Titan Fenrir Evo & Gigabyte GA-P55-US3L problem

[macabdul]

MoBo - GA-P55-US3L
CPU - i5 750
2 X 2GB Corsair Dominator dual channel memory
GPU - Nvidia GTX 289
Case - Antec 300

Not sure if all MoBo memory slots are numbered in the same order so here's mine in case - 2,1,4,3


I've decided to upgrade the stock cooler that came with my i5 750 to a Titan Fenrir Evo and put simply I'm having problems with orienting it because of the memory sticks.

I use 2 sticks of memory in dual channel mode which uses slots 1 and 3 (I've also upgraded my memory to 2X2GB).

I did look at all the reviews I could and a few of them said that the fan on the cooler would block the first slot, slot 2 on channel zero on some MoBo's. This was no problem for me as I don't use this first slot anyway.

It arrived yesterday (and compared to the stock cooler is a glorious beast) so I set about stripping my computer to fit it.

I'm sure you can imagine the next bit. It actually covers slots 2 and 1, the whole of channel zero - leaving me with only channel one.

Yes, I could leave it like this but then the memory is not running in dual channel.

Though the fitting instructions say that for best operation the fan should blow through the fins on the cooler I looked at just turning the thing around and turning the fan around so it sucks through the fins but this put the fan about a quarter inch from my rear exhaust fan. I even considered having it in the north/south orientation but as the fins are longer than they are wide they still cover channel zero.

I've put the stock cooler back on for now.

And also, when I tried a post test with the Titan installed the fan didn't actually spin.

Is there anyway to test this fan and any ideas/suggestions on fitting the Titan (apart from a new MoBo of course)

The good thing is that next year (April (ish)) I'll be doing an upgrade of the MoBo, CPU an GPU (looking at the i7 extreme but we'll see) and so will be able to purchase a MoBo with the Titan in mind.

I do have the CPU overclocked from 2.6 to 3.2MHz but was looking to over-clock a little more and then over-clock the GPU but the stock cooler wouldn't handle a much higher over-clock.

Any help/suggestions with the cooler appreciated.

[DaveLembke]

Have you thought about liquid cooling. This would allow for you to mount a heatsink and then draw the heat away to a heat exchanger that can be placed in an area that is less critical to other component clearances and open up the area around your CPU and RAM from a huge heatsink at which you would have a smaller heatsink with 2 barbed tip tubes with the inlet and outlet for your liquid coolant. ( Be sure that the heat exchanger is mounted in a location where it can vent out the heat from the case, you dont want it to roast everything in your case like an oven if for example it was placed on the bottom of the case and only relying on the PSU fan to cool the entire box.)

[patio]

Any fan that made me give up 2 RAM slots...much less 3 would be on it's way to the return bin.

[macabdul]

I'd read a few other people turned the fan around and though not as cool it still worked. I've done the same and though it's only about an inch from the rear case fan I've turned the actual cooler fan backwards so it pulls instead of pushes. This works with the rear fan, a bit like having 2 fans both pulling.

It work great. At the moment my legs under the table can really feel that cold air.

I'd run Prime95's blend test through RealTempGT Sensor Test (a 10 min test) and the results speak for themselves.

With the intel original fan on the temps were - Min idle before Prime: 32, 31, 31, 32 - Max after Prime: 73,72,71,74

With the new fan fitted the temps are now  -  Min idle before Prime: 27, 26, 28, 25 - Max after Prime: 44,43,44,44

This was without any over-clock.

And I can use all 4GB (2x"GB) of memory now in dual channel mode so a gain all round and when I upgrade the CPU, GPU and MoBo next year I'll use this fan and make sure I get a MoBo it fits the proper way on (though I am considering the Corsair H70 water cooler for that).

The only thing I'd want to point out to anyone with the same MoBo who may want to fit this particular fan is that even backwards you can't still use all four memory slots as the top bezel that holds the fan to the back plate will always be in the way of the front memory slot. Yes, you could be drastic and use a hacksaw or similar to cut off the two pieces on the top bezel which are in the way of the first memory slot (for this MoBo and cooler they aren't needed) but, as I said, that's a bit drastic.

(I've just noticed that at the top I put GTX289 for the GPU. It's actually a GTX285)

[patio]

Just so i'm up to speed here...
You have an overpriced/oversized CPU fan that needs to be mounted backwards in order for it to accomodate your wishes...
And you want feedback on doing this ? ?

[macabdul]

Well, yea.

And you say it like I knew I'd have a problem fitting it. Nowhere did I read that it's oversized (and as this is the very first after market cooler I've ever purchased I'd bow to anyone more experienced in these matters) and nowhere did it tell me it may not fit some socket 1156 MoBo's without covering the first two memory sockets. Yes, admittedly, a few reviews did say it might get in the way of the very first memory socket but as in my current rig I have no intention of using more than 2 sockets (Windows XP Pro so a maximum of 4GB and I'm now using 2x2GB so believed (incorrectly) that I'd be fine) again, I thought it would fit. And it's not as if I have the smallest MoBo on the market. It's a standard ATX, the same size as most reviewers were using.

And as for overpriced, eh? Someone else may be better placed than me to say wether the Titan Fenrir Evo is overpriced over that side of the pond but over here it's one of the cheapest. Approximately, at current sterling/dollar conversion rates I paid $44.00.

And not that I want to advertise any companies wares but surely you've heard of the Titan Fenrir?

So after years of being interested in building a computer I finally did it some months ago. Even posted on these forums about it and got some help and became a member of the SBCC (though for the life of me I'm not sure what happens to my badge/icon ).  So, I didn't know it was oversized (is it?), I didn't know my board was undersized (again, is it?) and as I have zero experience of after market coolers and nothing on the manufactures site gave any help and there was nothing on the internet (I could find anyway) before I purchased it I wondered if I might be missing something when it came time to fitting it and (obviously) thought there may well be someone out there with experience of these things. But my mistake.

[BC_Programmer]

And as for overpriced, eh? Someone else may be better placed than me to say wether the Titan Fenrir Evo is overpriced over that side of the pond but over here it's one of the cheapest. Approximately, at current sterling/dollar conversion rates I paid $44.00.

Aftermarket coolers, are, in general, overpriced and unless you are doing a lot of overclocking, entirely unnecessary. I say that because all CPUs come with a heatsink fan combo. Many people- and the sellers of aftermarket coolers - like to claim that they are suboptimal. But It would be just plain stupid for AMD or Intel to have a 3 year warranty on something and then give people sub-par coolers that will make them invoke that warranty.

So, I didn't know it was oversized (is it?)

If it's bigger then the stock cooler, it's oversized. Of you work with a oversized cooler it's more a "your on your own" type of thing when it comes to getting stuff to fit properly... unless the case is designed for oversized coolers, I guess.

I didn't know my board was undersized (again, is it?)

Nobody said it was... or even implied it, even.

and as I have zero experience of after market coolers and nothing on the manufactures site gave any help and there was nothing on the internet (I could find anyway) before I purchased it I wondered if I might be missing something when it came time to fitting it and (obviously) thought there may well be someone out there with experience of these things. But my mistake.

While I don't doubt there are many members with experience using aftermarket coolers (I've used a few for Socket 7, but nothing later) the fact that everything wasn't fitting properly should have raised a sort of red flag. I don't know the particular situation with the original stock heatsink (with regard to getting it oriented properly because of the memory sticks).

The main problem with aftermarket coolers is you have two types- you have the type that are actually designed to cool more efficiently then the stock, and you have the ones that are designed to look pretty. There is very little overlap. CPU thermal management is something that requires at least a little thought; many of the aftermarket cooler manufacturers (wether this particular one applies to this or not I do not know) simply stick a fan on a shiny piece of metal (usually in a  gaudy silver or gold color, sometimes even red, despite the clear fact that paint is not particularly conducive to heat transfer). And the ones that do cool more effectively are overkill unless you are or you plan to overclock your processor, which IMO (and some members here do disagree) is a waste of time in and of itself.


The CPU cooler fan, should ALWAYS blow air down into the heatsink, or, at least, it should only blow the other way with specific cooling solutions designed for that direction of airflow. Planes don't fly very well backwards, for example, because they were designed to fly forwards; the same is true at least in some sense with CPU coolers. The main problem I have with the whole approach is not necessarily that you used an aftermarket cooler, but rather that you are using an aftermarket cooler (which, presumably boasts better cooling ability then the stock fan) and using it in a sub-optimal manner, making all your efforts sort of vain in a way.

[macabdul]

  Ha ha ha ha, oh how I laughed. A fine, fine piece of advice sir. I especially liked the bit about airplanes not flying backwards. I'll be sure to check the pilot knows what he's doing next time I have to fly.

I'm actually using the after market cooler 'in a sub-optimal manner' (wish I knew how to do the whole quoting small sections thing) as it still cools under load an average of 29 centigrade below intel's own cooler even though positioned south to east instead of in the east to south position with the fan pulling the air through the fins from the back of the case instead of pushing the air through from the fins from front of the case. The actual air flow is still the same; front to back. This cooler was not designed to blow the air down onto the CPU but using heat transference (cold and heat tend to swap places) to pull the heat up through the heat pipes from the CPU to be spread into the fins and then cooled (and I'm aware I may be teaching my Gran to suck eggs).

I'm also using it because I can't send it back and don't want to have wasted money (oh how I wished I'd gone for the Corsair H50 or H70) and it cools (even with the fan pulling instead of pushing) very well indeed and means I can over clock a bit more than I have already.

As for the merits of over-clocking or not - I've found it to be a gain, I can see the difference. Not when using the computer for everyday things such as using the internet, reading mail etc but it has made a difference in the games I play. They are smoother, less lag and higher FPS (frames per second not first person shooter) ect. I'm sure if I over-clock the GPU I'd see better gains but thats a subject I know even less about than over-clocking the CPU.

Though someone else would maybe know why, it's even helped the temps on the GPU. It idled at 39 and went to 43 under load but now idles at 32 and under load at 36/37 so, to my way of thinking, a gain all round. Surely there can be nothing wrong with a faster, cooler computer no matter how it was done.

[BC_Programmer]

the Graphics card might be cooler because the way the CPU fan was mounted is causing more air circulation around it.


As for overclocking it's a opinion thing really. I just don't see how we were able to get by with 20Mhz 386 machines costing thousands of dollars (sometimes even tens of thousands) without overclocking or really even touching the hardware (Except maybe to install that new VGA accelerator card) and yet now some people feel they need to overclock quad cores and i7's/i5's to "squeeze out their money's worth" when they often cost ~1000 dollars/pounds for a high-end machine.