newsys - should i do more than stock?

[okietex]

Ok, getting ready to build a new system. I'm new to all this OC'ing and cooling stuff so I'm fairly ignorant! My system will be based on the 875P chip, P4 2.8 GHZ 800mhz FSB, ABIT IC7-G Max MOBO, 2x120 GB Seagate SATA hdds, ATI Radeon 9800 pro, CoolerMaster ATC201B-SXT Case, 520W Vantec Power Supply, plus Audigy2, CDRW, DVD, Floppy.

So, I am wondering - I won't be doing any overclocking at first. Just want to get this thing going (it's shipping to me right now) and see if it all works!!! But, the P4 is coming with the "retail" fan I guess, the CoolerMaster has it's "stock' fans in it ...

Should I plan on doing more fans in the box?
What about a different one for the CPU?

Again -- a newbie on cooling .. I usually just have a DELL and it runs or some "stock" machine and they just go. I want to make sure I do this right and all this cooling looks really, really important (more than I knew!).

If you have thoughts on what to use for the CPU rather than the stock let me know. Same goes for HDD coolers and CASE coolers.

Appreciate it ... -ot

 

[FO_SHO]

SATA is good, but the performance per price is not worth it. If you're not OCing, then stock is OK. I'm pretty sure you're not gonna need 520W of pwr also.

 

[LtBlue14]

the stock fans on the box ought to be ok, what will make the biggest difference is the HSF unit on your cpu. an slk-800U with whatever fan you want (decide: do you want best performance and a loud fan, variable fan speed with variable performance, or a quiet setup?)
noise/performance: delta screamer 80x80x38mm fan
variable: thermaltake smart fan II (does get very loud at the high end)
low noise: how low? the vantec stealth does 27CFM @ 21dba, which is truly quiet/silent. something around 30dba is a good level to shoot for, most people won't find it objectionably loud

oh and a quick warning about the abit board: <A HREF="http://www.overclockers.com/tips00359/" target="_new">go here</A>
that article describes the problems people are encountering with each canterwood board - just be aware of them! (at this point for solid stability and good performance and good overclocking, i'd pick the gigabyte sinxp1394. not granite bay b/c of the problems with agp8x, which intel does not seem to be addressing, and that seems to be the best 655 board)
just a thought!

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[traviss187]

I've got some of the same same, 2.8Ghz P4 and what not, stock will keep it cool, but extended run times it gets warm... nothing dangerous, but the sound does get irritating, so until you o'clock the stock is fine unless you want to reduce noise
I can't wait until intel switches over to water around 4GHZ...

 

[sirdistik]

i think a 520W PSU is overkill unless you've $$$ to burn. and yeh, like everyone else has said, stock should be sufficient... but if you're gonna seriously oc the machine, you might wanna consider watercooling.
i don't think u should oc it until the warranty is over just to be on the safe side.

 

[okietex]

thanks fo - well, the SATAs and Power should be here on Monday or Tuesday. i don't think I'll cancel that and just go with it.

And, for now, I'll be just stock ... thanks for the info.

 

[okietex]

Hey LtBlue,

I'll look into the HSF units that you mention ...

Also, thanks for the link on the ABIT and other 875Ps. I knew going in that there were some issues but wanted to take the dive anyway. All three (msi, abit, asus) were among my top 3 choices and I think the Abit will be just fine. For future reference though, I will look at that 655 board you mention as well. That's interesting.

 

[okietex]

hey sir - well, the 520w is done. i already bought all this and probably will not return it at this point. to get the 520w vs a 480 or 420, it was like $15 or $20 more. So, I went ahead ... I kept seeing where people would talk about there power supply and they need more or a really good one so, I just went that route.

good idea on the warranty ... hadn't thought of that and i'll be careful!

thanks. -ot

 

[okietex]

LtBlue,

should I get the SLK-800-U or the SLK-900-U for a P4 2.8ghz 800mhz FSB cpu?

also, on the fans you mention, I'm trying to find them and having a heck of a time. I thought the Vantec one that you mentioned that would be low noise would be the best one for me but I can't figure out which one that one would be on their web site. Do you have a part # to reference ... ?

Thanks. -ot

 

[LtBlue14]

900U vs. 800U will make basically no difference, the 900U is better by 1C at 100W according to <A HREF="http://www.overclockers.com/articles373/" target="_new">this article at overclockers</A> (one has a C/W of .22, the other of .23, lower is better)
anyhow, go with what's cheaper which will almost certainly be the 800U
as for the fan, are you in the US? if so, <A HREF="http://www.directron.com" target="_new">http://www.directron.com</A> is one of my favorite sites, and you can see its 80mm case fan selection <A HREF="http://www.directron.com/80mmfans.html" target="_new">here</A>
i think i'd get the evercool aluminum fan, <25dBA for 32CFM
or if you want even quieter then choose the vantec stealth as i said before, 21dBA @ 27CFM

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