CPU Cooler

[keitheturner]

I'm running a P4 2.8 800FSB CPU with one gig of 3200 DDR RAM and one SATA hard drive and a mid range video card (No gaming). Does it make any sense or is it useful to stick a CPU cooler like a Zalman 7000 in the mix? I'd like the system to be stable and long lived but is the cooler that is supplied by Intel adequate? I'm not overclocking anything.


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by keitheturner on 10/06/03 12:31 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[slvr_phoenix]

I'd like the system to be stable and long lived but is the cooler that is supplied by Intel adequate?

I'll do my best to say this nicely...

Would Intel be giving a 3 year waranty on chips sold with that cooler if that cooler wasn't 'adequate'?

<pre><A HREF="http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20030905" target="_new"><font color=black>People don't understand how hard being a dark god can be. - Hastur</font color=black></A></pre><p>

 

[ChipDeath]

The intel Cooler is fine for a non-overclocked rig. Otherwise, why would intel ship it?

If you're worried about noise though, it's probably not the quietest cooler in the world. If that's the case then you could consider getting a different one. (I suspect something with a large (i.e. 120mm) fan would be much better than a completely fanless solution for that speed chip (probably a bit too warm to ditch the fan altogether).

Bear in mind though, there <i>might</i> be some warranty implications in using a non-intel cooler (if your chip blows up they might not replace it). I know AMD warranties have that clause, but I'm pretty sure intel ones are more lenient, just not too sure by how much... Anyone here know?

---
<font color=red>The preceding text is assembled from information stored in an unreliable organic storage medium. As such it may be innacurate, incomplete, or completely wrong</font color=red>

 

[ChipDeath]

aaaw... you beat me :frown:

---
<font color=red>The preceding text is assembled from information stored in an unreliable organic storage medium. As such it may be innacurate, incomplete, or completely wrong</font color=red>

 

[slvr_phoenix]

Not only did I beat you, but I can one-up you because I <i>do</i> know that Intel's retail waranty allows you to use whatever heatsink and TIM you want. Which is why retail Intel is a better option than retail AMD for people building quite PCs that like having those little things like waranties...

Admittedly, at least AMD doens't outright say that you can't use non-retail TIMs. They just 'prefer' that you use their 'suggestion' of a phase-change material.

<pre><A HREF="http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20030905" target="_new"><font color=black>People don't understand how hard being a dark god can be. - Hastur</font color=black></A></pre><p>

 

[ChipDeath]

that's it... rub it in... :frown:






---
<font color=red>The preceding text is assembled from information stored in an unreliable organic storage medium. As such it may be innacurate, incomplete, or completely wrong</font color=red>

 

[slvr_phoenix]

that's it... rub it in... :frown:

I hope that Spud doesn't see that. Who knows how he'd interpret a statement like that. :O

In all fairness though I didn't even know that myself until a few months ago when I was speccing my new PC and checked up on Intel's waranty because I wanted the waranty but I also wanted to use a quieter cooler.

Mind you, I still haven't actually purchased a quieter cooler yet. :\ But I'm leaning towards either a giant monstrosity with an adapter to run a low-RPM 120mm fan set to 'suck' and a duct straight into an exhaust stream, or else possibly even using a massive fanless heatsink.

I'm afraid to try the latter though. Even if I have a Sonata case with two 120mm fans the thing is that they're both low RPM fans and I'm just not sure if the case's airstream is good enough for my P4 or not. :\ I'd definately want to switch the temperature controlled fan from the front to the back if I did that, but the fan grommets aren't reusable so I'd have to find a place that I could order 8 new fan grommets before I'd do that.

In fact if I were going to use a passive heatsink I'd probably want to get a new 120mm smartfan with an external temp sensor to use as the rear fan (leaving the current smartfan as the intake fan) and then and put the exhaust fan's sensor just above the heatsink. And I'd also want to make a steel half-duct to put on the intake fan to create an airstream straight across the CPU. Maybe then I'd feel safe about a passive heatsink on my P4. That's a lot of money and work though.

<pre><A HREF="http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20030905" target="_new"><font color=black>People don't understand how hard being a dark god can be. - Hastur</font color=black></A></pre><p>