# Antec 900 w/Q6600, cpu cooler suggestions?



## MJDeViant (Jul 12, 2007)

Just wondering, and I've browsed and seen a few, but what's a good CPU cooler that would kind of exhaust out of the side in the Antec 900. There are some seemingly good ones on newegg, but I wondered what you guys thought. I'm guessing since the vent is right there on the side panel that I'd want a CPU cooler that justs exhausts straight out the case. Zahlman and some others look highly recommended, but most zahlmans don't exhaust in the direction I think would be optimal (out the vent on the side) Also, I'm sure the case is great at cooling anyways, but the lower I can get the temp the better. Plus I've heard the Q6600 runs a little warm. Thanks in advance!


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Hi, :wave:

The Zalman 9500 is a good cooler. The fan blows through the fins of the heatsink, so if you point the fan toward either the top fan or even better the rear 120mm fan, then you will get excellent cooling. The HSF will draw air in from the front 120mm fan and will blow it out through the rear 120mm fan. It will actually almost be like a BTX airflow design.


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## pharoah (Aug 28, 2006)

got to agree with matt here everything ive read says that zalman is fantastic.


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## magnethead (Mar 18, 2006)

I'm usint a thermaltake TR2 with a 2.8GHz hyperthread and i can put my hand on the heatsink and it's fine, minimal heat buildup. I actually ran the dell passive heatsink for a while, and while it got hot, it stayed running thanks to the rear 120 and top 200.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

I can put my hand on my stock Intel heatsink (Core 2 Duo E6550) and it is just warm to the touch. My northbridge is another story (you can't even keep a finger on for more then a couple of seconds).


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## pharoah (Aug 28, 2006)

if your northbridge feels that hot matt.i would consider a fan,or upgraded cooler for it.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Its because it has passive cooling. I didn't like Gigabyte's design, but it seems to be working because the northbridge temps never go above 40 degrees. It is a quality copper heatsink, it is just lacking a fan. I can always upgrade the northbridge cooler because there is a NB fan port though.


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## magnethead (Mar 18, 2006)

My dell has passive north bridge..the mobo i'm getting reportedly has super hot north and south bridges, but i don't know that there's any way to cool the southbridge, but i know northbridge coolers are made at least.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Southbridges really don't have a lot of cooling issues, and in the days of the Intel 925X king, the southbridge didn't even need a heatsink.

As for the northbridge, an active heatsink is always a plus, but really the only downside to a passive cooling design is the massive heatsinks you see.


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## Drunkship (Aug 22, 2007)

I am running a Q6600 in a Antec 900 and I use a Zalman 9700.


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## Doby (Jan 17, 2006)

> Its because it has passive cooling. I didn't like Gigabyte's design, but it seems to be working because the northbridge temps never go above 40 degrees.


I wonder if thats reading the core temp because if it uses a sensor they usually read pretty close to what the heatsink temp is and if you can't keep your finger on the heatsink its in the high 60'sC


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

The core temp is a different reading in SpeedFan. I will have to investigate further.


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## scharnhorst (Apr 6, 2007)

I got a thermaltake v1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106102 cooling my q6600
I had a zalman 9500 and my thermaltake lowered the temps several degrees c. Not to mention I found it a little bit more quiet.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

That is a good cooler. The thermaltake typhoon is another good one but it is BIG with its 120mm fan.


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## scharnhorst (Apr 6, 2007)

Almost got the big typhoon but when I compared the cooling results between the two and I realized just how much easier the v1 is to install it was a no brainer. http://www.digital-daily.com/cooling/thermaltake_v1/
Just ordered two new replacement fans for my tt armor and two more completely new fans to add to the case including that h uge 25cm side fan. should be able to do some real damage now if I ever get my computer to work


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## damonhill0 (Jul 29, 2007)

I got the Thermalright Ultra 90 cooling my E6750. Hovers at 23C idle. Are the Quad Core's that much hotter?


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## scharnhorst (Apr 6, 2007)

YEAH! basically doubling the e6600 which for my brother runs about 25c at idle with a zalman 9500 heatsink, so doubling that and you get the quad core. To me atleast it was worth ever dime, taking everything i could throw at it far better than i could've hoped. Love to multitask and its great for that. When i get my comp up and running again put pics but if you want to see the before pics 
http://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php?showtopic=224142&st=0&gopid=3475998&#entry3475998


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