Any recommendations for an AMD Athlon XP 2400+ heatsink/fan combo? Seen the Coolmaster Jet thing and all the reviews say that it's pretty loud, so that's out. I was thinking about something like a Zalman CNPS7000A.

Any help would be nice.

Oh, and I also picked up a Thermaltake memory cooling (A1165) kit for $5.00. I heard it does cool but not much to make a difference. It appears to be more useful as eye candy than significantly cooling your RAM. Any experience with these?

Rob

CNPS7000 bro, great piece! been using it for over 6 mos.....

Quote: Originally Posted by mtmanrob Any recommendations for an AMD Athlon XP 2400+ heatsink/fan combo? Seen the Coolmaster Jet thing and all the reviews say that it's pretty loud, so that's out. I was thinking about something like a Zalman CNPS7000A. Any help would be nice. Oh, and I also picked up a Thermaltake memory cooling (A1165) kit for $5.00. I heard it does cool but not much to make a difference. It appears to be more useful as eye candy than significantly cooling your RAM. Any experience with these? Rob

What motherboard will this go on? It's a great HSF, but is rather large, make sure it will fit your board.
You have to make sure it will clear the power supply in your case, Mine only had 1/8 inch clearance on a Shuttle AN35N Ultra and a midtower case.

Skip the heatspreaders unless you just want them for looks

It's going on an ASUS A7N266-VX board, which is a OEM variant of the VM. Can't use a diagram of the VM because the VX looks absolutely nothing like the VM.

As far as the PSU, well, it's not inside the pc tower anymore. I've got a Sony tower and they decided to use a propriatary size on the PSU, making it smaller than the industry standard. Since I had to upgrade my PSU, it no longer fits so I've got this big, open blank space. The cpu fan blew the air directly out and into the old PSU, which then shoved it out the back (with no intakes whatsoever anywhere on the pc tower).

Rob

Quote: Originally Posted by mtmanrob It's going on an ASUS A7N266-VX board, which is a OEM variant of the VM. Can't use a diagram of the VM because the VX looks absolutely nothing like the VM. As far as the PSU, well, it's not inside the pc tower anymore. I've got a Sony tower and they decided to use a propriatary size on the PSU, making it smaller than the industry standard. Since I had to upgrade my PSU, it no longer fits so I've got this big, open blank space. The cpu fan blew the air directly out and into the old PSU, which then shoved it out the back (with no intakes whatsoever anywhere on the pc tower). Rob

mmm in effect thats an aging board, may be suitable only for a squared up hsf.


upon inspection the pair of caps near the back IO might be a problem - you may also want to replace the hsf on the morthbrigde with somthing passive - they dont last that long unless maintaned - theres definantly room for larger heatsinks tho - i havent got that many recomendations, try the artic cooler copper silent 2l tho (~$20):

For the best-anywhere AMD aircooling, go with the Thermalright SLK-900. IMO, it's $35 well spent. Out of 100 AMD heatsinks tested at Overclockers.com, it scored first-place. I've been using Thermalright products for years now and love 'em.

You can put a 92mm or 80mm fan on there, but in my experience, those hang way over the edges of that heatsink while leaving a big dead spot in the middle. Personally, I went with a 72mm TMD fan since I think the airflow's more effective (I posted a how-to here).

I agree that Zalman makes some excellent quiet cooling products. But my approach was to get the best heatsink I can afford, then have an adjustable fan on there (or a regular fan + a rheobus) so I can either make it whisper quiet, or crank it up for max cooling power. Be careful if you do hook it through a rheobus; you don't want to be able to accidentally turn it too low (or off!).

...Only problem with the SLK's is that is might not be able to fit on that board, if its the board that nev shows..

Though I do have to agree with the good sink + good fan + good rheo combo

Quote: Originally Posted by TheOutcast ...Only problem with the SLK's is that is might not be able to fit on that board, if its the board that nev shows.. Though I do have to agree with the good sink + good fan + good rheo combo

yeh i certainly got the right board, double checked - if you look VERY closley you can see 2 of the 4 mounting holes - 1 near to the northbridge cooler and one to the south east of the 3 caps (near the ram slots). I thnk theres a 3rd just above the paralel port highlight here:

I wasn't thinking of the mounting, I was thinking of space for the fins and all.. looks like it'd take a bit of work, if its possible at all, to get it on there

yes i see what you mean - could be a dremel or hack saw job for the fins - would void warranty instantly tho

Looks like the SLK would fit just fine to me. The only things I can see near the socket are those two capacitors, but the fins run the other way (parallel to the cards, not the ram). Unless you were thinking the rear USB plugs would get in the way?

Thanks, guys. I can't really express how much it means to have people out there that want to help a nOOb out every once in a while. I really appreciate the pic of the VM motherboard that was posted; however, the VX looks NOTHING like that board. I've got the feeling that Sony just bought the model number to paste on a really cheap board built inhouse.

For example, there is no fan on the northbridge heatsink, the IO's are in a different sequence, there are only two RAM slots, the ATA ports are all lined up parrell to each other (like the RAM), only three PCI slots, the CMOS is clear on the other side, and the ATX 20 pin is closer to the edge of the board. Like it matters, but my board is also green, not yellow.

I know. Please forgive the nOOb for buying an OEM. I promise it won't happen again.

I thought about that SLK, too, but it only supports 2800+ and mine's 2400+. If you guys recommend a Thermalright, then I'll definately take another look at them. It's just that I've always heard good things about Zalman that I thought I would give it a try. I'll also have to crawl under the desk to take another look at the board. I'm pretty sure that mine is a Socket A connection.

Oh, I just checked out the AMD website and they have some videos talking about attaching a hsf. They recommend a thermal pad as opposed to thermal paste because the paste breaks down after a while. Any opinions on that? Think I should use a thermal pad if I want another two or three years out of my computer (not for me, I'm giving this crap to Dad next year at tax refund time when I build my own from scratch)?

Again, thanks a lot guys. I've managed to learn a phenomenal amount of knowledge in just the short four or five weeks I've been cruisin' this forum.

Rob

Quote: Originally Posted by mtmanrob Oh, I just checked out the AMD website and they have some videos talking about attaching a hsf. They recommend a thermal pad as opposed to thermal paste because the paste breaks down after a while. Any opinions on that? Think I should use a thermal pad if I want another two or three years out of my computer (not for me, I'm giving this crap to Dad next year at tax refund time when I build my own from scratch)?

Never, I mean NEVER, use a heatpad over good thermal grease. If your are a noob who sticks with Dell and HP, it doesn't make a difference, but for performance dude's it does.

Asking us to use a thermal pad is like asking the owner of a 65 Vette to use 85 Octane. Oh hell no.

BA, you certainly have a way with words. I was pretty sure that I was going to use the silver grease but when you've got a site like AMD telling you "no", then you've got to question.

Does the grease breakdown over time? Just wondering what kind of timeframe because I know that my dad won't know when it needs to be changed.

Thanks again.

Rob

Ok ill be honest i half assed read the thread but from what i have seen in there go with the 7000 if possible ,my apt is warm ( around 80 degrees ) and the thing is cooling my cpu at 42c running folding@home while playing painkiller.Barton 2500 is OC at 2.2 .if you want try to get a iceburg and throw that on your northbridge it will help with your fsb.I will side with BA on the pad vs paste topic ...i will be honest i picked up some cheap thermaltake paste at best buy besause i didnt feel like ordering and waiting for the dtuff.If you are strapped on cash use what Zalmann gives ya skip some lunches and get some Artic silver in less than a week.good luck to you and hope all goes well.

If you are a member of this site, the fact that it may break down after a couple of years is moot.

I get the best available at any time and understand that it will suck after a while. Near term perfornance vs possible future hits on performance? Well guess which way I'm going

By the time any real grease broke down, you will be 2 or 3 systems past. Get the good stuff and kick the dude's ass who recommended a thermal pad. Seriously, beat him down. I'm not joking, slap him around, really hurt him.

it was me BA wanted to see if he would do it or not
jokin of course

It needs to be changed when the proc melts

meh, just show up at his computer in 2 years, pull off the heatsink, clean a bit with some alcohol, and reapply. Breakdown problem solved

FAIR WARNING!!!

WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE IS AN OEM BOARD DESIGNED BY A MAJOR MANUFACTURER OF NAME BRAND COMPUTERS!!!

Just like swimming, please do not eat within 1 hour of viewing these pics. Pictures of unsleeved and/or flat cables have been known to cause heart failure among modders. Sleeving and rounded cables are on the way.

Here are some pics of my cpu hsf. This is what I want to replace. I think maybe a Zalman might not fit because of the northbridge, but I'm not for sure. I may go with the Artic Cooling or Thermalright.

Attached Thumbnails

     

It's pretty close to the rearpanel connectors too. It would probably take some modification to fit in there. Best to just keep the CPU and replace the entire system. Yeah that's the ticket.