Hello People,

I'm a huge enthusiast for many things including computers, I am new to computer forums, but not new to technology. I am building a system that I would like to call "all out to my specs" which I think won't get record breaking scores, but good enough with "bling." I do hope to learn a lot from you guys as this will be my main forum for information. I really like the crowd here.

So without further-a-do,

My quick question, (I have tried researching for the ultimate Air Cooler all over the net) and I need some serious professional opinions.

I know that the megahelem is slick and the V8 is not really up to par, but what do you guys think if I was pushing 2 120mm / 150 cfm fans on the Megas vs. 3 120mm / 150 cfm fans on the V8? Which would be the way to go? I been looking into an air cooler that has three fans for the ultimate air cooler and not too massive. I have not found a choice but the only thing I can find is modding a V8.

Push - Pull on Mega

Push - Push/Pull - Pull on V8

Another thing I am also concerned about is, what if there "is" a limit to how much the V8 or the mega can push air.

eg. 90cfm retains same load temps as 250cfm fans

I know I can go water, but I got reasons for doing air (At least for the mean time).
The only thing that scores brownie points for me is the V8 only because Im a gear head and I love modding, so why not "Turbo Charge" this V8?

Thanks
=)

The mega will outperform the V8 in those scenarios, and the other factor i would bring up is the vastly superior mount system on the mega.  Much easier and reproducible to use than any other cooler i have used.

i would not recommend slipstream fans as they produce terrible static pressure
a kaze would be good if you're not worried about sound
and a fan controller if you do

Go with the mega. I have the V8 and it would be a pain to mount side fans on it. Plus it would look like crap. A 120mm would be way larger then the aluminum fins that are on the side of the V8. The mega would likely still outperform it anyways.

Megahalem is your best bet.

The V8 will not beat a Megahalem. If you put 3 fan's my guess it would cause bad temps, since the design wasn't made for 3 fans.

The megahalem is top dog as a aircooler right now, but like Vok posted Noctua and Thermalright come out new cooler's that might surpass the Megahalem. only time will tell.

Megahalem = top dog
H50 = With right fans (static pressure) falls little below megahalem, but believe anything above 4.1/4.2 Ghz the h50 will not hold, since people reporting being able to hit 4.5Ghz on air.

Only thing that will beat out a Megahalem is custom water cooling set-up =S

Sir Loin

Go with the mega. I have the V8 and it would be a pain to mount side fans on it. Plus it would look like crap. A 120mm would be way larger then the aluminum fins that are on the side of the V8. The mega would likely still outperform it anyways.

I agree, the V8 looks nice, but i dont know how you would mount side fans on it.  I also doubt youd get much of a performance boost.

lol, i kinda got no budget, because of you guys, so far im highly thinking of doing reviews on all 3 heatsinks im thinking of and keeping the top two that wins, so far Ive got the v8 and a black edition thermal True, both i got a really good deal on, next i am going to wait for a good deal on a mega shadow and try out all three.

I noticed that on one review that the mega was beaten by a cogage true (not big fan of its mounting style), but I was thinking that the design of the true is almost perfect, because of its design, it appears to have a very very slight airflow restriction for a benefit. I noticed that the mega appears to still be top dog, but it looks like (in my opinion) the reason it got beat by the true (in high speed fan) was due to the way the fins are designed to move air flow around the sink forcing more air against the fins. So when you apply a faster fan on the design of a true, more air will be pushed against its fins for lower temperature, the mega appears to only have fins that shoot straight through and same goes for the V8. But its not just the fins im concerned about, its the position of the heat pipes, since they are the source for dissipating heat, I would imagine that spreading them around like on thermlright's IFX-14 ( the V8 has heatpipes all over the place) would be the best design for heat dissipation, but because of the heatpipes in the way, it might need a faster fan which is calling for some massive db's (but nobody likes noise - which is what I think the design of the megas come in, designed in a way for maximum temperature drop on a low rpm fan). But enough of me talking out of my @$$, its time to put some theory to the test.

Setup (completed except Im still waiting/choosing a processor & the third heatsink):

X58 classified
processor (waiting for a good deal on a ____ unlocked multiplier - lol)
2way sli gtx 285 classified w 9800 gt phys
ocz reaper stock 2000mhz @ 9's or (I have not yet tested) adjusted to i think its 1800's @ 8's or even 1600's @ 7's

also going to test 3 15k sas (in different raids) with a controller (so no x-fi surround card for me) im fine with whatever the motherboard comes with.

so when people ask, "what kinda computer chu gotz"
all i got to say is, "it's classified" =D

When I start building, don't worry, everything will be posted.