Intitial Temp Setup Pic
Why thank you!
The cooler is actually a Xigmatek Dark Knight cooler with Noctua fans on it
Xigmatek Dark Knight SD-1283 Night Hawk Edition CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) [CAC-SXHH3-U13]. I had purchased the Noctua NH-D14 but the heatsinks on the RAM stick up too far (they're huge) and the Noctua is quite wide and the two just aren't compatible. Needed a much more narrow cooler and this one fit the bill, plus it looks pretty with the black ceramic coating.
The Noctua fans are quiet! Like, without the GPU fan running, you can hardly tell the machine is on even with 6 x 120mm fans running. The Nvidia card is the noisiest part, but it's not too bad. The case is quiet and has foam panels in the sides. I also used Noctua fans in the HTPC in the living room and, again, it's the GPU that is the loudest part of that build.
The LEDs on the RAM aren't really that bright. They cast a cool blue glow on the area around them, but it's not overwhelming. Supposedly you can get different colour light bars for them, but I don't have a window on the case and don't particularly care for such things. I like the black featureless monolith look.
I want to see a pic of your build when you're done!
My bad. I just saw the Noctura fans and assumed. But, looking at it now I can see that it is in deed the The Dark Knight II Night Hawk Heat Sink just like mine that I had to RMA on Saturday!!! You should be able to see the square Hole in the front of the box. Plus the box had been opened from the bottom and was messed up. The hardware was NOT in the top of the foam where it belonged either.
So, it was obviously an open box return that they sent me instead of a new one like a I bought. Here's a Pic:
One of the damn standoff's threads had too much plating on it and it wouldn't screw into the back plate and the thumb nut wouldn't go on it either.
I was pissed that a 25 cent piece of hardware was holding up my build.
So, I decided to just go ahead and put the stock heat sink in it and get it built and setup.
Here's a quick Pic before turning the top HDD rack back in line with the bottom one and before adding a 1 TB Barracuda I had laying around.
After getting it together and hooking up the monitors, I selected a Wallpaper that reflected how I felt. This is the two eIPS 24" UltraSharps and my OLD UltraSharp 17" that I turned up into Portrait to be close in size vertically.
The extra RAM is helping with my extended browser sessions. Here's a pic of my latest TAB COUNT in FF.
BTW, everyone assumes that I'm using XP because of the GOLD pointer. ROFLMFAO!!
I've been copying my OLD Cursor folder from XP to all my new installs. I just REALLY like that GOLD pointer better than the White, Black, or Outlined ones.
I'll post up a better PIC of the box after I get the Dark Knight cooler and the 3TB Barracuda I have coming installed.
BTW, I had thought of just leaving the STOCK cooler on it for now. But, after getting basic programs installed, it went from 32-34*c at idle to hovering around 40*c now. Then I ran Sandra Soft Business just to give it a "little" stress before hitting it with Prime95 and the damn CPU SHOT UP to over 73*c at 99% load!!!!
So, no more pushing it until I get the DK back. I had decided against the Noctura Heatsink also, since it was TOO wide and REALLY HEAVY.
I was gonna do you like you did, and may still have too, and get Noctura fans to put on the DK. Had you tried it first with the sTOCK DK fans before getting the Noctura's?
I have 4 140mm case fans running at 1,100PRMs, the PSU fan on the regular/normal setting so it constantly runs, and the twin fans on the GPU. Absolute SILENCE in the Fractal Case.
But let me tell you, I don't know if it's the Noise dampening padding or the metal, but the case weighs 40lbs. overall and the side panels have to be at least 13lbs. each on their own. LOL
I have no Window either. It actually BUGS me if there is any LED light escaping the back of the case and reflecting off the wall. Which is why at first I hesitated to get the DK cooler since the video I watched showed it having a pretty bright WHITE LED on the fan. Another reason besides QUIETNESS, amount of air it moves, and reliability that I was going to put Noctura fans on it to replace the stock the fan.
The Dark Knight came with an extra 140mm case fan that I was gonna put on it, it was a FREEBEE, but since the cooler was messed up I put in the front of the case.
When I went to repack the DK for the RMA I noticed that the TOP HS Fin was POPPED loose on one side from the Heat Pipes. I hadn't noticed that upon first examination. ARGH!!
Oh well, looks like Thursday or Friday before it gets here, even though CS at Newegg had said they would OVERNIGHT it today. But of course they did not.