New CPU Cooler

[Conan]

Well the heat of the summer is here in the Philippines with temperatures reaching 35 degrees Centigrade, I had to back off overclocking for the meantime and looked at getting a better CPU cooler. Actually the Intel stock cooler of my p4 3.0 Ghz was quite a good performer and the aftermarket heat sink and fan combos offer slightly better performance instead of huge reductions in temperature.

The first one that I tried was a Thermaltake P4 Spark 7 (http://www.thermaltake.com/coolers/spark/a1545.htm).
http://www.thermaltake.com/images/coolers/spark/1545/spark7.jpg

It has a pure copper heat sink and a 70 mm fan that can vary from 1,300 rpm to 6,000 rpm. I used the Thermal Paste that came with this fan which was a Dow Corning Silicone Compund. This heatsink/fan combo would keep my CPU temps relatively at the same level (ranging from 36 to 45 C) with my Motherboard temps but created a really loud whining sound when adjusting BIOS parameters, gaming or running memtest. The fan has 3 options of running: full-blast, manual adjustment and automatic (comes with a thermal probe). The fan ran best at automatic but I couldn't stand the constant drone of the fan whining at close to 6,000 rpm whenever things got hot. It was pretty cheap though at $ 19.00.

So my next fan was a Zalman CNPS7000A-AlCu (http://test.zalman.co.kr/english/product/cnps7000a-alcu.htm)

http://www.zalmanusa.com/upload/product/7000a_alcu_f_p.jpg

http://www.zalmanusa.com/upload/product/7000a_alcu_b_p.jpg

http://www.zalmanusa.com/upload/product/7000a_alcu_s_p.jpg

This fan looks incredibly cool and also performs quite well. It makes use of a combination copper and aluminum heat sink accompanied by a 90 mm fan. This time I used Arctic Silver 5 (http://www.arcticsilver.com/as5.htm) and followed their Application Instructions (http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm) carefully. So far the Zalman has dropped my CPU temps 3 degrees C lower than my motherboard! It's also really quiet! I did not install the adjustable fan speed controller and instead ran it at constant full speed (2,700 rpm as reported by BIOS and SpeedFan). It cost $ 44.00, a little pricey but worth it in my opinion. This heatsink/fan combo is a keeper! :thumbup:

[FastGame]

WoW Conan all that new Intel ATI stuff got you going crazy :) turned you into the Official TZ hardware reviewer ;)

Good job!

When can we expect some AMD 64bit reviews :p or maybe some Intel water cooling...:D

[Conan]

When can we expect some AMD 64bit reviews :p

He-he, I'm waiting for you to do a review on that! :D

[SupaStar]

I've heard good reports on those Zalman coolers. Nice!

[FastGame]

Well if they ever come out with the new MB's I will ;) I already have the 64bit XP3400 and the ram....

Nice cooler you have :)

[Conan]

Well if they ever come out with the new MB's I will ;) I already have the 64bit XP3400 and the ram....

Nice cooler you have :)

Which motherboard are you waiting for, Asus? What kind of memory did you get, it's low latency ECC right? How much did you pay for both? :cool:

[Big Booger]

Nice. Any reason why you went with the aluminum and copper rather than the solid copper?

[FastGame]

Which motherboard are you waiting for, Asus? What kind of memory did you get, it's low latency ECC right? How much did you pay for both? :cool:
I got this CPU for $345 at newegg
Model: AMD Athlon 64 3400+
Core: ClawHammer
Operating Frequency: 2.2GHz
FSB: Integrated into chip
Cache: L1/64K+64K; L2/1MB
Voltage: 1.5V
Process: 0.13Micron
Socket: Socket 754
Multimedia Instruction: MMX, SSE, SSE2, 3DNOW!, 3DNOW!+

And this 1gig ram for $285 at newegg
Manufacturer: OCZ
Speed: DDR433(PC3500)
Type: 184 Pin DDR SDRAM
Error Checking: Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered
Cas Latency: 2-3-3-7 T1
Support Voltage: 2.7V
Bandwidth: 3.5GB/s
Organization: two 64M x 64-Bit
Special Features: Ultra Low Noised shielded PCB
Warranty: Lifetime

You only need ECC or registered ram for the AMD FX CPU's

I'm waiting for ASUS or ABIT board Nforce 3 250, or any board with a locked AGP/PCI buss.

I don't know if I can wait for long, I got the itch just looking at this stuff sitting on my desk...might have to go get the ASUS board thats out now....???

[Conan]

Nice. Any reason why you went with the aluminum and copper rather than the solid copper?

I actually prefer the solid copper one but there was none available at the local stores (only 1 shop had it!). However, the copper sink is overweight and if you move around your PC a lot, you could damage the CPU. The Aluminum/Copper model conforms with the allowed heat sink weight prescribed by Intel.

[Big Booger]

I actually prefer the solid copper one but there was none available at the local stores (only 1 shop had it!). However, the copper sink is overweight and if you move around your PC a lot, you could damage the CPU. The Aluminum/Copper model conforms with the allowed heat sink weight prescribed by Intel.

That makes total sense. I see they have a warning about the weight of the heat sink on the zalman site for the copper model.
:D

[rik]

So Fastgame is Conan the new "pimp"? Have you relinquished the crown? ;)

[FastGame]

So Fastgame is Conan the new "pimp"? Have you relinquished the crown? ;)
Sure if Conan wants to send us the parts after he's done reviewing them ;)

Any cpu cooler lotto's in the works Conan ?