Newbie PC Cooling Question

[johns]

That 2.8 would work fine as long as it fits properly.
I don't know where they are getting this rating crap.
Ain't nobody gonna make aluminum radiate heat
any better than it already does. As long as the heat
sink touches the cpu properly, and clips on properly,
it will work.

johns

 

[Ruel Smith]

Well, I got home tonight and installed the heatsink. I kept tabs on
the temperature for about an hour of idle time. The temp stabilized
around 49 degrees celcius for idle time. I then loaded World of
Warcraft and played for about an hour. When I checked the temp while
playing it hovered around 60 degrees celcius. From what I understand,
that isn't a horrible temperature, but it could be much better. I'm
going to take this heatsink back and order a better one. Thanks to
everyone who helped me out tonight.

I have an AVC Sunflower and it idles areound 39 degrees Celcius and never
comes near 60 degrees under load. However, I have 2 fans exhausting in the
rear, 2 fans blowing inward in the front, and one on the side blowing on
the graphics card - all 80mm Antec fans - so I'm sure that helps keep the
temps down. Also, my machine is a 2.6 GHz Northwood and it's overclocked to
3.0 GHz. Also, I'm using Artic Silver thermal paste between the heatsink
and processor. This accounts for a couple of degrees alone. I hope this
gives you some sort of reference.

If you have a Prescott, expect higher than normal temps, though. I built a
system for a friend that routinely gets around 60 degrees Celcius under
load. He's got the socket 775 setup and running a stock Intel cooler with
no Artic Silver.

 

[Redmond du Barrymond]

If you have a Prescott, expect higher than normal temps, though. I built a
system for a friend that routinely gets around 60 degrees Celcius under
load. He's got the socket 775 setup and running a stock Intel cooler with
no Artic Silver.

Yea, he probably has a Prescott so those temps he posted are not
overly high but could be better. Mines a Northwood 2.66 OC to 3.0ghz
also but I'm idling at 43c right now (under load it goes up to about
54c) and that is because I am just using a stock Intel HSF designed
for a P4 1.8. That temp is never a problem though and this HSF is
quiet and is why I am using it. I did have a better HSF but it was
noisy and then one day I was cleaning the magnetic blade tip fan with
compressed air and the fan siezed up so I put the Intel HSF on. Need
to find a replacement fan for the other HSF as it has a copper core
and will bring my temps down a bit.

 

[Hackworth]

Hello. I'm a complete n00b when it comes to building a pc. I bought a
Dell dimension 3000 several months ago and didn't realise at the time
that it did not have an AGP or PCI express slot. So I recently bought
a new motherboard (Abit IC7-G) and a new case to put it in from newegg.
I mistakenly assumed that the heatsink from my Dell would fit the
Abit. Instead of ordering a new heatsink from newegg, I went to a the
only pc shop in my area and bought one from them. I didn't realise
until I got home that the heatsink was only rated to a 2.8 ghz
processor while I have a 3.0. I don't plan on overclocking the
processor anytime soon. What I need to know is if the new heatsink
would be okay to use, or should I take it back and order one rated for
at least 3.0 from newegg? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

The heatsink you have should be just fine.