Hi, Iv been reading some post and reviews and the how-to's on here recently. And this is a very good site. So i thought id ask a question.

I just bought a Thermaltake P4 Spark 7 off ebay for lik $27 Total including shipping and im wondering if its a good HSF? My system is running hotter then id prefer with the stock HSF so i got this one and wanted to know what everyone thought about it?

Also With my specs would a Chipset Fan be a good idea?

Not sure if It will show my specs so here they are.

P4 @ 2.4Ghz
2 @ 512MB PC2100 RAM
2 HDD @ 7200RPM Each.
2 CD Drives - 1 52x CDRW & 1 DVD-ROM
and other Misc USB Devices.
550W Generic PSU.

Edit Im also upgrading because My current HSF only runs at 2500 RPMs max.

I especially like your motherboard.

Yeah its decent, and since its Intel it shouldn't burn up very fast at all. My AMD runs hella Hot all the time and its fine. Oh yeah your chipset, you shoul get a Heatsink for it, little Epoxy and maybe strap on a fan for the helluva it.

Don't ever use epoxy to mount a heatsink. It is an insulator!

Use thermal frag tape, or thermal epoxy (Arctic Silver epoxy or Arctic Alumina epoxy).

Vash, that heatsink will work better then the stock sink and only just that, I would never expect good temps or reliable operation from a ThermalTake product. You could have asked here about a good P4 heatsink but I suppose its too late now.

A chipset fan is unnecessary on all but extremely overclocked systems and is just another way to build up dust, you dont need one.

Quote: Originally Posted By Vash_The_Stampede Edit Im also upgrading because My current HSF only runs at 2500 RPMs max.

Low RPM's are a good thing, the higher the louder and RPM's do not even directly translate into better cooling.
Example: I have a 120MM 2600RPM fan putting out 70CFM.

Why dont you like TT tek? I havent heard anything bad about them. Did I miss something?

They just aren't great.

Better than stock, but nowhere near as good as other notable choices.

They are unfortunately very well advertised, and are what most high end computer stores sell as a high end heatsink.

Exactly putwig.

So what would be the best HSF combo i could get? for a P4?

Thermalright:

SLK800U

SLK 900U

Swiftech:

MCX462U

MCX4000

But those are huge and heavy and expensive choices. Go with water cooling.

So which one is better?

The SLK900U

or

The MCX4000

And both of those with a regular case fan would cool better then the Spark 7?

MCX4000 with a 120to80mm fan adaptor and a high CFM 120mm fan will be better than an SLK900U with a 92mm Vantec Tornado 110cfm fan. Just ask TekXoid how his amazing rig keeps so cool. He uses an MCX4000 with a 120to80mm fan adaptor and a quad LED Fan (i believe its a quad led) and his temperatures are outstanding, considering he overclocks from 2.4ghz to 3.6ghz.

Quote: Originally posted by Vash_The_Stampede So which one is better? The SLK900U or The MCX4000 And both of those with a regular case fan would cool better then the Spark 7?

The MCX4000.

Correct, a MCX4000 with a standard 30CFM case fan will beat any thermaltake air cooler out there, excluding their overpriced peltier.

Thanks. It already got here and I installed it but if i ever decide to upgrade again ill probably get the MCX4000 with a 120mm fan .