Passive tower cooler

[unatomic]

I am starting a project of a 100% passive small factor PC, i3-6100, 1050ti palit passive gpu. Case probably custom wall-mounted and open.

 

I have narrowed my list down to the following cpu coolers available to me:

-Coolermaster Hyper H412R

-Coolermaster Masterair MA410P

-Enermax T50

-Coolermaster Hyper 612 v2

 

I am trying to cool an i3-6100 (office/extremely light gaming)

Since I will not install any fans at all, what would the best choice be?

 

I know that the 612 is a huge beast and I am ready to accept the size if it is 100% needed but obviously a smaller size is wanted.

 

All coolers have cooper heat pipes with direct contact with the cpu.

Probably what will have the most impact:

4x heat pipes: H412, MA410P

5x heat pipes: T50

6x heat pipes: 612

 

What would be the minimum cpu cooler to get? Any other honorable mentions you would like to add?

Edited January 4, 2021 by unatomic
Adding more info

[Alex Atkin UK]

23 minutes ago, unatomic said:

What would be the minimum cpu cooler to get? Any other honorable mentions you would like to add?

The only way to go entirely passive is to get a case that is actually the heatsink, and even then your CPU IS going to end up in the 90C+ range and thermal throttle under heavy load.  Its also likely to stress the motherboard and particularly the CPU VRMs, possibly cook your storage.

 

I have an i5 7200U appliance (designed as a router with 100% passive cooling) as my router and even that hits 90C if I stress the CPU.

[narrdarr]

neither one one these replies are 100% true. we need more info. like what case and gpu are you using?

[unatomic]

Yes, I can understand all the above comments.

I added more specifications above:

-probably open case

-passive cooled 1050ti palit

 

PS: I have used the gpu on my original PC and it is a beast for what it is.

[narrdarr]

35 minutes ago, unatomic said:

Yes, I can understand all the above comments.

I added more specifications above:

-probably open case

-passive cooled 1050ti palit

 

PS: I have used the gpu on my original PC and it is a beast for what it is.

first there is nothing beastly about a 1050 ti. LULZ

 

i wouldn't use any of those coolers  you'll want something like:

nh d15

dark rock 4 pro

scyth ninja 5

thermalright macho (any rev)

thermalright silver arrow (ib-e, 130, t8)

thermalright grand macho

raijintek EREBOSS CORE

raijintek TISIS CORE

raijintek TISIS

silverstone HE02

 

all of these coolers are probably over kill even when using them to passively cool that cpu

silverstone also has fanless psu that are solid

[unatomic]

Quote

first there is nothing beastly about a 1050 ti. LULZ

as I said for a passive cooled 1050ti:

Quote

a beast for what it is.

 

 

Well... I am leaning towards the dark rock 4 pro and scythe ninja 5.

 

However, I fail to understand why the Hyper 612 v2 is not a decent contender given that it could theoretically take the ninja 5 head on.

[freeagent]

Mainly because coolermaster sucks.

Out of the coolers listed, only Le Grand Macho RT is rated to 90w in semi passive mode.

[narrdarr]

3 hours ago, unatomic said:

as I said for a passive cooled 1050ti:

 

 

Well... I am leaning towards the dark rock 4 pro and scythe ninja 5.

 

However, I fail to understand why the Hyper 612 v2 is not a decent contender given that it could theoretically take the ninja 5 head on.

Sorry you are correct the 612 v2 should work too. I just haven't seen anyone use that cooler.

[Ralf]

10 hours ago, unatomic said:

I have narrowed my list down to the following cpu coolers available to me:

-Coolermaster Hyper H412R

-Coolermaster Masterair MA410P

-Enermax T50

 

I know that the 612 is a huge beast(139 x 102 x 160.4) and I am ready to accept the size if it is 100% needed but obviously a smaller size is wanted.

Are only those baby coolers available? I would rather buy one that's actually huge(150 x 146.5 x 159) like the Thermalright Le Grand Macho RT

[freeagent]

The only real way to know is to try it. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can’t. I know with LGMRT I could run my 3770K semi passively at 4500Mhz and it could run linpack xtreme/ibt no problem, temps under 90, case fans @ 5v. I know my 212 could barely handle it at 4300 with a fan. I could probably run my 3600 XT with no fan at stock settings. I’ll try later.

[narrdarr]

3 hours ago, freeagent said:

Mainly because coolermaster sucks.

Out of the coolers listed, only Le Grand Macho RT is rated to 90w in semi passive mode.

 The i3 6100 is only a 50w chip and all of these coolers have enough thermal mass to handle it.

 

[For Science!]

4 hours ago, unatomic said:

as I said for a passive cooled 1050ti:

 

 

Well... I am leaning towards the dark rock 4 pro and scythe ninja 5.

 

However, I fail to understand why the Hyper 612 v2 is not a decent contender given that it could theoretically take the ninja 5 head on.

Don't forget that Noctua's massive purpose designed passive heatsink is supposedly coming out this quarter. This would be my first bet, if it fits in the case

 

 

https://bit-tech.net/news/noctua-starts-mass-production-of-its-passive-cpu-cooler/1/

 

https://hexus.net/tech/news/cooling/144454-noctuas-hulking-passive-cpu-cooler-delayed-q1-2021/

[freeagent]

Just now, narrdarr said:

 The i3 6100 is only a 50w chip and all of these coolers have enough thermal mass to handle it.

 

Well you see, there’s the problem right there. I thought it was a 6700.

[narrdarr]

15 minutes ago, freeagent said:

Well you see, there’s the problem right there. I thought it was a 6700.

Lol. Yea that happens sometimes. 

 

I would have narrow or changed my recs if it was a 6700.

 

Personally not sure why the op is putting any more $$ in to this build as it would be better spent on upgrading the system. But projects are fun and sometime you just have to work with what you have

[unatomic]

Quote

Out of the coolers listed, only Le Grand Macho RT is rated to 90w in semi passive mode.

That is the problem right there! I have no data in one place to work with and calculate what rating each cooler has in semi-passive and in passive mode to decide what to get.

There was a very nice and helpful website, 1-2 or maybe 3 years ago that had deep analysis of each cpu cooler (both mainstream and not so known models) along with the db levels and scores for several cpu models. Unfortunately I can not find it and my guess is that it is deactivated for some reason.

[unatomic]

Quote

Don't forget that Noctua's massive purpose designed passive heatsink is supposedly coming out this quarter. This would be my first bet, if it fits in the case

Oh no my dear friend... that thing will cost as much as this project pc that I am working on. I will put that titan in a pc that  will have the horsepower to be called "Fanless PC". Now I am just playing, learning and building something usable along the way.

[unatomic]

I would like to thank everyone for the answers and knowledge.

 

Generally, I thought that with a budget up to 50 would be more than enough to do what I have in mind. That is why I was looking at a Hyper H412R. I can burn some money there but of course I try to avoid it.

 

Now, armed with a little more knowledge, I am going to 'borrow' a scythe mugen 5 to run some tests.

 

As I said, I am learning... correction re-learning along the way...  please feel free to drop any idea that comes to mind!

[freeagent]

All good my friend, can’t know everything when you are new! A good cooler that cost me 50 bucks was the True Spirit 140 Power. It’s got 6x 8mm pipes.. it might work ok for what you are doing.

 

There is a formula for how much a heat pipe can dissipate, if google fails then I will see if I can dig it up for you after I finish up what I’m doing.

[narrdarr]

Might as Well get something beefy. Then you'll have it for future builds that may need better cooling

[WoodenMarker]

A heatsink with widely spaced fins would be optimal for passive cooling. The Cooler Master Hyper 612 v2 is better than some of the other coolers mentioned in this regard. 

Where are you shopping / located?

[narrdarr]

1 hour ago, WoodenMarker said:

A heatsink with widely spaced fins would be optimal for passive cooling. The Cooler Master Hyper 612 v2 is better than some of the other coolers mentioned in this regard. 

Where are you shopping / located?

Idk about that. For example the ninja 4 (hard to find now) has a thicker fin density then the ninja 5 performs better in passive cooling.

[Jeppes]

Just run a 400-500rpm fan. You wont hear it.

[WoodenMarker]

22 minutes ago, narrdarr said:

Idk about that. For example the ninja 4 (hard to find now) has a thicker fin density then the ninja 5 performs better in passive cooling.

The Ninja 4 has 36 fins at 155mm compared to the Ninja 5 which has 41 fins at 158mm. Although that's not an exact fin spacing measurement, it seems like the Ninja 5 has higher fin density.

[narrdarr]

8 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

The Ninja 4 has 36 fins at 155mm compared to the Ninja 5 which has 41 fins at 158mm. Although that's not an exact fin spacing measurement, it seems like the Ninja 5 has higher fin density.

I'll have to look more into this than. I just remember reading a few thing on it.

But from what I have gathered a cooler with with thicker fin density with areas of grouped heat pipes perform best. Example:

A 6 heat pipe design cooler. With it's own dense fin stack on each set (aka 4x3) with some spacing between each set would be the best. ( I hope what I'm trying to say makes sense?)

Not that the best of the best matters in this use case but just in a general use case, so long size of the cooler matters. 

[WoodenMarker]

51 minutes ago, narrdarr said:

I'll have to look more into this than. I just remember reading a few thing on it.

But from what I have gathered a cooler with with thicker fin density with areas of grouped heat pipes perform best. Example:

A 6 heat pipe design cooler. With it's own dense fin stack on each set (aka 4x3) with some spacing between each set would be the best. ( I hope what I'm trying to say makes sense?)

Not that the best of the best matters in this use case but just in a general use case, so long size of the cooler matters. 

More fins is better until the fin spacing is too narrow for good convection. It's why good passive coolers have such wide spacing -- look at the passive Noctua cooler. 

Here are some examples:

https://www.qats.com/cms/2010/09/08/how-heat-sink-fin-spacing-plays-a-key-role-in-natural-convection-cooling-and-how-you-can-optimize-it/

https://www.powerelectronics.com/content/article/21856869/optimize-fin-spacing-how-close-is-too-close