of proportionality of the air flow and the noise level to the revs, we see almost complete coincidence. To clear our conscience, we consider deviations from the average: less than 5%. Thus, we got three linear dependences, 5 points each. It is not God only knows what statistics, but for a linear relationship this is enough: the hypothesis is considered confirmed.

The volumetric performance of the fan is proportional to the number of revolutions of the impeller, the same is true for the noise level.

Using this hypothesis, we can extrapolate the results obtained by the method of least squares (OLS): in the table, these values \u200b\u200bare shown in italics. It should be remembered, however, that the scope of this model is limited. The investigated dependence is linear in a certain range of rotation speeds; it is logical to assume that the linear character of the dependence will remain in some vicinity of this range; but at very high and very low speeds, the picture can change significantly.

Now let's consider a line of fans from another manufacturer:, and. Let's make a similar plate:

Calculated data are highlighted in italics.
As mentioned above, if the fan speed values \u200b\u200bdiffer significantly from those studied, the linear model may be incorrect. Extrapolated values \u200b\u200bare to be understood as approximate estimates.

Let's pay attention to two circumstances. Firstly, GlacialTech fans work slower, and secondly, they are more efficient. Obviously, this is the result of using an impeller with a more complex blade shape: even at the same speed, the GlacialTech fan carries more air than the Titan: see graph growth... AND the noise level at the same speed is approximately equal: The proportion is respected even for fans from different manufacturers with different impeller shapes.

It should be understood that the real noise characteristics of the fan depend on its technical design, the generated pressure, the volume of pumped air, on the type and shape of obstacles in the path of air flows; that is, on the type of computer case. Since there are so many different cases used, it is impossible to directly apply the quantitative characteristics of the fans measured under ideal conditions - they can only be compared with each other for different fan models.

Fan price categories

Consider the cost factor. For example, let's take in the same online store and: the results are written in the tables above (fans with two ball bearings were considered). As you can see, the fans of these two manufacturers belong to two different classes: GlacialTech operate at lower speeds, therefore they are less noisy; at the same speed they are more efficient than the Titan - but they are always more expensive by a dollar or two. If you need to build the least noisy cooling system (for example, for a home computer), you will have to fork out for more expensive fans with complex blade shapes. In the absence of such stringent requirements or with a limited budget (for example, for an office computer), simpler fans are fine. The different type of impeller suspension used in fans (see the section for more details) also affects the cost: the fan is more expensive, the more complex bearings are used.

The beveled corners on one side are the key of the connector. The wires are connected as follows: two central ones - "ground", common contact (black wire); +5 V - red, +12 V - yellow. To power the fan through the molex connector, only two wires are used, usually black ("ground") and red (supply voltage). By connecting them to different pins of the connector, you can get different fan speeds. A standard voltage of 12 V will start the fan at nominal speed, a voltage of 5-7 V will provide about half the speed. It is preferable to use a higher voltage, since not every electric motor is able to reliably start at too low supply voltage.

Experience shows that fan speed when connected to +5 V, +6 V and +7 V is approximately the same (with an accuracy of 10%, which is comparable to the measurement accuracy: the rotation speed is constantly changing and depends on many factors, such as the air temperature, the slightest draft in the room, etc.)

I remind you that the manufacturer guarantees the stable operation of its devices only when using a standard supply voltage... But, as practice shows, the overwhelming majority of fans start up perfectly even at reduced voltage.

The contacts are fixed in the plastic part of the connector with a pair of bending metal "tendrils". It is not difficult to remove the contact by pressing down the protruding parts with a thin awl or a small screwdriver. After that, the "antennae" need to be bent to the sides again, and insert the contact into the corresponding socket of the plastic part of the connector:

Sometimes coolers and fans are equipped with two connectors: molex-connected in parallel and three- (or four-) pin. In this case only need to connect power through one of them:

In some cases, not one molex connector is used, but a pair of "mom-dad": this way you can connect the fan to the same wire from the power supply that powers the hard disk or optical drive. If you swap the pins in the connector to get a non-standard voltage on the fan, pay special attention to swap the pins in the second connector in exactly the same order. Failure to do so could result in incorrect supply voltage to the hard disk or optical drive, which will most likely lead to their instant failure.

In three-pin connectors, the installation key is a pair of protruding guides on one side:

The counterpart is located on the contact pad; when connected, it enters between the guides, also acting as a latch. The corresponding connectors for powering the fans are located on the motherboard (as a rule, there are several in different places on the board) or on the board of a special controller that controls the fans:

In addition to "ground" (black wire) and +12 V (usually red, less often: yellow), there is also a tachometer contact: it is used to control the fan speed (white, blue, yellow or green wire). If you do not need the ability to control the fan speed, then this contact does not need to be connected. If the fan is powered separately (for example, through a molex connector), it is permissible to connect only the RPM control contact and the common wire using a three-pin connector - this circuit is often used to monitor the rotation speed of the power supply fan, which is powered and controlled by the internal power supply circuits.

Four-pin connectors have appeared relatively recently on motherboards with LGA 775 and socket AM2 processor sockets. They differ in the presence of an additional fourth contact, while fully mechanically and electrically compatible with three-pin connectors:

Two the same a fan with three-pin connectors can be connected in series to one power connector. Thus, each of the electric motors will have 6 V supply voltage, both fans will rotate at half speed. For such a connection, it is convenient to use the fan power connectors: the contacts can be easily removed from the plastic case by pressing the fixing “tab” with a screwdriver. The connection diagram is shown in the figure below. One of the connectors plugs into the motherboard as usual: it will supply power to both fans. In the second connector, using a piece of wire, you need to short-circuit two contacts, and then insulate it with tape or electrical tape:

It is strongly discouraged to connect two different electric motors in this way.: due to the inequality of electrical characteristics in different operating modes (starting, acceleration, stable rotation), one of the fans may not start at all (which is fraught with the failure of the electric motor) or require an excessively large current to start (fraught with failure of the control circuits).

Often fixed or variable resistors connected in series in the power circuit are tried on to limit the fan speed. By changing the resistance of the variable resistor, you can adjust the rotation speed: this is how many manual fan speed controllers work. When designing such a circuit, it must be remembered that, firstly, the resistors heat up, dissipating some of the electrical power in the form of heat - this does not contribute to more efficient cooling; secondly, the electrical characteristics of the electric motor in different operating modes (starting, acceleration, stable rotation) are not the same, the parameters of the resistor must be selected taking into account all these modes. To select the parameters of the resistor, it is enough to know Ohm's law; you need to use resistors designed for a current not less than the electric motor consumes. However, I personally do not welcome manual control of the cooling, as I believe that a computer is a perfectly suitable device to control the cooling system automatically, without user intervention.

Fan monitoring and control

Most modern motherboards allow you to control the rotational speed of the fans connected to some 3- or 4-pin connectors. Moreover, some of the connectors support software control of the rotational speed of the connected fan. Not all connectors on the board provide such capabilities: for example, the popular Asus A8N-E board has five connectors for powering fans, only three of them support rotation speed control (CPU, CHIP, CHA1), and only one fan speed control (CPU); Asus P5B motherboard has four connectors, all four support rotation speed control, rotation speed control has two channels: CPU, CASE1 / 2 (the speed of two case fans changes synchronously). The number of connectors with the ability to control or control the rotation speed does not depend on the chipset or south bridge used, but on the specific motherboard model: models from different manufacturers may differ in this respect. Often motherboard designers deliberately deprive cheaper models of fan speed control capabilities. For example, the motherboard for Intel Pentiun 4 processors Asus P4P800 SE is able to regulate the speed of the processor cooler, but its cheaper version Asus P4P800-X is not. In this case, you can use special devices that are able to control the speed of several fans (and, usually, provide for the connection of a number of temperature sensors) - they appear more and more in the modern market.

You can control the fan speed values \u200b\u200busing BIOS Setup. As a rule, if the motherboard supports changing the fan speed, here in the BIOS Setup you can configure the speed control algorithm parameters. The set of parameters is different for different motherboards; usually the algorithm uses the readings of thermal sensors built into the processor and motherboard. There are a number of programs for different operating systems that allow you to control and adjust the fan speed, as well as monitor the temperature of various components inside the computer. Some motherboard manufacturers bundle their products with proprietary programs for Windows: Asus PC Probe, MSI CoreCenter, Abit µGuru, Gigabyte EasyTune, Foxconn SuperStep, etc. Several universal programs are distributed, among them: (shareware, $ 20-30), (distributed free of charge, not updated since 2004). The most popular program of this class is:

These programs allow you to monitor a range of temperature sensors that are installed in modern processors, motherboards, video cards and hard drives. The program also monitors the rotational speed of the fans that are connected to the motherboard connectors with appropriate support. Finally, the program is able to automatically adjust the fan speed depending on the temperature of the monitored objects (if the motherboard manufacturer has implemented hardware support for this feature). In the above figure, the program is configured to control only the processor fan: at a low CPU temperature (36 ° C), it rotates at about 1000 rpm, which is 35% of the maximum speed (2800 rpm). Setting up such programs comes down to three steps:

1. determining which of the motherboard controller channels the fans are connected to, and which of them can be controlled by software;
2. an indication of which of the temperatures should affect the speed of the various fans;
3. setting temperature thresholds for each temperature sensor and a range of operating speeds for fans.

Many programs for testing and fine-tuning computers also have monitoring capabilities:, etc.

Many modern video cards also allow adjusting the fan speed of the cooling system depending on the temperature of the GPU. With the help of special programs, you can even change the settings of the cooling mechanism, reducing the noise level from the video card in the absence of load. This is how the optimal settings for the HIS X800GTO IceQ II video card look like in the program:

Passive cooling

Passive cooling systems are usually called those that do not contain fans. Individual computer components can be satisfied with passive cooling, provided that their heatsinks are placed in a sufficient air flow created by "foreign" fans: for example, a chipset's microcircuit is often cooled by a large heatsink located near the place where the processor cooler is installed. Passive cooling systems for video cards are also popular, for example:

Obviously, the more radiators one fan has to blow through, the greater the flow resistance it needs to overcome; thus, with an increase in the number of radiators, it is often necessary to increase the rotation speed of the impeller. It is more efficient to use many low-speed large diameter fans, and passive cooling systems are preferable to avoid. Despite the fact that there are passive heatsinks for processors, video cards with passive cooling, even fanless power supplies (FSP Zen), trying to build a computer without fans at all from all these components will certainly lead to constant overheating. Because a modern high-performance computer dissipates too much heat to be cooled by passive systems alone. Due to the low thermal conductivity of air, it is difficult to organize effective passive cooling for the entire computer, except perhaps to turn the entire computer case into a radiator, as is done in:

Compare the radiator case in the photo with the case of a regular computer!

Perhaps completely passive cooling will be enough for low-power specialized computers (for Internet access, for listening to music and watching videos, etc.)

In the old days, when the power consumption of processors had not yet reached critical values \u200b\u200b- a small heatsink was enough to cool them - the question "what will the computer do when there is nothing to do?" The solution was simple: while it is not necessary to execute user commands or running programs, the OS gives the processor a NOP command (No OPeration, no operation). This command causes the processor to perform a meaningless, ineffectual operation, the result of which is ignored. This takes not only time, but also electricity, which, in turn, is converted into heat. A typical home or office computer, in the absence of resource-intensive tasks, is usually only 10% loaded - anyone can verify this by starting the Windows Task Manager and observing the Timeline of the CPU (Central Processing Unit) load. Thus, with the old approach, about 90% of the processor time was blown away: the CPU was busy executing commands that no one needed. Newer operating systems (Windows 2000 and later) act more sensibly in a similar situation: using the HLT (Halt, halt) command, the processor stops completely for a short time - this, obviously, allows to reduce power consumption and processor temperature in the absence of resource-intensive tasks.

Experienced computer scientists can recall a number of programs for "software cooling of the processor": while running under Windows 95/98 / ME, they stopped the processor using HLT, instead of repeating meaningless NOPs, which reduced the temperature of the processor in the absence of computational tasks. Accordingly, the use of such programs under Windows 2000 and newer operating systems makes no sense.

Modern processors consume so much energy (which means they dissipate it in the form of heat, that is, they heat up) that the developers have created additional technical tools to combat possible overheating, as well as tools that increase the efficiency of saving mechanisms when the computer is idle.

Thermal protection of the processor

To protect the processor from overheating and failure, the so-called thermal throttling is used (usually not translated: throttling). The essence of this mechanism is simple: if the processor temperature exceeds the allowable temperature, the processor is forced to stop by the HLT command so that the crystal can cool down. In early implementations of this mechanism, through BIOS Setup, it was possible to configure how much of the time the processor will be idle (parameter CPU Throttling Duty Cycle: xx%); new implementations "slow down" the processor automatically until the crystal temperature drops to an acceptable level. Of course, the user is interested in the processor not being cooled down (literally!), But doing useful work - for this you need to use a sufficiently effective cooling system. You can check if the processor's thermal protection mechanism (throttling) is turned on using special utilities, for example:

Minimizing energy consumption

Almost all modern processors support special technologies to reduce power consumption (and, accordingly, heating). Different manufacturers call such technologies differently, for example: Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), AMD Cool'n'Quiet (CnQ, C&Q) - but they work essentially the same way. When the computer is idle and the processor is not loaded with computational tasks, the processor clock speed and voltage decrease. Both reduce the power consumption of the processor, which in turn reduces heat generation. As soon as the processor load increases, the full processor speed is automatically restored: the operation of such a power saving scheme is completely transparent to the user and the programs being launched. To enable such a system, you need:

1. enable the use of a supported technology in BIOS Setup;
2. install the appropriate drivers in the operating system (usually a processor driver);
3. in the Windows Control Panel, in the Power Management section, on the Power Schemes tab, select the Minimal Power Management scheme from the list.

For example, for an Asus A8N-E motherboard with a processor you need (detailed instructions are given in the User Guide):

1. in BIOS Setup in the Advanced\u003e CPU Configuration\u003e AMD CPU Cool & Quiet Configuration section, switch the Cool N "Quiet parameter to Enabled; and in the Power section, switch the ACPI 2.0 Support parameter to Yes;
2. install;
3. see above.

You can check that the processor frequency is changing using any program that displays the processor frequency: from specialized types, up to the Windows Control Panel, the System section:

AMD Cool "n" Quiet in Action: CPU Current (994 MHz) Less Than Nominal (1.8 GHz)

Often, motherboard manufacturers additionally complete their products with visual programs that clearly demonstrate the operation of the mechanism for changing the frequency and voltage of the processor, for example, Asus Cool & Quiet:

The processor frequency changes from the maximum (if there is a computational load), to a certain minimum (if there is no CPU load).

RMClock utility

During the development of a set of programs for comprehensive testing of processors, (RightMark CPU Clock / Power Utility) was created: it is designed to monitor, configure and manage energy-saving capabilities of modern processors. The utility supports all modern processors and a variety of power management systems (frequency, voltage ...) The program allows you to monitor the occurrence of throttling, changes in the frequency and voltage of the processor. Using RMClock, you can configure and use everything that standard tools allow: BIOS Setup, power management by the OS using the processor driver. But the capabilities of this utility are much wider: with its help you can configure a number of parameters that are not available for customization in a standard way. This is especially important when using overclocked systems when the processor runs faster than the nominal frequency.

Auto overclocking video card

A similar method is used by video card developers: full GPU power is needed only in 3D mode, and a modern graphics chip can cope with a desktop in 2D mode even at a reduced frequency. Many modern video cards are tuned so that the graphics chip serves a desktop (2D mode) with reduced frequency, power consumption and heat dissipation; accordingly, the cooling fan spins more slowly and makes less noise. The video card starts working at full capacity only when running 3D applications such as computer games. A similar logic can be implemented in software, using various utilities for fine-tuning and overclocking video cards. For example, this is how the automatic overclocking settings in the program for the HIS X800GTO IceQ II video card look like:

Quiet computer: myth or reality?

From the user's point of view, a computer is considered sufficiently quiet if its noise does not exceed the surrounding background noise. During the day, taking into account the noise of the street outside the window, as well as noise in the office or at work, the computer is allowed to make a little more noise. A home computer that you plan to use around the clock should be quieter at night. As practice has shown, almost any modern powerful computer can be made to work quite quietly. I will describe a few examples from my practice.

Example 1: Intel Pentium 4 Platform

I have 10 Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz computers with standard CPU coolers in my office. All machines are assembled in inexpensive Fortex cases up to $ 30, Chieftec 310-102 power supplies (310 W, 1 fan 80 × 80 × 25 mm) are installed. A 80 × 80 × 25 mm fan (3000 rpm, noise 33 dBA) was installed in each of the cases on the rear wall - they were replaced by fans with the same performance 120 × 120 × 25 mm (950 rpm, noise 19 dBA) ). In the file server of the local area network, for additional cooling of hard disks, 2 fans 80 × 80 × 25 mm are installed on the front wall, connected in series (speed 1500 rpm, noise 20 dBA). Most computers use the Asus P4P800 SE motherboard, which is able to regulate the speed of the CPU cooler. The two computers are equipped with cheaper Asus P4P800-X motherboards, where the cooler speed is not regulated; to reduce the noise from these machines, the CPU coolers were replaced (1900 rpm, 20 dBA noise).
Result: computers are quieter than air conditioners; they are practically inaudible.

Example 2: Intel Core 2 Duo Platform

A home computer based on a new Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 (2.13 GHz) processor with a standard processor cooler was assembled in an inexpensive aigo case at $ 25, a Chieftec 360-102DF power supply (360 W, 2 fans 80 × 80 × 25 mm) was installed. In the front and rear walls of the case, 2 fans 80 × 80 × 25 mm are installed, connected in series (speed is adjustable, from 750 to 1500 rpm, noise is up to 20 dBA). Used motherboard Asus P5B, which is able to regulate the speed of the CPU cooler and case fans. A video card with a passive cooling system is installed.
Result: the computer makes such a noise that during the day it is not heard behind the usual noise in the apartment (conversations, steps, the street outside the window, etc.).

Example 3: AMD Athlon 64 Platform

My home computer on an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (1.8 GHz) processor is built in an inexpensive Delux package for up to $ 30, initially it contained a CoolerMaster RS-380 power supply (380 W, 1 fan 80 × 80 × 25 mm) and a GlacialTech SilentBlade video card GT80252BDL-1 connected to +5 V (about 850 rpm, noise less than 17 dBA). Used motherboard Asus A8N-E, which is able to regulate the speed of the processor cooler (up to 2800 rpm, noise up to 26 dBA, in idle mode the cooler rotates about 1000 rpm and makes less than 18 dBA noise). The problem with this motherboard: cooling the nVidia nForce 4 chipset, Asus installs a small 40 × 40 × 10 mm fan with a rotation speed of 5800 rpm, which whistles loudly and unpleasantly (in addition, the fan is equipped with a sliding bearing, which has a very short resource) ... To cool the chipset, a cooler for video cards with a copper radiator was installed, against its background you can clearly hear the positioning clicks of the hard drive heads. A working computer does not interfere with sleeping in the same room where it is installed.
Recently, the video card was replaced by the HIS X800GTO IceQ II, for the installation of which it was necessary to modify the chipset heatsink: bend the edges so that they do not interfere with the installation of a video card with a large cooling fan. Fifteen minutes of work with pliers - and the computer continues to run quietly, even with a fairly powerful video card.

Example 4: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Platform

A home computer based on an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (2.0 GHz) processor with a processor cooler (up to 1900 rpm, noise up to 20 dBA) is assembled in a 3R System R101 case (included 2 fans 120 × 120 × 25 mm, up to 1500 rpm, installed on the front and rear walls of the case, connected to a standard monitoring and automatic fan control system), an FSP Blue Storm 350 power supply unit (350 W, 1 fan 120 × 120 × 25 mm) is installed. A motherboard (passive cooling of the chipset microcircuits) was used, which is able to regulate the speed of the processor cooler. Used video card GeCube Radeon X800XT, cooling system replaced with Zalman VF900-Cu. A hard drive known for its low noise generation was chosen for the computer.
Result: The computer is so quiet that you can hear the noise of the hard drive motor. A working computer does not interfere with sleeping in the same room where it is installed (the neighbors behind the wall are talking even louder).

Every year there are more and more new models of computer equipment and components. However, in the pursuit of power and performance, technology leaders face legitimate challenges. The processor, video card and other parts generate energy during operation, which is converted into heat and contributes to overheating of the system unit. This, in turn, entails frequent system failures and breakdowns. The way out of the situation is to install a cooling system.

Types of processor cooling systems

A high-quality system will not only avoid the failure of seemingly completely new parts, but also ensure speed, no delays and smooth operation.

At the moment, processor cooling systems are presented in three types: liquid, passive and air. The advantages and disadvantages of each solution are discussed below.

Running a little ahead of ourselves, we can say that the most common type of cooling today is air cooling, that is, installing coolers, while the most efficient is liquid cooling. Air cooling for the processor benefits largely due to the loyal pricing policy. That is why the issue of choosing a suitable fan will be given special attention in the article.

Liquid cooling system

A liquid system is the most productive method to avoid overheating the processor and related breakdowns. The design of the system is much like a refrigerator and consists of:

• a heat exchanger that absorbs the thermal energy generated by the processor;
• a pump that acts as a reservoir for fluid;
• additional capacity for the heat exchanger expanding during operation;
• coolant - an element that fills the entire system with a special liquid or distilled water;
• heat sinks for elements that generate heat;
• hoses through which water passes and several adapters.

The advantages of the CPU water cooling method include high efficiency and low noise performance. There are also enough disadvantages, despite the productivity of the system:

1. Users note the high cost of liquid cooling, since a powerful power supply is required to install such a system.
2. As a result, the design turns out to be rather cumbersome due to the voluminous reservoir and water block, which provide high-quality cooling.
3. There is a possibility of condensation formation, which negatively affects the operation of some components and can provoke a short circuit in the system unit.

If we consider exclusively the liquid method, then the best cooling of the computer processor is the use of liquid nitrogen. The method, of course, is not at all budgetary and extremely difficult to install and maintain, but the result really deserves it.

Passive cooling

Passive CPU cooling is the most inefficient way to remove thermal energy. The advantage of this method, however, is the low noise capacity: the system consists of a radiator, which, in fact, does not "reproduce sounds."

Passive cooling method has been used for a long time, it was quite good for computers with low performance. At the moment, passive processor cooling is not widely used, but it is used for other components - motherboards, RAM, cheap video cards.

Air cooling: system description

A striking representative of the most common type of air heat dissipation is a processor cooling cooler, which consists of a radiator and a fan. The popularity of air cooling is associated primarily with a loyal pricing policy and a wide selection of fans in terms of parameters.

The quality of air cooling directly depends on the diameter and bending of the blades. As the fan increases, the number of revolutions required for efficient heat removal from the processor decreases, which improves the cooler's performance with less "efforts".

The rotation speed of the blades is regulated by modern motherboards, connectors and software. The number of connectors capable of controlling the operation of the cooler depends on the model of a particular board.

The rotational speed of the fan blades is adjusted via BIOS Setup. There is also a whole list of programs that monitor the temperature rise in the system unit and, in accordance with the data obtained, regulate the operating mode of the cooling system. Such software is often the responsibility of motherboard manufacturers. These include Asus PC Probe, MSI CoreCenter, Abit µGuru, Gigabyte EasyTune, Foxconn SuperStep. In addition, many modern video cards are capable of adjusting the fan speed.

The advantages and disadvantages of air cooling

Air-cooled processor has more advantages than disadvantages, which is why it is especially popular in comparison with other systems. The advantages of this type of processor cooling include:

• a large number of types of coolers, and therefore the ability to choose the ideal option for the needs of each user;
• low energy consumption during the operation of the equipment;
• easy installation and maintenance of air cooling.

The disadvantage of air cooling is the increased noise level, which only increases during the operation of the components due to dust entering the fan.

Air cooling system parameters

When choosing a cooler for efficient processor cooling, special attention should be paid to technical issues, because the manufacturer's price policy does not always correspond to the quality of the product. So, the processor cooling system has the following main technical parameters:

1. Socket compatibility (depending on motherboard: AMD or Intel based).
2. System design characteristics (width and height of the structure).
3. Radiator type (types are presented in standard, combined or C-view).
4. Dimensional characteristics of fan blades.
5. Ability to reproduce noise (in other words, the level of noise reproduced by the system).
6. Air quality and power.
7. Weight characteristic (recently, experiments with the weight of the cooler have become topical, which affects the quality of the system in a rather negative way).
8. Heat resistance or heat dissipation, which is relevant only for top models. The indicator is in the range from 40 to 220 W. The higher the value, the more efficient the cooling system.
9. The point where the cooler touches the processor (the connection density is estimated).
10. The way the tubes come into contact with the radiator (soldering, compressing or using direct contact technology).

Most of these parameters ultimately affect the cost of the cooler. But the brand also leaves its mark, so first of all it is worth paying attention to the characteristics of the component part. Otherwise, you can purchase a well-known model, which will turn out to be absolutely useless during subsequent operation.

Socket: compatibility theory

The main consideration when choosing a fan is architecture, i.e. cooling system compatibility with the processor socket. Under an incomprehensible English term, literally meaning "socket", "socket", is a software interface that provides data exchange between various processes.

So, each processor has a certain space and types of mounting on the motherboard. This means, for example, that Intel processor cooling is not suitable for AMD. At the same time, the line of Intel models is represented by both flagship and budget solutions. Cooling of the i7 processor needs more efficient cooling than previous versions of Intel Core, which is suitable. Other Intel based processors (Pentium, Celeron, Xeon, etc.) require an LGA 775 socket.

AMD differs in that a standard fan is not suitable for the components of this manufacturer. AMD CPU coolers are best purchased separately.

There are also visual differences in sockets for AMD and Intel, which will somewhat help even an uninformed PC user to understand the issue. The type of attachment for AMD is a mounting frame on which the brackets with hinges cling. The Intel bracket is a board into which four so-called feet are inserted. In cases where the weight of the fan exceeds the standard figures, screw fasteners are used.

Design characteristics

Not only socket compatibility is an important parameter. You should also pay attention to the width and height of the cooler, because you have to find a place for it in the case of the system unit so that other parts do not interfere with the fan's operation. A video card and RAM modules, if the cooler is incorrectly installed, will interfere with the normal movement of air flows, which in this case, instead of cooling, will contribute to even greater overheating of the entire structure.

Radiator type: standard, C-type or combined?

Currently, there are three types of radiators for the fan:

1. Standard, or tower view.
2. C-type radiator.
3. Combined view.

The standard type provides that tubes parallel to the base pass through the plates. These fans are the most popular. They are slightly bent upwards and are more efficient solution for CPU cooling. The disadvantage of the standard type is that it fits on the back or top of the case along the motherboard. Thus, the air passes only one circle of circulation, and the processor may overheat.

C-type coolers are relieved of this drawback. The C-shaped design of these heatsinks promotes airflow around the processor socket. But it was not without its drawbacks: C-type cooling is less effective than tower cooling.

The flagship solution is the combined type of radiator. This option combines all the advantages of its predecessors, and at the same time is almost completely free from the shortcomings of the c-type or standard type.

Dimensional characteristics of blades

The width, length and curvature of the blades affect the amount of air that will be drawn into the cooling system. Accordingly, the larger the blade size, the greater the volume of air flows, which will improve the cooling of the processor of a laptop or computer. However, you should not go "all bad": the cooling for the processor must correspond to other characteristics of the personal computer.

Cooler noise level

A parameter that manufacturers of cooling systems are trying to improve by almost any means is the noise level reproduced by the cooler. According to most users, cooling for a processor should ideally be not only efficient but also quiet. But this is only in theory. In practice, it will not be possible to completely get rid of noise during the operation of the air system.

Coolers of small sizes emit less noise, which suits users of not particularly powerful computers. Bigger fans generate enough sound to be considered a problem.

Nowadays, most coolers have the ability to react to the amount of heat generated and, accordingly, work in a more active mode if necessary. The processor cooling program does an excellent job of controlling the need for active cooling. So, the noise is no longer constant, but only occurs when the processor is intensively working. The processor cooling software is an excellent solution for small models and undemanding computers.

In matters of noise level regulation, it is worth paying attention to the type of bearing. A budget bearing, and therefore the most popular option, is a plain bearing, but a miser pays twice: having already reached half of the expected service life, it will make an intrusive noise. A better solution is hydrodynamic and rolling bearings. They will last much longer and will not stop coping with the assigned tasks "halfway".

CPU cooler touch point: material

The cooling system is necessary to remove excess thermal energy from the system unit into the environment, but the point of contact of the parts should be as dense as possible. Here, the important criteria for choosing a high-quality cooling system will be the material from which the cooler is made and the degree of smoothness of its surface. The highest quality materials (according to users and technicians) have proven themselves to be aluminum or copper. The surface of the material at the point of contact should be as smooth as possible - without dents, scratches and irregularities.

The way the pipes touch the radiator

If there are visible traces at the junction of the pipes with the radiator in the cooling system, then, most likely, soldering was used for fixing. A device made in this way will be reliable and durable, although soldering has recently been used less and less. Users who managed to purchase a cooler with soldering at the point of contact of the pipes with the radiator note the long service life of the cooling system and the absence of breakdowns.

A more popular way of contacting the pipes with the radiator is a lower quality crimping. Fans made using direct contact technology are also widely used. In this case, heat pipes replace the base of the radiator. To determine a quality product, you should pay attention to the distance between the heat pipes: the smaller it is, the better the cooler will work, since the heat transfer will become more even.

Thermal paste: how often should you change?

Thermal paste is a pasty consistency, it can be of various shades (white, gray, black, blue, light blue). By itself, it does not provide a cooling effect, but it helps to conduct heat from the chip to the heatsink of the cooling system faster. Under normal conditions, an air cushion is formed between them, which has a low thermal conductivity.

Thermal paste should be applied where the cooler directly touches the processor. From time to time, you should replace the substance, because drying out leads to an increase in the degree of processor overload. The optimal "service life" of most modern types of thermal paste, according to user reviews, is one year. For old and reliable brands, the replacement frequency is increased to four years.

Or maybe a standard solution is enough?

Indeed, is it worth buying a cooler separately and generally thinking about a cooling system? The overwhelming majority of processors are sold immediately with a fan. Why go into detail and buy it separately then?

Factory coolers are usually characterized by low performance and high noise reproduction ability. This is noted by both users and specialists. At the same time, a high-quality cooling system is a guarantor of a long and uninterrupted operation of the processor, the safety and integrity of the insides of the computer. The right choice will be the best cooling for the processor, which is not always the standard solution.

Computer technology is developing very, very quickly. Every now and then, new versions of components appear, they begin to apply innovative technologies and solutions. Modern manufacturers provide that the processor cooling system should also be improved.

Only a few companies are now producing high-quality fan designs. Many brands try to distinguish themselves by compatibility with connectors of various types, low noise level of their models, design. Top manufacturers of air cooling systems are THERMALTAKE, COOLER MASTER and XILENCE. The models of these brands are distinguished by high-quality materials and a long service life.