If these have decent cooling, it seems to me that a higher power processor could be kept cool with a passive heatsink and a TEC. If complete silence under high load is the goal, that seems like a viable option.

arterius2And I'm saying that these are designed to be FULLY passive (0db), hence their size.

I was discerning the difference between using these and a regular tower cooler with their fans ripped out. (please read the whole thread)

this makes me wonder, what if you used fans with passive designed heatsinks, will you get even better cooling performance over regular or even some water?

kn00tcnthis makes me wonder, what if you used fans with passive designed heatsinks, will you get even better cooling performance over regular or even some water?

Depends on the heatsink. Most no fan heatsinks like the one in the OP have a low fin count as to not restrict airflow. The ones that cool really well are just massive heatsinks. It all comes down to surface area and airflow.

james888Depends on the heatsink. Most no fan heatsinks like the one in the OP have a low fin count as to not restrict airflow. The ones that cool really well are just massive heatsinks. It all comes down to surface area and airflow.

Correct, completely fanless (0db) designs have a open-fin layout where the force of convection is able to operate at any direction and minimize resistance to allows hot air to rise upward, regardless of which orientation you place your desktop.

Air towers on the other hand, usually have their fins oriented in one direction, so it would maximize on the airflow generated by the fans, and if you decide to run them fanless, you have to pay attention to which orientation to install it to not restrict laws of convection.

More fun (a review with and without fans)

www.overclock3d.net/reviews/audio/nofan_cr-95c_icepipe_95w_fanless_cpu_cooler_review/1

As an owner it shows fans at most dropping 20c. But normally it is like 5. The system is not made with fins and thus air flow is not catered to. there is no where for the heat transfer to happen at high speed. It also gets hot. You need to know it runs right next to thermal limit on a 4770k. I can run it 100% little dips to 98% for a whole day in a hot room. but put in any more heat and new problems.

Case fans help but not well compared to units made to use a fan. This is made to be passive. This makes TIM a huge deal. (thermal interface)

For me I had a stock r9 290x OC powercolor and in a totally passive system, no problems. The fan was a little less noisy then a lap top. But too noisy for my dreams or my hobbies. So I put on a MK 26. almost silent. The added heat to my totally open system makes problems. Thus I am working on a form of wall to block the extra heat.

I know I can do this as well It worked before. I just need a different way to separate heat