Underclocking to enable a "passively cooled" CPU?

cavornex · 26-November-06, 09:54 AM

I'll trade performance for silence. I'm thinking of implementing a passively cooled PSU and VGA - and a passively cooled procs.

The Mod I have in mind is anchored on using a towering heat pipe cpu cooler (like the Asus Silent Square Pro)....minus the fan.

My case is Antec Lanboy (the rear 120mm I'll use as intake to blow on the cpu heatsink; while the front 120mmm fan will serve as the exhaust fan. Those are just about the only 2 fan that will run.

So my question is, will underclocking an e6400 for example, will make it cool enough so as not to require its heatpipe cooler not running a fan?

RBIEZE · 26-November-06, 10:00 AM

Its possible,you'll just have to try and see.
Set your bios to shut down the mobo if it gets to hot.

Theres alot of info about this on HTPC forums too...

you should also try lowering the voltage and running prime 95 /memtest etc to see if its still stable.

$SOLID$ Necro · 26-November-06, 03:55 PM

Yes, I have done testing on an AMD XP, and found it ran just fine without a fan when I ran the CPU at stock speeds and less than stock volts.

That is an older hotter CPU then the Conroe, so you should not even need to underclock it, I would however try and run lower than stock voltage to reduce the temps even further.

Watch your CPU load and your case temps, they can get quite toasty if you have lots of HD's or other add ons!

RBIEZE had some good tips, make sure you do them!

FunkyStickman · 26-November-06, 06:51 PM

A great tech website that has a whole section for this kind of thing is Silent PC Review. They have lists of the quietest drives, do reviews of powersave features and underclocking and so forth. Well worth a read.

EvilClown · 26-November-06, 07:32 PM

You shouldn't have to underclock it, I ran my Dothan 755 without a fan and just using a large heatpipe cooler, it worked fine, and even allowed me overclock by 400mhz or so.

The conroes run quite cool, with a large enough cooler, it should be fine.

26-November-06, 09:54 AM		#1 (permalink)
cavornex Apex Techie Wannabe	Underclocking to enable a "passively cooled" CPU? I'll trade performance for silence. I'm thinking of implementing a passively cooled PSU and VGA - and a passively cooled procs. The Mod I have in mind is anchored on using a towering heat pipe cpu cooler (like the Asus Silent Square Pro)....minus the fan. My case is Antec Lanboy (the rear 120mm I'll use as intake to blow on the cpu heatsink; while the front 120mmm fan will serve as the exhaust fan. Those are just about the only 2 fan that will run. So my question is, will underclocking an e6400 for example, will make it cool enough so as not to require its heatpipe cooler not running a fan?

26-November-06, 10:00 AM		#2 (permalink)
RBIEZE Apex Tech Demi-God	Re: Underclocking to enable a "passively cooled" CPU? Its possible,you'll just have to try and see. Set your bios to shut down the mobo if it gets to hot. Theres alot of info about this on HTPC forums too... you should also try lowering the voltage and running prime 95 /memtest etc to see if its still stable.

26-November-06, 03:55 PM		#3 (permalink)
$SOLID$ Necro Mastah Overclocker	Re: Underclocking to enable a "passively cooled" CPU? Yes, I have done testing on an AMD XP, and found it ran just fine without a fan when I ran the CPU at stock speeds and less than stock volts. That is an older hotter CPU then the Conroe, so you should not even need to underclock it, I would however try and run lower than stock voltage to reduce the temps even further. Watch your CPU load and your case temps, they can get quite toasty if you have lots of HD's or other add ons! RBIEZE had some good tips, make sure you do them!

26-November-06, 06:51 PM		#4 (permalink)
FunkyStickman Linux Warrior	Re: Underclocking to enable a "passively cooled" CPU? A great tech website that has a whole section for this kind of thing is Silent PC Review. They have lists of the quietest drives, do reviews of powersave features and underclocking and so forth. Well worth a read.

26-November-06, 07:32 PM		#5 (permalink)
EvilClown Evil 'Tweaking' Clown	Re: Underclocking to enable a "passively cooled" CPU? You shouldn't have to underclock it, I ran my Dothan 755 without a fan and just using a large heatpipe cooler, it worked fine, and even allowed me overclock by 400mhz or so. The conroes run quite cool, with a large enough cooler, it should be fine.

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