p4 cooling advice please

BioHazRd

Anyone know of a good cpu cooler I can get for my soon-to-arrive p4 2.4G. I intend to run this as close to 3 gig as possible, on an Abit SR7-8X MoBo. Would a zalman cooler be up to it? It will be in a coolermaster case, and I dont want to increase the noise by too much.

Any views would be much appreciated.

Bio

netman

there's a very good heatsink comparison up on www.overclockers.com which includes noise levels too.

the intel stock heatsink/fan isn't a bad option, my only issue was the high-pitched noise when the cpu started putting out lots of heat, when the case was closed. it's temperature controlled, so it works pretty quiet if the temperatures are low, but once they start rising the fan speed increases. up to a point where i can distinctly hear the fan's noise in a closed case. very annoying. and it's one of the quietest ones for p4, so whatever else you get you're faced with more noise.

the swiftech ones with TMD fans might be an option for you, less noise and less vibration from the fan. but they tend to be very expensive. i know there's a store in the uk that sells them, forgot the url but i'm sure you can find it if you look for it. i think the model is called mcx4000.

and if you're really allergic to noise, consider watercooling. it gets the desired results, works better than any heatsink/fan combo and is nearly silent.

as for zalman, i wouldn't go that way if you're looking for performance. i'd seriously doubt if it can cool even the 2.4ghz p4, not to mention overclocked.

BioHazRd

Cheers, nice reply.:cool:

I will probably go for that Swiftech cooler allright - looks very good. Unfortunately water cooling is not an option, as this machine will need to be carried around occasionally to LAN parties etc.

Bio

The_Bullman

watercooling need not be that bulky at all

the brother is making one and it is relatively small


oh, and it is also something else to show off at lans

marauder

IMHO avoid temp controlled fans for your CPU. You can't tune them so you never seem to get enough cooling for your temp.

I have a Volcano 7+ which replaced the crappy temp control on the Volcano 7 with a three pos. switch. I mounted it on the front of the case so I can set it to low if I want quiet surfing or med/high for gaming when the jetlike whine of it is drowned out by my subwoofer .

Im not recommending this cooler although I have no issues with mine, but I am saying AVOID TEMP CONTROL.

checkout www.systemcooling.com too

Gerry

Hmm, intel must only have temp control on the coolers for high end p4's so, I didn't see any temp change on the intel coolers for the 1.6, 1.8, and 2.0 chips.

I wouldn't say avoid temp control, avoid it if its done by a thermistor on the fan. External control of the voltage is good, many motherboards support changing the fan speed using pwm. A good program you can use to change fan speeds ( if your board supports it ) is at www.almico.com/speedfan.php . It works on most modern boards.

Also marauder, why did you buy a whole new hsf + fan when all you needed to change was the wiring on the fan? Looks like a waste of money to me.

BioHazRd

Hmmm. Bullman, you have me intrigued there, water cooling eh!

I've been looking around and I've found this site Over-Clock UK
They do the InnovaSET water cooling kits which seem to have reasonably good reviews.

My question is has anyone here dealt with this crowd before, as they will only supply the kit on a pre-order basis ie. they want some money up front. Is this cooling kit worth getting at eur 343.

I have never tried water cooling before, but, sure, I'd give anything a go once (except Morris Dancing )

Eagerly awaiting input

Bio

netman

i've just recently gone watercooling myself, and have done quite a bit of research on the subject

innovatek seem like the best kits out there, and the quality is outstanding. i went for a p4 model, and a lot of stores don't even have p4 retention clips for innovatek. found a site in germany that delivers to ireland, and the innovatek with eheim 1048 pump (1046 is usually included in the kit) and some extras (geforce 4 water block, multiple 12v to 7v fan adapters with rpm monitoring splitters, rubber mounting kit for eheim that reduces vibration etc) cost me 300 euro. and there's no preorder, just shop and go. the only small annoyance was the fact that the store doesn't process credit cards, so you have to send money, check or wire the money. i chose to wire it, so i have something to go back on in case the deal turns sour. everything went well, and i got the kit set up and running in about an hour. simply amazing, and deadly quiet.

it costs a lot more than air cooling and most might consider it overkill, so before you spend 300 euro make sure this is what you want.

here's the link to the store:
http://www.watercooling.de

BioHazRd

Thanks Netman,

I liked that site so much, I've just bought the whole kit (p4, gf4, yadda yadda yadda )

Now all I do is wait for the delivery - woohoo

Bio

netman

glad you liked it hope you have fun assembling the thing.

i found this review of the innovatek kit to be very helpful. i've noticed when you fill the system the coolant (water) gets foamy with the air in the system, and they have a neat little trick how to get rid of it. just cut a piece of the foam that comes with the pump and put it in the reservoir. works like a charm for me.

http://www.overclockers.com/articles545/

btw, it's the best performing kit tested there, and they've tested quite a few!

netman

also, a very good article on water cooling, describing the innovatek kit, and including a how-to video!

http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/02q3/020701/index.html

marauder

Also marauder, why did you buy a whole new hsf + fan when all you needed to change was the wiring on the fan? Looks like a waste of money to me.

Gerry,
I didn't buy a second HSF . I bought the 7+ as I did not get anything with the processor.

As for temp control yes its thermistor control Im refering too.

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by netman
as for zalman, i wouldn't go that way if you're looking for performance. i'd seriously doubt if it can cool even the 2.4ghz p4, not to mention overclocked.

I'm running a Zalman P4 flower cooler on my P4 1.8@2.4a. temps are in the low 40's. Only thing I don't like about it is that I have to remove the fan bracket when adding or removing cards in the machine. Other than that it seems to work pretty well. Seems pretty quiet. I'm hoping to change it for a an P4 alpha though so I can get rid of the bracket thingy. If anyone is interested in buying it send us an email.