Stock Heatsink/Fan vs. Separate CPU Cooler

Arcology

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This is my first DIY project and I want to be sure that my temperatures will be ok.

How big of a difference is it if I use the stock heatsink/fan that comes with my E8500 Wolfdale vs the separate one I purchased. I've already installed the stock heatsink but if the other one would be significantly better i'd go ahead and change it up. (Also the stock heatsink didn't come with any thermal paste so I figured it wasn't needed?)

Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120mm "Core Contact Freezer" CPU Cooler - Retail
Heatsink

I also have a Radeon 4870 in an Antec 300 case which has room for 5 fans but only comes with a top 140mm and a rear 120mm fan.

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Antec 300

Should I switch out the stock cooler for the one I bought separately and will this system be cool enough?

edit: Looking on Newegg I found this fan which according to the specs moves an amazing amount of air with a fairly low noise level, and the reviews look good. Think it'd be worth up to pick up 1 or 2 of these?

Scythe SY1225SL12SH 120mm "Slipstream" Case Fan - Retail
120mm Fan
 

Silverion77

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I cant believe this is an actual question....but yes the aftermarket one is much better. Unlike the stock one it has copper, heatpipes, and much more metal for better conductivity.

But only get one if u intend on overclocking or u want ur PC quiet. Otherwise stay stock
 
Stock coolers these days are much better than they used to be. However, there still are some aftermarket coolers that will perform worse than the stock ones - generally, these are the crazy ones which are designed to be visually appealing rather than good performers. (Like that V8 engine cooler I saw a while ago..). You can OC to a certain extent stock, but the aftermarket coolers (from a good company) will give you much better temps and much larger OC ranges.
 

Silverion77

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O wow ur right ROFL

I read that but i thought he was referring to an aftermarket one not having thermal paste.
And yea ur right it does come pre applied. Maybe he just doesnt kno its teh gray stuff
 

Arcology

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Thanks for the replies. Upon taking the stock cooler off I do see the gray stuff on the bottom. Right now I have the heatsink on but I'm still working on where exactly the fan goes because I'm not sure how I secure it in place. I think i'll figure it out though.

-thanks
 

Arcology

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Well I got everything on tight it seems good! So just a quickie here. I have the special SATA cable from my HDD plugged into my MOBO and then from my MOBO to my disk drive.

What other connections do I need to make with the SATA?
 

Arcology

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For example. On my Hard Drive and Disk Drive I have the SATA DATA/POWER hooked up. There is also a place for some sort of 6 pin plug on one and an 8 pin plug on the back of the other. Do I need to connect those because I don't know what plug would fit.

Also, I just tried booting up and absolutely nothing happened. I must have a power connection problem. I know I have the main stuff plugged in though. The huge MOBO connector, the cpu, fans, LEDS and video card.
 

Arcology

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* Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KSRTL 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - Retail

* Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail (N82E16819115036)

* LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model iHAS120-08 - Retail

* Antec NeoPower 650 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

* Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120mm "Core Contact Freezer" CPU Cooler - Retail

* Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

* HIS Hightech H487F512P Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
[Question: It has room for 2 separate PCI-E power supply plugs so I'm assuming it needs both? -one of the 6 pin plugs pci-e has another small 2 pin plug with it too but I see no place where that would go.]

* ASUS P5Q Pro LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

* mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996587 - Retail
 

golgii

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I put together a similar rig a couple months ago.

Power: There is a 4-pin power connector above the CPU that you need to supply with power otherwise your system will not boot.

SATA: I believe there is 6 red SATA connectors on the P5Q Pro MB. Simply start adding cables connecting one connector to one hard drive. Also connect one cable between a connector and your DVD player. Also make sure your hard drive doesn't need the jumper removed to be 3.0Gb/s. I believe I have a Seagate that comes with a jumper defaulting it to 1.5Gb/s.

CPU: I initially had the e8500 stock heatsink and fan in there. But when I played games, I noticed that my temperature was hitting 85c. When I would run Orthos, the two cores would hit 90 - 100 degrees celsius. I replaced the stock stuff with a Tuniq Tower 120 a couple of days ago. The idle temps before the transition were 52/48. Idle after the transition is now 35/33. When I run orthos, or play games, the temps stay mid to upper 40's now. However, the Tower 120 has a 120mm fan "inside" the heatsink, which I replaced with one of those Scythe fans for better airflow.

Also... when I built my rig (in early September) it was plagued by freezes and BSODs. It wasn't until ASUS released a BIOS update (in October) that the computer became stable. So you definitely want to update your BIOS.

Edit: If you want to use the RAID controller, make sure you enter the BIOS and switch from IDE to RAID. I think it is under the first tab. You have a choice between IDE, RAID, and AHCI. Then you need to hit the cntl-I (or something similar) during bootup, to setup the RAID controller. I have two terabit drives running RAID 1 (mirror).
 

Arcology

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I took everything out and tried to start it and it worked. Upon putting it back in the case and starting it up it worked as well so now i'll go piece by piece adding and hopefully it'll go alright. Thanks for the tips.