titus12 said:
I am looking to get the best heatsink and fan for my P4 630 3.0MHz
processor. I am trying to choise between the Thermaltake Silent 775D
and the older CL-P0101 which Intel recommend for the P4 580. Which
should I get, or should I get a different kind?
So when monitoring temperatures using the stock fan and heatsink, are
you actually running outside the operating temperature range for the
CPU? Are you close to the upper temperature limit and considering
overclocking which would push it over that limit?
You could spend lots on a super-silent fan and vapor transfer monster
sized heatsink and not do much to reduce temperatures. Sometimes
pulling the side panel off lowers the temperature far more (but then
you might be reducing airflow to other components so they aren't
cooled as well). Punching a hole in the side panel just over the CPU,
adding a protective grill over the opening, and using a 120mm fan on
the case or heatsink (to reduce RPM and thus noise), and a tube
attached to the side panel to funnel the air directly to the CPU fan)
will reduce temperatures better.
A bigger fan on the CPU to push around the heated air inside the case
won't help unless there is an increase in the expel rate of air from
the case. That is, you need more airflow through the case to get rid
of the heat quicker so temperatures go down. You won't reduce heat
output with a bigger fan and heatsink or even with water cooling but
you could decrease temperatures by faster expelling that heat. So
also check if you have a backpanel fan. Check what size fan(s) are in
the PSU. Check for intake restriction, like small orifices in the
front panel, flat cables in the way of airflow, foam filters in the
grills or fans, etc. By having the intake port in the side panel
right above the CPU, you ensure the air temperature impinging on the
CPU's heatsink has not been preheated by air that passed over hot hard
drives, RAM sticks, onboard chips, or recirculated by the CPU's fan
inside the case. If you don't want to go with the side panel intake
funnel to the CPU, another option is to use a duct from the CPU fan
(which needs to expel upward instead of down into the fins) that
connects to a backpanel fan (that expels). Although you still get
preheated intake air into the heatsink's fins, it is expelled quickly
out the back rather than trying to push it down over the heatsink and
recirculating inside the case and hoping the PSU fan sucks some of it
out to reduce that recirculation. Cooler outside air delivered
immediately to the CPU or immediate exhaust of the CPU's heated air
out the back works pretty well to reduce temperature and without
screwing up the airflow for the other heated components inside the
case.
All that extra time and money to cool faster (you are reducing
temperature, not heat output) might be for naught if you are trying to
lower the CPU's temperature by all of 4 C degrees when it is already
running at under 65 C degrees since, I believe, the operating
temperature range is much higher, like 80 C degrees (I don't know the
specs for your particular CPU but Intel might list them although
finding those specs isn't necessarily easy on their web site). You
never mentioned what ARE your current temperatures or your intentions
regarding overclocking.
