Current Best HSF for Athlon XP

[Buddha1822]

I've been out of the loop for 6 months or a year or so and have missed what the latest modding/cooling/hardware crazes are. At the time I built my current tower, I put a SLK-800 on my Athlon XP and a Vantec Tornado fan on that in order to cool what would be a overclocked CPU. It all went well and everything has gone good. Last year I upgraded my CPU to a Barton 2800+, still an Athlon XP tho, and put the same heatsink on it. I have "acquired" a x800 and want to revamp this system (since I've been using my laptop, it's not been in use) and make it as good as new again and even better. One of the areas of focus is taking off the extremely loud Vantec Tornado fan that has been a trustworthy worker forever and looking for a new HSF combo that is as cool (if not cooler) than the SLK-800 combo and much quieter.

So based on that, I'm wondering what the latest best, quietest, and coolest solutions are for an Athlon XP Barton 2800+ on an ASUS A7N8X dlx mobo. Price is not an issue, I'm just looking for what the current bests are since I've been out of the loop for so long. Any help is appreciated!! Thanks!

 

[massraptor]

For the price this is decent

Here is a link to a Thermal Take Pipe 101 copper with heatpipes. Pair this up with a nice 92mm adjustable and you are there.The more expensive solution might be Thermal right SI 97 . Which is also very highly regarded.But i like my money in my pocket better.

MassRaptor

 

[Stoanhart]

I don't know if it's best, but I have a thermaltake Silentower. Dropped my xp2400+ about 17c from stock cooler at load! Now I OC'd it 250Mhz, and it's still about 7c cooler than stock HSF. I will try to go higher, but it wouldn't let me. What is the max voltage for a 2400+ (266Mhz FSB version). My mobo will do 1.85, and I'm at 1.75 right now.

 

[Ven0m]

I don't know if it's best, but I have a thermaltake Silentower. Dropped my xp2400+ about 17c from stock cooler at load! Now I OC'd it 250Mhz, and it's still about 7c cooler than stock HSF. I will try to go higher, but it wouldn't let me. What is the max voltage for a 2400+ (266Mhz FSB version). My mobo will do 1.85, and I'm at 1.75 right now.

According to AMD datasheets, max voltage for newer Athlon XP CPUs is 2.15v.

 

[Stoanhart]

cool, thanks man. I'll bump it up and get maybe another 50mhz or so!

 

[Bios24]

Here is a link to a Thermal Take Pipe 101 copper with heatpipes. Pair this up with a nice 92mm adjustable and you are there.The more expensive solution might be Thermal right SI 97 . Which is also very highly regarded.But i like my money in my pocket better.

MassRaptor

The SI-97 can be had for $35-40 from many other vendors. Like this one:
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/thsiforamdat.html

 

[Illah]

An SLK-800 w/ Tornado is still almost as good as any of these new ones. I would stick with that and use the cash to upgrade the cooling on the x800 (unless you have already budgeted for that, in that case listen to the posts above).

--Illah

 

[Buddha1822]

An SLK-800 w/ Tornado is still almost as good as any of these new ones. I would stick with that and use the cash to upgrade the cooling on the x800 (unless you have already budgeted for that, in that case listen to the posts above).

--Illah

well then what is a good suggestion for x800 cooling??? i don't like doing way too much extra modding and re-thermal-pasting all right now... er tho I know I would have to. what is the best x800 vid card cooler?

 

[Buddha1822]

Oooh sweet I like this SI-97 and considering putting a 120mm "Orange Nexus" silent fan on top running at 12v probably... Anyone done this personally? How is performance??

 

[Sentential]

Oooh sweet I like this SI-97 and considering putting a 120mm "Orange Nexus" silent fan on top running at 12v probably... Anyone done this personally? How is performance??

SI97 peforms admirably. If I got a K7 peformance sink that would be my first choise right behind Thermaltake's sonictower

 

[Bios24]

The SI-97 only takes 92mm fans. (unless you going to mod a 120mm on there)

Running an SLK-800 with a Tornado would be just as good as modern coolers, *but* modern coolers cool better with quiter/bigger fans. (and most don't want the noise of the tornado)

 

[Sancho]

SI-97 runs my system plenty cool, but I am somewhat biased

 

[Sentential]

The only complaint I have hear about the SI97 is that some of the early batches were defective. Also when you install it make sure that the shim it comes with isnt preventing proper contact with the CPU surface

 

[Ven0m]

I'd give Sonic Tower a try. Of course, some additional mounting to case would be good.

 

[Buddha1822]

The SI-97 only takes 92mm fans. (unless you going to mod a 120mm on there)

i'd actually be interested in considering that... is there a guide out there or any photos of a succesful way to do it? not sure but doesn't sound too easy...

 

[Buddha1822]

I'd give Sonic Tower a try. Of course, some additional mounting to case would be good.

you talking about this thing??
looks pretty funky but I guess would seem to work... and you say its good?

and sorry for another question but additional mounting? i guess since its so damn huge and what not it would... does it also only use 1 fan??

sorry for so many questions

 

[Ven0m]

I'm not sure if that's "awesomely awesome", but on SilentPCReview they liked it.
It comes without fans, but has fan mounting, for one fan, I think, but it should be possible to eventually mount more fans, or to mount fan in middle. But I can't guarantee that all fan mounting possibilities can be achieved without modding. I think that no modding would be required, but I can't guarantee that.

Additional mounting - this one is huge, really. For safety I'd make some mounting bracket that would connect this heatsink to case, not to stress mobo & CPU too much. Eventually, you can jsut get some wires and fasten it to top of case.

I don't know how is its performance compared to SI-97, but it's bigger and you can use 120mm fans with it, one easily and maybe even up to 3 if you wanted. Problem is definietly its size and weight - you'd need to check its dimensions to know if it fits in your case, and mounting it to mobo only seems a bit unwise to me. But hey, it seems to be the biggest Socket A cooler available.