Value Cooling: Two Towers for under $30
by Wesley Fink on January 23, 2007 3:50 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Final Words
Effective CPU cooling is really very simple and should accomplish the following:
The Thermalright MST-9775 is a good replacement for the Intel HSF for those looking for value, small cases, or traveling PCs. It cools better than the Intel retail HSF and allows overclocking about 50MHz further than the stock HSF. Installation on the Intel Socket 775 (Socket T) is very easy - as easy as the Intel retail unit. Noise is below the retail CPU at low auto speeds and a bit louder at higher fan speeds. The MST-9775 is small and should fit almost any motherboard and case combo. If you need something even smaller Thermalright has a low-profile OEM model. The MST-9775 also features a 4-pin fan connector that allows pin 4 to control fan speed.
The Thermalright disadvantages are that it will only fit Socket 775. Of course that is where today's best overclocking chips reside, so it is only a disadvantage if you are trying to OC and cool a processor that fits a different socket.
The Scythe Katana also cools better than the Intel retail HSF. In fact at most speeds it cools better than the Thermalright. This is mainly due to the fact that the Katana does not have a variable fan speed like the MST-9775 has. The Katana overclocks further than the retail HSF and slightly outperforms the OC of the Thermalright. The Katana is also a universal heatsink, and comes with the necessary hardware to fit any current socket except AM2. If you are cooling Socket A the Katana is probably the best cooler you can buy, as it is one of the very few to actually meet the Socket A weight limit of 300g.
The universal fit of Katana is also its downfall. Installation on Socket 775 is absolutely horrible, requiring more time and patience than most people possess. However, if you hang in there and attach Katana while the motherboard is out of the case you will be rewarded with very good performance on Core 2 Duo. Katana also does not have a fan controller, which means it is a bit noisier than the Intel retail HSF. You can add a fan controller and correct this or opt for the more expensive Katana CU which includes a fan controller.
Both the Thermalright MST-9775 and the Scythe Katana are good values at a cost of around $25. They perform better than the Intel retail HSF, though not by a huge margin. However, neither of these bargain towers challenges the top tower heatsinks like the Tuniq Tower 120 in cooling and overclocking efficiency. The MST-9775 and Katana may do all you want to do and they are both worth the money. For those buyers you have found a solution. If you move your PC a lot you should also consider one of these lightweight towers. But those looking for the best air cooling available and the best overclocking of their processor will be better served with a top of the line tower cooler like the Tuniq Tower 120.
Effective CPU cooling is really very simple and should accomplish the following:
- Lowering the processor temperature compared to the retail HSF. If an after market cooling solution does not perform better than the kit heatsink, there is no real reason to buy it.
- Higher overclocking compared to the retail HSF. A cooler CPU could result in a longer CPU life, but most users upgrade cooling to overclock even further than is possible with a stock HSF.
- Lower noise than Stock Cooling. For some this is an optional requirement, while for others it is extremely important. Effective cooling and noise reduction are often at odds in effective cooling, but some coolers manage this task better than others.
The Thermalright MST-9775 is a good replacement for the Intel HSF for those looking for value, small cases, or traveling PCs. It cools better than the Intel retail HSF and allows overclocking about 50MHz further than the stock HSF. Installation on the Intel Socket 775 (Socket T) is very easy - as easy as the Intel retail unit. Noise is below the retail CPU at low auto speeds and a bit louder at higher fan speeds. The MST-9775 is small and should fit almost any motherboard and case combo. If you need something even smaller Thermalright has a low-profile OEM model. The MST-9775 also features a 4-pin fan connector that allows pin 4 to control fan speed.
The Thermalright disadvantages are that it will only fit Socket 775. Of course that is where today's best overclocking chips reside, so it is only a disadvantage if you are trying to OC and cool a processor that fits a different socket.
The Scythe Katana also cools better than the Intel retail HSF. In fact at most speeds it cools better than the Thermalright. This is mainly due to the fact that the Katana does not have a variable fan speed like the MST-9775 has. The Katana overclocks further than the retail HSF and slightly outperforms the OC of the Thermalright. The Katana is also a universal heatsink, and comes with the necessary hardware to fit any current socket except AM2. If you are cooling Socket A the Katana is probably the best cooler you can buy, as it is one of the very few to actually meet the Socket A weight limit of 300g.
The universal fit of Katana is also its downfall. Installation on Socket 775 is absolutely horrible, requiring more time and patience than most people possess. However, if you hang in there and attach Katana while the motherboard is out of the case you will be rewarded with very good performance on Core 2 Duo. Katana also does not have a fan controller, which means it is a bit noisier than the Intel retail HSF. You can add a fan controller and correct this or opt for the more expensive Katana CU which includes a fan controller.
Both the Thermalright MST-9775 and the Scythe Katana are good values at a cost of around $25. They perform better than the Intel retail HSF, though not by a huge margin. However, neither of these bargain towers challenges the top tower heatsinks like the Tuniq Tower 120 in cooling and overclocking efficiency. The MST-9775 and Katana may do all you want to do and they are both worth the money. For those buyers you have found a solution. If you move your PC a lot you should also consider one of these lightweight towers. But those looking for the best air cooling available and the best overclocking of their processor will be better served with a top of the line tower cooler like the Tuniq Tower 120.
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Vidmar - Wednesday, January 24, 2007 - link
Thanks for the info. Now I wonder if someone is making a CPU cooler where the heatpipes are setup to be in a somewhat vertical orientation when the case is vertical?If you look at some GPU and chipset heatpipe coolers they obviously had that in mind with their design. Hot gas will flow up, gravity will pull the cool liquid down.
I would be willing to bet (based upon the heatpipe design) that Thermalright MST-9775 would have done better in a horizontal orientation than when in a vertical orientation. Can you re-test the Thermalright MST-9775 in a vertical orientation and see if it made any difference?
Thanks!
Vidmar - Wednesday, January 24, 2007 - link
That should have been "Can you re-test the Thermalright MST-9775 in a horizontal orientation and see if it made any difference?"anandtech02148 - Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - link
just curious, with a 520wtt psu, does psu fan spin constantly?the hardwares you have seems to indicate this will utilized 80% of the psu, what's the total load power for this?
will this run stable if you put a 8800gtx instead of 7900gtx?
now i can visit Anandtech too for cooler reviews instead of Frostytech.com, great start with the under $30 coolers
Wesley Fink - Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - link
The OCZ 520w PS handles a pair of overclocked 7900GTX in SLI mode just fine. We have destoyed power supplies with higher wattage ratings with this same configuration. It is also quiet for a PS, which is why it is also used in the hard drive test bed. We had no problem with a single 8800GTX in this test rig, but we have not yet tried 8800GTX SLI in this rig.ninethirty - Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - link
Wondering -- for those of us with space-challenged cases, could you mention the height of the coolers in question? For people who can't fit a Tuniq Tower, the limitation is likely to be height.If it's already mentioned somewhere, then I apologize for missing it.
Wesley Fink - Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - link
The Katana is 130mm tall (5.11") and the standard Thermalright MST-9775 is 71mm (2.8"). Thermalright also makes a shorter OEM version of the MST-9775 called the MST-9775 LE that is said to fit any case configuration available.The Tuniq Tower 120 in contrast is 155mm tall and mid-tower cases are said to be 190mm on average in the heatsink height dimension.
yyrkoon - Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - link
I second that motion. I have an Lian Li PC-G50, and the PSU sits right above the CPU, only aftermarket cooler I can think of that may fit, would be the Ole Gigabyte one (which if memory serves, it was a pretty good cooler).banshee164 - Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - link
No offense guys, but aren't you just a little behind with the heatsinks here? The Katana has been out for a year & a half now, and the MST-9775 has been around since the summer...Wesley Fink - Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - link
While the Katana has been out for a year and a half, most earlier reviews tested it on the hot Pressler or a Socket 939 AMD. Performance on the Core 2 Duo is quite different, and C2D has only been available about 6 months.We are testing some of the older and more popular coolers that are still available because what was true of the Katana on Pressler or AMD is certainly NOT the case on Core 2 Duo.
JarredWalton - Tuesday, January 23, 2007 - link
If you've been around AnandTech for a while, you know we haven't done cooling reviews in quite some time. The idea is to establish a baseline of testing results for some of the popular coolers, even if they've been out a while and over time we will be adding more cooler results. Basically, we have to start somewhere and move forward. Luckily, unlike motherboards, GPUs, and some other components, HSFs tend to have a pretty long shelf-life (at least for the effective solutions).