In message <
[email protected]> kony
You "need" a fan or want one but don't actually need it?
Fan means heatsink, right?
I ask because if only the _fan_ failed you may be able to
buy only a fan.
"Need" a fan, because mine is starting to fail. Starting to fail,
meaning it either doesn't start when the system is booted cold, or it
makes a loud whining sound until it heats up.
It hasn't yet caused any problems while the system is running, but why
take chances?
I could probably dink around with repairing it and hope it survives, but
I have little interest in playing with unreliable components (beyond
basic maintenance, cleaning and whatnot), I'd give them to poor friends
who have the time and energy to repair and babysit them (and yes, they
do know what they're getting and why it's free)
"Want" to replace the entire heatsink+fan, so that I can go for
something a bit quieter -- The CPU fan is currently the loudest fan in
my system, I can hear the difference when it's running vs not running.
I've just recently replaced my case to go for a larger case with better
fan layout, (2x120mm and 1x90mm fans instead of 4x80mm fans), with the
90mm fan speed controlled by my power supply (so it isn't running full
speed most of the time, it only speeds up if the case temp justifies it)
Your board has a heatsink mounting bracket, right?
I would hope it's attached by holes & pins, it IS the more
common method. That means you can either use a 'sink with
the clips, or remove the whole, original bracket...
depending on the 'sink you choose.
What sink(s) did you have in mind?
I'm not actually sure yet, I was just chatting with my wholesaler (I
have a few wholesale accounts from when this was a business and not just
a hobby, I'm more into software consulting these days -- I've kept them
up to date so I can buy parts for my servers below retail, but I really
haven't kept up in the hardware world), and he mentioned he has some
great ultra quiet heatsink+fan options, he's recommending a Thermaltake
open box (not pulls, they're still shrink wrapped, but once you take
something out of his stock room, he calls it open box)
He'll give me a full warranty, which is all I really ask.
The one he is suggesting I look at is
http://www.thermaltake.com/coolers/cl-p0025/cl-p0025silentTower.htm
However, he was cautioning me that not all motherboards have the right
holes to mount it, and he doesn't deal with Gigabyte boards so he
doesn't know for sure.
I'm not really sure where to look, I've never used anything other then
retail Intel CPU+heatsink+fan combinations (I got out of the hardware
game when Intel was just going back from slot to socket formats) and
I've never installed a P4 myself.
Unless you find the original heatsink insufficient, that
your CPU was overheating, you might consider trying to find
just a new fan for it. There are a number of ways to mount
a new fan depending on your resourcefulness. Even in
worst-case situations a 1/8" drill bit can drill 4 holes in
corners of the 'sink then use nylon wire-ties (or even some
solid-strand < 16 ga. wire ) to strap it down.
I'm not especially resourceful these days, I simply don't have the time.
It takes substantially less time to simply purchase a replacement rather
then try to fix what I've got, especially since I can find a home for my
gear without much difficulty. so I feel good for helping a friend rather
then guilty for contributing to a throwaway society.
While that might seem sub-optimal, it may be just the
opposite, to be able to replace only the part needing it
with the exact fan you want at lowest cost is a good thing,
IMO... not to mention that prying the current heatsink off
of the CPU can be a pain if you used the original thermal
pad instead of heatsink compound.
Does your board look similar to this?
http://www.obengware.com/telaah/2004/gigabytega-8ipe1000pro2-w3h.jpg
Off hand it looks fairly similar. However, the CPU, heatsink and fan
came preinstalled (one of our local computer stores always preinstalls
the CPU unless you specifically request otherwise and agree you won't
try to warranty a ****ed up CPU installation) and I've yet to actually
remove the heatsink to see what it looks like first hand.
I did monkey around with the fan enough to know that cleaning isn't
sufficient to "fix" the current problem though.
(btw, thanks for your time, I appreciate it)
