Help with choosing a cooler for my Intel 2.8E (Prescott) CPU

[hachiebang]

Hey guys i have a pentium 2.8E Prescott CPU that goes CRAZY when i dl music or play games like Counter Strike or Warcraft 3.

It even gets soooo loud and when i just play music videos!

My Computer setup is this, Asus p4p800SE, with 512mb samsung RAM, 1 LG DVD drive, 1 Liteon Cd writer, 2 harddrives (80Gb Maxtor IDE and 15 GB Maxtor IDE), 2 case fans: one stock one and a thermaltake smart fan 2 set on lowest speed with remote. Most importantly, my PSU is a thermaltake Purepower 420 Watt.

My room is soo well insulated do to two years ago with renovation, and so it insulates air inside extremely well.

I DO NOT HAVE AIR CONDITIONING for the summer, just a window fan, and where i live in Toronto Ontario summer temperature gets up to 35 to sometimes 40 degrees Celsius!

It feels like its even warmer inside my room because of the insulation and i have a feeling the computer generates a lot of the heat in the room because my other rooms are not as hot as the computer room once it is turned on!

I am using the stock Intel fan, and it gets SOOOO LOUD IT DRIVES ME NUTS WHEN I DOING HW!

I have decided to get a cpu fan because i probabily won't be upgrading my cpu anytime soon, maybe in 4-5 years.

Can anybody recommend me a cpu cooler that would do the job and it HAS TO HAS TO HAS... BE VERY QUIET!!! something under 20dB would be nice!

I have narrowed down to:

Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCU CPU Heatsink/Fan

Zalman CNPS7000B-CU Copper CPU Heatsink/Fan

both of these i dunno whether if i should invest in the copper one if the temperature would be that great of a difference, but the sad fact is that these two do not support silent mode for intel Prescott models! Also i measured the centre of my cpu to my PSU, and there is only .5 of a cm clearence =/

The 7700 Series does not either, because my cpu tower is not sooo big, its about medium size and i measured it and the PSU would obstruct it from installing it!

A few more i have thought of are:

Arctic Cooling Freezer 4 CPU Heatsink/Fan - ACFZ4 (S478)

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/cpu2.php?idx=9&data=1&disc=

Arctic Super Silent 4 Ultra TC

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/cpu2.php?idx=22&disc=

Arctic Cooling Super Silent 4 Ultra CPU Heatsink/Fan - ACSS4U (S478)

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/cpu2.php?idx=23&disc=

Arctic Cooling Super Silent 4 Ultra TC CPU Heatsink/Fan (S478)

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/cpu2.php?idx=23&disc=

Arctic Cooling Super Silent 4 Ultra TC L Heatsink/Fan (S478)

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/cpu2.php?idx=23&disc=

The last four i don't even really know what is different about them, but they are nice and small and they claim to be very quiet, but i don't know exactly how loud 1 sone and .5 sone is in decibels to compare with the Zalman's.



I also like the:

Thermaltake CL-P0114 Big Typhoon 4 in 1 Heatpipe Cooling For LGA 775/K7/K8

http://www.thermaltake.com/coolers/4in1heatpipe/cl-p0114bigtyphoon/cl-p0114.htm


but im afraid it will not fit onto my CPu due to my PSU, and i read reviews that its really difficult and a hassle to install it in! But i like it cause its only like 16dB and rarely over 20dB!! Wow!


I might use this cooler in the future, maybe once i switch to and AMD and i might do some overclocking.



I was also thinking of fanless cpu coolers by thermaltake the p0019 fanless, but im afraid it will get my room even hotter or it will overheat the cpu because how hot my room is! =(

http://www.thermaltake.com/coolers/cl-p0019Fanless103/cl-p0019fanless103.htm

So please guys help out a friend who's very hot in his room in the summertime and the noise is driving him insane! Im sure you guys know how loud and hot prescotts can be!

 

[Clob]

Did you consider the Thermalright SI-120? One of the best around!

 

[duality]

If it's a Prescott, I would rather have you stay away from Arctic Cooling Super Silent coolers. Arctic Cooling Freezer 4, though, is a nice choice for the money. Thermalright SI-120 is also good--but you want it to be quiet, so don't cheap out on the fans; fans will either make or break your rig in terms of noise.

Zalman CNPS7000 series are a good bet, but if so, make sure you get the AlCu version; at nearly two pounds, Cu version might fall off the mobo. Scary.

Big Typhoon is also pretty good, but if you cannot install it, chances are you won't be able to fit Thermalright SI-120 either (or am I mistaking it for XP-120?). And please, don't trust the specs that Thermaltake throws it at ya; chances are it's pretty wrong. I have yet to find out how they measure those things, anyway...

Other heatsinks? Scythe Katana and Ninja might do the work. They are supposedly very, very efficient. If money is no issue, get a Ninja and Nexus 120mm fan.

And... if your room's overheating, try swapping out the PSU to a more efficient one as well. The difference between 65% efficiency PSU and 80% efficiency PSU is dramatic...

 

[hachiebang]

Did you consider the Thermalright SI-120? One of the best around!

oohh how large is this though... im afraid it might not fit, i think i measured around 55-60mm from the centre of my cpu to the bottom of my psu, which is not very much room =(

 

[hachiebang]

If it's a Prescott, I would rather have you stay away from Arctic Cooling Super Silent coolers. Arctic Cooling Freezer 4, though, is a nice choice for the money. Thermalright SI-120 is also good--but you want it to be quiet, so don't cheap out on the fans; fans will either make or break your rig in terms of noise.

Zalman CNPS7000 series are a good bet, but if so, make sure you get the AlCu version; at nearly two pounds, Cu version might fall off the mobo. Scary.

Big Typhoon is also pretty good, but if you cannot install it, chances are you won't be able to fit Thermalright SI-120 either (or am I mistaking it for XP-120?). And please, don't trust the specs that Thermaltake throws it at ya; chances are it's pretty wrong. I have yet to find out how they measure those things, anyway...

Other heatsinks? Scythe Katana and Ninja might do the work. They are supposedly very, very efficient. If money is no issue, get a Ninja and Nexus 120mm fan.

And... if your room's overheating, try swapping out the PSU to a more efficient one as well. The difference between 65% efficiency PSU and 80% efficiency PSU is dramatic...

hmm about the zalman, alcu 7000.... it SAYS lowest dB is 18dB, but i read reviews on tested cpus such as 3.2prescotts and the dB is at 37dB.. wtf... thats soo high!

I read that stock cpu coolers for the intel prescotts have a dB of 44-45dB, so basically the zalman 7000 is like approximately 10x quieter?

good thing you told me about the ultra silent arctics, i had a bad feeling for em. But for the Freezer 4 im also afraid of the size, it looks huge! Also i don't know exactly how loud is "1 sone" Can anyone tell me how loud this is in decibels?

Ninja and Nexus huh.... hmm any particular models? They're pretty hard to find around my area.

thanks!

 

[RichPLS]

I just got a TT BigWaterSE and it is silent and cool and only $100 for complete setup, wateblock hoses resevoir fan and pump

 

[AntiHax0r]

In addition to a good cooler... might want to try this duct mod around your cooler to further enhance the efficency of the cooler.
http://overclockers.com/tips1187/

I have an A64-3000 (runs a tad cooler than the 2.8ghz prescott)
Before Duct Mod 45C+/- Idle 55C+/- 100%Load on Prime95

After Duct Mod 25C+/- Idle 35C+/- 100%Load on Prime95

The guy in the article even had an Athlon2500 o/ced to 3200 which would be about on par with your 2.8ghz heat-wise.



Due to the insulation in your room, you may not notice a significant decrease in the room temperature.. since you would be still blowing out that much heat and over time it would still heat up.

 

[hachiebang]

I just got a TT BigWaterSE and it is silent and cool and only $100 for complete setup, wateblock hoses resevoir fan and pump

hhehe watercooling would be nice but im worried if i leave my comp on dling music or movies and i forgot to add more fluid it might overheat the comp, also the additional costs of buying liquid for the BigWater will add to my expenses =(

I uno so far i think i might go with the Zalman 7000 Cu one because it has a fanmate so i can adjust and i heard it is pretty quiet.

But im also stuck thinking should i also get the Artic Freezer 4, but i heard its not THAT quiet, it has no remote to manually change the speed =(

 

[duality]

As said before, you might want to go for AlCu version instead, as Cu does not have enough performance boost to offset the mother of a weight it bears.

Arctic Cooling Freezer 4 is quiet, especially so once you get a fanmate for it. Fanmate 2 is cheap--I got one for $4.

I think ducting will work best for stock coolers and/or basic design coolers with fan on top, as the tower coolers can have some control over the airflow, and... as for zalman, it might be tricky to duct it off like that. I do like one of the mod I saw, though: countercurrent cooling. It might be a bit too much of a work for you though...

 

[Crashman]

I'd go with the AlCu from those choices. And by the way, the Thermaltake Big Typhoon isn't anywhere near the claimed 16db, it's more like 24db. Do you have a link from a reliable site who actually measured the thing? Because I've HEARD it!

 

[hachiebang]

I'd go with the AlCu from those choices. And by the way, the Thermaltake Big Typhoon isn't anywhere near the claimed 16db, it's more like 24db. Do you have a link from a reliable site who actually measured the thing? Because I've HEARD it!

ohehe it did sound too good to be true, i read it off the thermaltake site, the low noise cat sleeping icon sold me! lol

Oh i didn't know you can attach a fanmate to the arctic 4.... woahh


yeah and the thermaltake typhoon might be such a hassle to attach, im thining of the 7000alcu or the arctic 4. But i heard zalman does make pretty good stuff so im stuck now =(

I put a cd on top of my stock cpu cooler and it fitted, with about 3 mm of space between the PSU and the centre of the fan. This means that i MIGHT be able to fit a 120mm fan, but for the 7700 series, the radius is 68 cm so that won't work for sure.