Wondering about cooling with a 3.2E

I am thinking of purchasing a 3.2E, but I have heard a lot about Prescotts running very hot. I would like to get at least 3.5 GHz out of this processor. So what kind of heatsink/fan would you guys recommend?
I am using a MSI 865PE Neo2-PLS motherboard, and a Lian-Li PC60 case. I am currently running a 2.4A at 2880 MHz, using a very cheap Cooler Master heatsink/fan combo that is only rated for 2.8 GHz. Motherboard Monitor 5 reports my processor temperature at 40C idle and the case temp at 35C at idle, and 44C and 38C under a heavy load, respectively. I think this is strange… because with the factory bios I had it reported my processor at 44C idle and at 47C under a heavy load. The case temp was the same as it is now. I have the newest bios available for this motherboard. I would guess that the higher set of temperatures would be the most accurate, because in the HP 533w that this processor with the same heatsink and fan was originally in the temperatures were 48C at idle and 52C under load. The only thing I did when I put this processor on to my MSI motherboard was removed the cheap looking thermal compound and replaced it with some Arctic Silver Ceramique.

Thanks for your time. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.

regarding the 3.2e yeah you will be able to OC out of the box to 3.5 no prob (on stock) and anything beyond i would recommed good air flow in case and a XP-120 (heatsink) and a 120mm FAN..

SNieX

Oh, that's nice heatsink, very nice. And I know that Thermalright makes good stuff.
I was actually looking at the Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu earlier today, because I have heard lots of good things regarding it, and was thinking about getting it with the processor. Since I am about to spend $600 on a processor and video card, why not spring another $47 on a good heatsink/fan, that way I'm at least playing it safer than using the stock heatsink/fan. Though now I'm just hoping my PSU will be enough...

The Unforgiven, Your not going to overclock a prescott with your powersupply

With a Prescott you need at least 22 amps on the 12v rail

Also see the links in my signature for some tips on how to keep it cool

Good Luck
Dave

The Zalman is a very good sink but I still think you would be better with an XP120 and a low noise fan or a high cfm fan turned down a few notches.

if you overclock a 3.2 with a weak ps youll blow it up i did just that lucky i didnt loose my hd i pushed it to 4g and saw lightning behind my case lol youll get 3.6 easy not sure about your MB im on a zalman @4g but with the rite stuff to back it

I was guessing that the power hungry Prescott would be to much for my SPI-350w. And it's only 18 Amps at 12 volts... I was about broke at the time is the only reason I bought it, but hey it's ran everything that I've had for nearly a year, so really it's already earned what I paid for it. So would a Antec True430 be allright with a Prescott and the X800 PRO I'm wanting to get? Or maybe I should just bite the bullet and go with a Northwood? I just want something good and reliable, that'll last me a long time.

There are many things you need consider. I have both a SPI 350 w/18a on the 12V rail and a TP430. They aren't much different. Either will run a Northwood to 3.5GHz, but won't run OC'ed prescotts well. If you want to OC Prescotts you really need the Fortron AX-500A (aka Blue Storm) as a practical minumum when you also consider your taste in video cards.

You also need to consider your mb. I don't have experience with that particular model, but most S478 i865pe boards are not very good for OCiing Prescotts. Typically their 875-based cousins will do better, but this is just a general trend. Very few S478 boards really crank with a Prescott, with the (rather expensive) DFI being about the best.

Also understand that your 2.4a will likely do a whole lot more than 2.88GHz. Trust me when I tell you, MSI is pure crap. I used hundreds in my years as a medium scale PC manufacturer, and if they aren't DOA they are buggy or die in service, and the often produce 2.88GHz from chips that should do 3+GHz with ease. The first thing I would counsel is a real mb, and you may find that you don't really even need a new cpu if you get one. And don't throw an expensive new cpu on that MSI relying on the OC results... they will be as mediocre as the current ones.

If you do still feel you need to change the cpu, get an AS8 Abit LGA775 i865pe board and a LGA775 Prescott cpu. These are cheap and will OC better. Just get that AX-500A Fortron to run the show. And I would definitely recommend the XP120 to complete the package, it's clearly the best and works great on the AS8 with Thermalright's LGA775 adaptor (which must be ordered sperately, as well as the 120mm fan of your choice). The only other cooler I am currently considering is one of these:

(S478)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-185-114&depa=0

(LGA775)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-185-116&depa=0

which is about half the cost of a XP-120 setup and by my understanding approaches its effectiveness.

And while a Northwood would run on your current supply, and does have a lot more than 2.88GHz in it, you have to remember that your 2.4a likely does also. Don't get me wrong, a 2.8c or 3.0c OC'ed is a great package, and will smoke the 2.4a pretty smartly, but it's expensive due to the inflated prices new Northwoods carry. And you simply can't count on a stellar OC with that MSI mb, so don't.

In the end you never want the mb to drive the CPU choice. And you don't want the MSI for OCing. MB's are cheap, look:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-183&depa=0

So my MSI motherboard is really my brick wall... Figures... I should have guessed that even when I tried raising voltages that I couldn't even get 20 more MHz out of this stably. I had heard of that Abit 865PE motherboard that could run LGA775's. I think that may be my best option, and it's only $9 more than I paid for this MSI. Cause then I would have the benefits of being able to upgrade to a much faster processor in the future, as well as being able to keep my DDR-1 ram, which combined with the AGP card I'm wanting should last me for a couple years, which then will be time for a 64bit OS, and I doubt today’s 64bit processors would run tomorrow's 64bit OS that well anyway. And I would guess that by then they'll have something better than DDR-2 as well. Maybe I can find someone one who can use my MSI motherboard and the SPI-350. Say, you can’t stuff one in an HP 5xx Series case, can you? I was going to put this processor and 256mb of PC2100 I had laying around back in to the worthless 845GV that is in that case. And hey, that PSU isn’t as expensive as I thought it’d of been. One question on that PSU, it lists the +12 volt in two parts. Any reason for this, and is it better this way? And I think I’ll try that second Heatsink/Fan combo that larva recommended, and it’s cheaper than the Zalman 7000 I was looking at.

And I guess it’s time to add up all this stuff, and see how badly over budget I go. I know the graphics card I’m wanting may be a bit too pricy… but I am tired of seeing such low frame rates in nearly every game I’ve tried made in the last 2 years. So I wanted a card that I could run any game now at great frame rates with AA and AF, and still run new games a year two down the road.

But basically, I just want a good reliable system, without spending a fortune, that the only thing I even have to worry about is vacuuming/blowing the dust out of it, just like what I have now. I only have one issue with this computer currently: Video card error when I try to return to Windows without exiting the game that I’m playing, that makes me have to reboot. And I’m guessing that I’m just trying to push the PCI bus a little too hard, or got a defective card or something. It’s not the motherboard because the card did the same thing in the HP it was in. Solution: I had to stop multitasking while playing games. Lol

If you are gonna go LGA775 then I might suggest the Asus P5P800. I have had a few Asus boards and never had a problem.

This board has AGP, and DDR1. A world record overclock was actually achieved on this board. I can't find the link though.

As far as cooling, I had the BEST luck with the Coolermaster Hyper 6 I had. It cooled better than an XP120 I bought.

Hmm.. So many options. And now when I was looking at pricing, I noticed two 3.2 GHz LGA775's, the 540 and the 540J. Is there a difference? There is only $4 difference in price.

I've already used a few AS8s and I can vouch for them being excellent, as well as packing the kind of value that will assist you in completing the system ASAP. I'm sure the Asus is top notch too, who knows, perhaps in some respect better, but the AS8 is good enough, IMO. Many ways to skin a cat.

I'm sorry I don't know what the J refers to. I don't own any LGA775s myself, I've just helped a few folks assemble systems around the AS8 mb.

The AX-500A is very cost effective. I'm glad its purchase seems palatable to you, it will provide a quality foundation for your efforts.

The Coolermaster Hyper6 mentioned above is indeed excellent also, but costs more than the Freezer4, is louder, weighs more than twice as much--and gets slightly outperformed by the essentially silent Freezer4. I was going to get a Hyper6 before I learned of the Freezer, but have not even remotely considered one since. Freezer4 is good stuff. Only the XP-120 is its equal, and may not provide as good of an airflow/noise ratio.

I like my AS8 as well but dimm slots 1+3 are really flaky. If you get on be sure to use 2+4 for dual channel

Larva, you have me sold on the AS8, and the AX-500A.

I like that Freezer 7, though it looks very tall. Will it be safe and hold to the motherboard well? And is the Ceramique I have sufficient for this processor and heatsink?

Also when I was looking around I came opon this: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-106-048&depa=1
A Thermaltake Silent 775. Anyone know anything about this HS/Fan? I liked that it claims to be only 21 DB, as well as having 42.91 CFM.

Thermaltake=junk. There just isn't that much more to say on that topic.

The Freezer7 is very lightweight, only the XP-120 is lighter. You do have something to fear with a Hyper6 because of its extreme weight, but there is no concern with either the XP-120 or the Freezers. Ceramique should do fine, but a small tube of AS5 is really inexpensive also. It used to be that Ceramique was for all intents and purposes as good, but Prescotts do tend to stress the quality of the TIM. Even so, I imagine it would be hard to tell the difference between the two.

Anything's gotta be better than this $8 Ancient Cooler Master I have. But even on it I've never had an issue out of this 2.88 with Ceramique. I just ran it for about two weeks before I tried to OC to make sure it burned in correctly.

And about pricing it came to $817.98 without counting shipping, which is about $218 more than what I was originally going to buy, the processor and video card. So for just that, I at least can be far more on the safe side, and get quite a bit more out of the processor.

Thanks for the help everyone! And a big kudos to larva for going the extra mile to help out an inexperienced person like me.

Glad to help, and I think you are really doing yourself a favor by spending that last $200. You will get terrific performance even at stock clock rates, and if you achieve the 4GHz clock rates that late-model 3.2e's are often providing, you will have a true screamer.

BTW, what ram do you have? Does it happen to be the 3200XL?

No. Due to my very limited budget when I built this computer, I just bought 512MB of Corsair Value-Select, CL 2.5, and then bought another 512MB of the same about 2 months ago.

The Unforgiven said:

I am thinking of purchasing a 3.2E, but I have heard a lot about Prescotts running very hot. I would like to get at least 3.5 GHz out of this processor. So what kind of heatsink/fan would you guys recommend?
I am using a MSI 865PE Neo2-PLS motherboard, and a Lian-Li PC60 case. I am currently running a 2.4A at 2880 MHz, using a very cheap Cooler Master heatsink/fan combo that is only rated for 2.8 GHz. Motherboard Monitor 5 reports my processor temperature at 40C idle and the case temp at 35C at idle, and 44C and 38C under a heavy load, respectively. I think this is strange… because with the factory bios I had it reported my processor at 44C idle and at 47C under a heavy load. The case temp was the same as it is now. I have the newest bios available for this motherboard. I would guess that the higher set of temperatures would be the most accurate, because in the HP 533w that this processor with the same heatsink and fan was originally in the temperatures were 48C at idle and 52C under load. The only thing I did when I put this processor on to my MSI motherboard was removed the cheap looking thermal compound and replaced it with some Arctic Silver Ceramique.

Thanks for your time. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.

Click to expand...

I see your running a MSI 865. I couldnt get my MSI 865 to boot with a 3.2e in it. It would boot fine in my IS7 and my P4C800. I think I was using the newest BIOS also.

See my sig. It needs to be updated as the CPU is at 3.75ghz (15x25), at the lowest vcore setting available in the bios (1.3750) and prime95 stable for 12+ hours running 2 instances.

I will post a review of how the TT Silent 775 does, as I have one on order and it should be here later this week.

Do not go for the Zalman as it is inadequate for heavy overclocking. Once pushed to 3.75, this chip is getting close to 70c, not quite throttle point but close to. If you had to raise the vcore, i'm sure it would go higher and start throttling.

"J" means that it has the Execute Disable Bit.