How to CooL a P4Pe--she runs too loud !!

T

The General

I run a 3.06/533 on this board in a mid tower, with 4 pci cards,a large
power supply- a ton of cables~!- several drives, including a 10k- and a
9800 pro. So she's hot. The cpu shows ~ 48-50C with no load and the Intel
fan can whine at that heat whem the rpm > 3400. I have two extra fans and
just installed round cables but there is no improvement. I assume there
is just no air flow. The last thing I can think to do is replace the
heatsink/fan and am asking for suggestions. I want the least expensive
good performer that will get the temp down ! Locally these are the type
of fans available in Can $ :
CoolerMaster DP5-6I31C 25.00
Thermaltake Volcano 11+ Xaser Ed. !!!New!!! 45.00

Thermaltake Volcano 7 28.00
Thermaltake Volcano 7+ 39.00
Thermaltake Volcano 9 35.00
Thermaltake Aquarius II Liquid Cooling (P/N:A1604) 199.00
ThermalTake Crystal Orb for chipset 25.00
VANTEC Aeroflow fan for P4 (VP4-C7040) 39.00

Lets say I use the Thermaltake Volcano 7+--would this just be
" moving hot air around " ?
What about a full tower ? Is that a solution ?
 
P

Paul

The General said:
I run a 3.06/533 on this board in a mid tower, with 4 pci cards,a large
power supply- a ton of cables~!- several drives, including a 10k- and a
9800 pro. So she's hot. The cpu shows ~ 48-50C with no load and the Intel
fan can whine at that heat whem the rpm > 3400. I have two extra fans and
just installed round cables but there is no improvement. I assume there
is just no air flow. The last thing I can think to do is replace the
heatsink/fan and am asking for suggestions. I want the least expensive
good performer that will get the temp down ! Locally these are the type
of fans available in Can $ :
CoolerMaster DP5-6I31C 25.00
Thermaltake Volcano 11+ Xaser Ed. !!!New!!! 45.00

Thermaltake Volcano 7 28.00
Thermaltake Volcano 7+ 39.00
Thermaltake Volcano 9 35.00
Thermaltake Aquarius II Liquid Cooling (P/N:A1604) 199.00
ThermalTake Crystal Orb for chipset 25.00
VANTEC Aeroflow fan for P4 (VP4-C7040) 39.00

Lets say I use the Thermaltake Volcano 7+--would this just be
" moving hot air around " ?
What about a full tower ? Is that a solution ?
Click to expand...

The Zalman CNPS7000 is available from http://www.bytewizecomputers.com
which I think is a Canadian company. This is a large device, with a
low RPM fan that can be run at full speed without creating a noise.
Visit the Zalman site and read carefully about the mechanical
dimensions, as you have to check for tall capacitors that might bump
into the fins. Also, if the S478 socket is close to the power supply,
the fins might also bump into the power supply.

Since the Pentium4 has a heat spreader on the top of the chip, you
don't need the heat spreading properties of the pure Copper heatsink
if you want to save some weight on the heatsink. The AlCu should work
well on a P4, while I would recommend the pure Cu for Athlon chips,
as they are a bare die and should be completely covered by copper.

The other thing to consider, is no matter what HSF you use on the
processor, if the air inside the case is hot, a new HSF won't help.
Check to make sure the air temp in the case is not climbing, as that
means you need more case fans. The best kind of case fan would be
a large one, spinning at low RPM. I've seen some case mods, where
people cut the metal on the case, so they can fit a larger fan.

For quiet, you can experiment with Panaflow fans - these use a
sealed sleeve bearing (unlike other sleeve bearings which are
unsealed, and lose their lubrication quickly). A sleeve bearing
will be quieter than a ball bearing based product. Panaflows come
in three speeds low (L1A), medium, and high - which one you choose
depends on how much air you need to move and how much noise you
can tolerate.

From an ergonomic point of view, putting fans on the back of the
case keeps the noise further away from you. But adding a fan to the
front of the case will help increase the rate of air exchange.

If you are doing well, then MBM or Asus probe will record a
"motherboard temperature" of say 27C or so (i.e. only a small
delta over room temperature). If the motherboard temperature is
climbing to 35C or 40C, you need to move more air, to leave some
room for the CPU HSF to do its cooling.

Another approach is to use a product with a duct on it, where the
ducted air leaves the case after cooling the CPU. This way, the
power dissipated by the CPU isn't heating up the rest of the case.
I haven't seen any good reviews yet of ducted products that take
a scientific approach to evaluating how well this approach works.
Ducting will only work well if the air path offers low resistance
to air flow.

HTH,
Paul
 
T

The General

The Zalman CNPS7000 is available from http://www.bytewizecomputers.com
which I think is a Canadian company. This is a large device, with a
low RPM fan that can be run at full speed without creating a noise.
Visit the Zalman site and read carefully about the mechanical
dimensions, as you have to check for tall capacitors that might bump
into the fins. Also, if the S478 socket is close to the power supply,
the fins might also bump into the power supply.

Since the Pentium4 has a heat spreader on the top of the chip, you
don't need the heat spreading properties of the pure Copper heatsink
if you want to save some weight on the heatsink. The AlCu should work
well on a P4, while I would recommend the pure Cu for Athlon chips,
as they are a bare die and should be completely covered by copper.

The other thing to consider, is no matter what HSF you use on the
processor, if the air inside the case is hot, a new HSF won't help.
Check to make sure the air temp in the case is not climbing, as that
means you need more case fans. The best kind of case fan would be
a large one, spinning at low RPM. I've seen some case mods, where
people cut the metal on the case, so they can fit a larger fan.
Click to expand...

thx for that--the Zalman looks huge--what about the bigger case ?
 
T

The General

thx for that--the Zalman looks huge--what about the bigger case ?
Click to expand...
I should add the mb temp does not increase but stays ~ 30C.And do you
have a second recommended Heatsink since I am not keen to be wrong on
some measurement about thingies on the board that might interfere with
the monster you suggest.
 
P

Paul

The General said:
I should add the mb temp does not increase but stays ~ 30C.And do you
have a second recommended Heatsink since I am not keen to be wrong on
some measurement about thingies on the board that might interfere with
the monster you suggest.
Click to expand...

After the Zalman, there are a number of similar looking, cubic form
factor solutions. The thing is, they will be noisier than the Zalman.
If you want a really secure design, I think the MCX4000 from Swiftech
(swiftnets.com) will bolt down to a motherboard, rather than relying
on clips. Only problem with that solution, is you have to buy a fan
separately.

Check out Tomshardware for one of their jumbo comparison articles
(I think cooler articles are in the CPU section?). The Tomshardware
articles are good for getting the names of cooler manufacturers to
check out.

You can also look for comparison reviews, where other leading HSF
contenders are compared to the Zalman 7000.

There are a couple of contenders reviewed here:
http://www.pcabusers.com/reviews/thermalright/slk900a/p3.html

In a previous post, someone mentioned this thing:
http://www.thermaltake.com/products/heatsink/silentBoost.htm

and I was reasonably happy with their older Volcano 7+ (switchable
three speed fan).

(Note - Watch out for the TMD fan mentioned for one of these.
Apparently there is a lot of variation in fan noise between units.
The Tip Magnetic design uses magnetism out near the tips of the
blades, rather than the standard hub motor.)

The problem with most cubic HSF designs, is they trade off turbulent
air flow (which is needed for the heatsink to transfer the heat) for
noise. Many heatsinks restrict the airflow too much, and when the
fan works into a load like that, you get extra noise. I would expect
the pin fin designs like the MCX4000 to be like that. The skived fin
heatsinks will be similar, in that the cowling around the fins sometimes
restricts where the air can go. Basically, many of these fans are
designed without thinking of how to move air quietly.

The SilentBoost places holes around the periphery of the fan body,
to cut down fan blade noise. The Zalman is the king at that approach,
as there is no body around the fan blade tips, and the fan does
as much work radially as it does vertically.

All HSF can have measurement type issues. On some HSF, the clips are
the devil to get fastened, without the HSF skating over top of the
processor while you are fastening it on.

HTH,
Paul
 
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