Hi everyone, I'm new here

[nkcd]

I'm new here, nice meeting everyone. I hope that everyone can help me with my n00b issues.

Here's what I'm running, it's an average:

MSI-6701 Board
P4-2.66ghz socket 478
512 DDR333
MSI Star-Force GeForce4 Ti4200 - 8xAGP - 128MB
120GB 7200RPM
Pioneer DVR105 DVD-R/-RW
5.1 Dolby Chanel with SPDIF in/out and 2 stereo front channel override.
6in1 memory card reader.
4 usb2.0

Idle Temps: CPU 35-37, system 32-35
Full Load: CPU 57, system 42

measured by PC Alert 4

I don't have any special features, just an 80mm Exhast + PCI slot Intake/exhaust fans added on to my stock system.

I've tried to overclocked mine to 2.99GHZ max without having it to shut down. CPU idle is 49-52 degrees celcius.

I don't plan to overclock mine all the time, I just want a cool stable system since I'll let it on for 24/7.

Can anyone recommend any method. I've heard of Lquid Cooling from Thermaltake Aquarius II + Koolance Exos-Al, but will they worth the budget? and will it cool my CPU+system down to about 20 deg. which system is better?

Of course, Vapor AKA phase change cooling is the best, however since I don't have that budget nor my standard system allowed me to take it to the max - It's out of the category.

I've heard of Thermalright new's SP-94 heatsink, but will it fit my system?

Also, my side case allowed me to added on a fan, I was thinking of the Nidec new TA600DC round fan that deliver 240CFM, but will it worth it. The main thing is to cool the CPU right?

Please help me out and give me suggestion. My budget is very very tight since I have to spend money fixing/repair my car.

Thanks everyone, and once again, nice meeting y'all

Kay

[wildfrogman]

Welcome to the forums!

It does sound like your case temps are not that great from what I can understand. Personally I like the 235cfm comair rotron fans. Quite a few around here have them also. You can find them in the 12v or 24v variety at www.mpja.com and some other places for ~$10 to $15 US depending if you want the full 235cfm or a bit quieter 110~cfm fan for the 24v. It helps alot to make sure you have a good amount of air flowing in the case without restrictions like tiny holes/restrictive grills etc but its very important as well to have roughly equal cfm flowing out of the case also.

[nkcd]

Thanks, will that also help cool my CPU, because from the look of the, the CPU needs more attention right?

BTW, that comair fan you mentioned, will it plug into the PC's DC output?

[nkcd]

btw, Those outlets in the computer are only 12V DC rated right? a dumb question but if the fan is 24V DC rated, how can i use them? Do I need a transformer or something?

[wildfrogman]

Yes the temps could be lowered around 10~15C maybe even more depending on how much warmer the case air is getting vs room air temp. For the 24v fans working on 12v computer power..its sort of like 7volt modding but you just hook the fan up without having to switch around wires. You dont get the full performance of the fan but its quieter and still performs pretty good. Also, just hit the edit button if you want to add somthing to your post, it helps keep the thread from getting sort of cluttered.

[nkcd]

Thanks a lot, so basically, if I don't overclock it, and use 2 of those fans as inlet and outlet, my comp will be a lot cooler? And I shouldn't need watercooling?

Thanks again

[wildfrogman]

Well, even if you do overclock it...getting some nice air cooling will dramatically drop your temps so you can overclock more. Also you have to make sure your psu/ram are ok for overclocking~not setting the ram too aggressivly etc. The 235~240cfm fans are 176mm in diameter...and 50ish mm wide. They basically are monsters, the 240~cfm from these fans are much more than you would think because of the high output pressure. Usually you can fit one in the lower front of the case and another on the side but usually just one is pretty good and just make sure you have alot of venting and exhaust fans to balance the airflow.

[frostmeister]

Welcome to the forums nkcd :)

Glancing at your figures, I'd say your temps are rising a tad too much on load. This is only going from my own experience though - that being with my athlon based system.
What I'd advise doing is making a blowhole in the side of your case and ducting cool air directly onto your cpu heatsink/fan assembly. That way, your cpu is cooled by cold air, and the rest of the system gets the air sooner rather than having the air re-circulate around the case.
I'd guess that lack of through flow through your case is the main issue here, and improving that, and taking air directly from outside to cool your cpu is going to improve things alot. I see my temps rise by about 5C on load btw.
Cutting a hole in your case side and spraying a bit of cardboard tube silver, or getting some automotive ducting won't be that expensive if you've already got auto tools to help with the job. Good luck, and let us know how it works out :)

[Robrules18]

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS

anyway, 20C is unreasonable 30's is very good for air and water sint much better just more stable and smaller range between idle/load... and id definatly make my car priority over my comp i know i know its blasphemous:rolleyes:

[AcidBurn52383]

...here is a really simple fix that will lower your overall temp by quite a bit...

take your case panels off... and leave them off...

i did so and it droped my temps almost 20C

im running a cooler master elcheapo cpu hsf and my full load temps are around 53C and im running a

1700+ Tbred-A core @ 2100+ ( 150 FSB x 11.5 @ 1.85v )

also.. you might consider a round cable mod...

find out all about it at the link below...

http://www.cheese83.freeserve.co.uk/comp/mods/ide_cable_mods.htm

easy enough... and free...

-AcidBurn-

[wildfrogman]

I would pass on the custom made modded cables unless you have quite a few of them just laying around. If you just are careful laying out the cables works pretty good.

[Sterculus]

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!
What kind of budget do you have for the newer cooling system? (sorry if I missed that). Anyways, your CPU load temps are definitally a bit on the high side, expecially if you are going to try and overclock.
The best/cheapest cooling upgrade would be better case airflow, and a new heatsink. Choosing the heatsink will depend on your budget. As for the airflow, more is better, but I bet that 240 CFM fan is going to be very loud, and might be annoying if you are going to leave the computer on all day.
Good luck!

[mateo]

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!

It sounds like you're off to a good start. You have a fairly decent system, and you have some idea of the options available and what you're looking for. Congrats on the thoughtfulness :).

I wouldn't rule out overclocking because you can get things rock stable and faster with the right setup. First of all, remember that if you do extreme air cooling the noise levels will be high (Im sitting by two very loud fans right now- I always dismissed the noise factor until my own misfortune). Second of all, I wouldn't look at any sort of commercial watercooling setup like you mentioned except for the Corsair and Swiftech rigs, and since you're on a budget, I'd forget about it for now anyway.

For excellent, relatively cheap air cooling, I'd recommend the Thermalright SLK-800U. The 900 and/or SP-94 might improve your temps by only 1-2C, which isn't worth it considering a budget. If you don't want to spend that much, a Sunon 39 CFM fan works OK and is reasonably quiet. If you're absolutely certain that you want quiet, then a Vantec Stealth or Panaflo is good, and a TT Smart Fan 2 is good if you feel you want to play around with finding a good noise/cooling ratio.

For the case, I'd get rid of the PCI blowers, IMHO they don't do that much. It would help to know what your case is, then we could work on setting things up in it in the best way possible.

BTW, the panel off idea works very well, especially if you take a house fan and angle it in at the mobo. Sure, you're going to have dust, but you'll have that anyway, and you should work on taking care of that regardless.

PS- About the cables, if you fold and route your IDE/floppy cables so that the broad side faces you in the case and the narrow edge faces the front of the case, you might actually get a thinner profile than what you would from rounded cables.

[shiyan]

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!

hi! you haven't mentioned what cooler you are using now, and from your temperatures, I'd assume it to be the stock Intel heatsink.

nice system though.

what cooling system you need depends on what you want. as you say you won't need to have it overclocked all the time, maybe high end air cooling might be good enough for you.

what you would need in that case is the Thermalright SP94 as you've mentioned (it should probably fit on your motherboard, but better wait for confirmation on that from someone else), and a fan with adjustable speed.

A fan for pretty sane noise is the Thermal Take Smartfan 2. This fan comes with a speed adjuster. For even better performance, the Tornado 80mm is even better. But you'll need to buy a rheostat for this fan, as it does not come with a speed adjuster.

With the Tornado 80mm at max speed of 5500rpm (which will not be bearable for long periods of time due to the noise it makes), your cooling performance will be pretty close to water cooling. You can use this setting for when you are trying to find the outer limits of your system.

For everyday use, you would turn the speed of the fan down to around 2500rpm, which is a lot quieter, and the cooling will still be very good. What voltage is required for 2500rpm I'm not sure, maybe some Tornado users can help you with that, but besides using a rheostat, you could also run the Tornado off 7v from your PSU, by connecting it to the 12+ and 5+ lines rather than the 12+ and 0v lines.

With the Smartfan 2, the hassle is a lot less, as it comes with a speed adjuster. The only disadvantage is that cooling performance is not as good as the Tornado.

For better case airflow, you don't need to use a huge fan. You might consider a blow hole on the side panel. You don't need that much air flow for your case temperatures to be very acceptable.

If you are not after the maximum overclock, and just want a quiet cool system, you might also consider a Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu, which cools very well, and is near silent, with its 92mm fan running at 2400rpm.

These are probably the most convenient solutions.

edit:
Doh! didn't see you other thread...

[Ffats]

On another note...

ThermalTake's Aquarius is a joke of a watercooling solution - performs worse than a lot of mid-range heatsinks. Koolance is a tad better, not by much. Definitely a low-noise solution rather than performance cooling.

You asked if they can get your chip down to 20c... It all depends on your ambient temperature - chances are, you don't operate in a very cold environment that would allow such good temperatures out of a sub-par cooling system. So no, you won't get down to 20c.

[shiyan]

yub. even with the best quiet watercooling and noisy aircooling your processor will still be around 10C hotter than ambient under load.

so only if your ambient temperature was less than 10C, which is very uncomfortable, would it be possible for your processor to be near 20C under load using aircooling or watercooling.

the only way you'll get to 20C with a comfortable ambient temperature is if you use peltiers or phase change cooling.

both of those options are more expensive than aircooling and watercooling.

[nkcd]

Thanks everyone, So now my best bet is to go with Aircooling (Since it doesn't bother me about noice that much) which requires me

1/. A good Socket 478 Heat sink: Thermalright SLK800U

2/. A Good CPU Fan: Tornado 80mm (which requires a speed adjuster or something, and where can I look for it? - If it's just an ordinary potentiometer, then I have plenty) or Thermaltake SmartFan 2.

I've heard of Nidec DC fans and wondering if they would do any good?; considering the mounting, CFM rated, etc.

I just notice that the hole open area on my panel is right infront of the CPU fan and heatsink. Someone mentioned about ducting - is it the same as make a insulated hose from there to the heatsing of PC so that the fan can draw in cold air. WOuld it be better if I mount that monster Nidec or Comair Fan right at that place?

3/. As for Exhaust, I had an 80mm and an PCI blower for my video card. If I go with the 200+ CFM fan, then I would prolly need to make another hold on the other side of the panel + an extra fan for exhaust.

Any other suggestion please?

Thanks a lot.

btw, it seems that my PC is a lot cooler, around 35C, when I had my left panel on, and do stuff like browsing, downloading, etc (NOT FULL LOAD) than when I took it off (40-44C)

[eobard]

Duplicate threads merged.

[archilochus]

The door on door off, would indicate you have
a strong flow thru your case w/the door on!
Kind of like a wind tunnel effect.That is very
disirable.THE FANMAN:cool:

[nkcd]

so beside the fact that I need strong fans, what type of Heatsink is suitable for my P4 socket 478 (2.66ghz)

[syberspy9]

a sp94 is the way to go but man i would stay with the stock unless ur ocing a fair bit all you need is some good air flow in the case and some as3 on that hs whats ur case? were does it saport fans? how many>>>?? if u give us the name of the case then were u have ur fans well tell u what to do and by the way (on page2) tose are good uys giving you info i see them alot the mojory of what they say is good

im good i just cant spell and i hate ................ . . . . . those things

[nkcd]

Originally posted by syberspy9
a sp94 is the way to go but man i would stay with the stock unless ur ocing a fair bit all you need is some good air flow in the case and some as3 on that hs whats ur case? were does it saport fans? how many>>>?? if u give us the name of the case then were u have ur fans well tell u what to do and by the way (on page2) tose are good uys giving you info i see them alot the mojory of what they say is good

im good i just cant spell and i hate ................ . . . . . those things

my case is a small compact mini tower case that only have on slot for an extra 80mm fan which I've already used.

I've also has an PCI blower.

The left panel (where we normally open + close has a big grilled+slotted hole that I can put a 92mm as intakes. However, I was thinking of making it bigger for bigger fans, e.g Nidec or Comair 120mm or even biger.

If I use those monter fans, then I'll make a nother hole on the other pan as an extra slot for exhaust.

Thanks for advices y'all