computer cooling

[Jack]

I have a Gigabyte GA7-N400E and AthlonXP 3200 Barton.

Having problems with cooling - I did buy a quiet Akasa HSF off ebay, but the CPU was idling at 98'c and then shutting off! I've replaced with another Akasa fan (recycled the other one as a case fan lol) and temps are now down to ~55' idle, which IMO is still a bit too toasty even for a hot 3200.

Can anyone recommend a decent Socket A/462 heatsink & fan?

The motherboard only has 3-pin fan connectors, and both the fans run at ~2500rpm. Can I manually adjust this - haven't spotted anything in the BIOS for fan speed override - or buy a fan controller to try and up the fan speed?

Orrrr... is water cooling worth looking into? I'd only really be able to afford the £100 kits though, so bargain basement end of the range...

[Tidy Max]

i dont know much about hardware and such, but maybe it would be worth keeping your eyes out for alienICE, i seen a couple of kits on the bay where people had dismantled there alienware computers and were selling for quite cheap,

they are liquid nitrogen cooled! just a thought anyway,
also i did have a free ware application that allowed manual adjustment of fan speed, ill have a look for it when i get home!

[Nova_Sean]

I wouldn't recommed water cooling unless you are going to be overclocking & ragging the t!ts of the pc mate.

Stock fans should be fine, make sure that the pc is well ventelated, keep it off the floor.

My case has a fan on the window to draw in cold air direct to the cpu and i have a fan on the front drawing in cold air and a fan on the back of the case pulling the warm air, from inside the pc, out.

Your current idle temp isn't unsafe, cpu's can work, or atleast mine can up 100'c

Make sure the thermal compound on the chip is spread evenly and you don't want too much.

http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product.aspx?code=HFA-AK786

[AlexW]

As above, water cooling isnt worth it unless you are pushing the hardware hard.

I take it you have acualy cleaned out all the dust from the case?

Manualy adjusting fans is somthing i like on my desktop, but even then i only use it to make the pc quiet at night.

[Nova_Sean]

I take it you have acualy cleaned out all the dust from the case?


Use a hoover mate, with the brush attachment.

[Jack]

I take it you have acualy cleaned out all the dust from the case?
No, I left it all in there :roll: lol

I thought of manual speed adjustment as tbh 2500rpm is crap, I want to be able to spool it up when things get warm - will a manual controller work with my existing 3 pin fans though?

Unfortunately I can't move it off the floor as I'm pushed for space here. The only other place I could put it is behind the tv/monitor and that pumps out heat so no go there.


http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product.aspx?code=HFA-AK786
That looks like the one I bought from ebay, only difference is mine has a gayhat blue fan on it lol I find it odd that using the blue one runs at 98', yet when I swap to the other cooler I have (exactly the same heatsink design, another Akasa fan but this one is metal) it drops to 55'. Reapplied it a few times and same results... hmm.

Building my K6-500 box at the mo. I have another spare K7 heatsink and fan on it, lmfao mahoosive overkill heatsink ftw lol

[CoolTiger]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwdCn1nlAkA&feature=related

[Gareth87]

....with pretty much at systems you can manually turn fan speed up, i run mine at 4000rpm.

[Jack]

^ is that the one in a box of oil?

[edit] Yep :D I don't want my room smelling like a chip shop though lol


....with pretty much at systems you can manually turn fan speed up, i run mine at 4000rpm.
Google says 4 pin fans are adjustable, 3 pins aren't (unless bodging ahoy). Can't see anything in the BIOS for adjusting fan speeds either

[AlexW]

Mine is a 3pin, has 2 knobs on the front of the tower. One for the case fans and the other for the cpu fan.

And i made it myself lol

[Nova_Sean]

Unfortunately I can't move it off the floor as I'm pushed for space here. The only other place I could put it is behind the tv/monitor and that pumps out heat so no go there.

Prop is up, it helps even if it's only off the ground a couple of inches mate. Stick something lie deodarant lids under the case, prop it up on 4, like legs.

[Welsh Dan]

A cheapy watercooling kit should be fine jack. I used to watercool my old P4 2.8C which ran at about 3.7, my kit was basically the top one on this link (http://www.coolercases.co.uk/acatalog/TDX_Kits.html), but with an eheim 1250 pump instead because I bought mostly second hand bits.