So I got a new 4600+ (see the deals forum) today and installed it. The ASRock's happy, only minor snafu was that I put the sound jacks in wrong when I replaced the mainboard (needed to remove it because I figured I'd go with the stock sink instead of my old Zalman 7000AlCu.

The 4600+ stock cooler is significantly larger than the one which came with my 3200+, and has four heatpipes, but still has a dinky little fan.

This concerns me.

I'm getting (at idle) temperatures in the low-mid 40s (42 to about 48).

to make matters worse, the fan's hideously loud and thermally controlled. It's spinning at 5444 RPM now, and it's gone higher.

I recall the 3200+ stock fan was *so* ample and *so* quiet I honestly found myself asking if I had wasted my money buying the Zalman. But this fan is absurdly bad.

Ambient temperature is 28c (per digital thermometer) but gets as high as low 30s.
Case temperature 37c (per SpeedFan)
CPU and 'AUX' temperatures 43/42 (are those two sensors on the two cores?)
HD temperature 34c
'Core' temperatue 43c

No, I can't enable cool-and-quiet because I run Windows 2000, and apparently the AMD Cool-and-quiet driver doesn't work on X2s under 2000.

I'm hesitant to try the Zalman and see if it's ample because the warranty leaflet expressly says "if you go with an aftermarket heatsink, you forfeit the warranty" but it honestly should NOT be this loud.

Is it the high RPMs or is it likely there's something fouling the sink or enforcing a whistle? The fan seems too small to be so loud.

Kudos for you for posting an informative question with all the details that we look for. In fact +rep. Anywho one question that you didnt answer is what kind of thermal paste are you using and did you apply a new application of it yet?

About voiding the warranty on your processor. How are they gonna know that you didnt use their proprietary heatsink? Theres no way they can. Rock out that Zalman bro and see if that helps. If not, than you might need to consider cleaning up your wires, and or adding a side panel fan over the heatsink. Good luck!

Quote: Originally Posted by Sparky About voiding the warranty on your processor. How are they gonna know that you didnt use their proprietary heatsink? Theres no way they can. Rock out that Zalman bro and see if that helps. If not, than you might need to consider cleaning up your wires, and or adding a side panel fan over the heatsink. Good luck!

I agree. There's no way they can tell what cooler you're using. Just be sure to keep the original handy in case you ever need to send the cpu back under warranty.

When I opened the stock heatsink (surely SOMEONE here knows what a boxed AMD CPU is like ) it had a layer of sickly-grey coloured stuff on it. I assume it's the standard pad. The sink had a piece of plastic to cover the bottom, but no little strip over the pad/goo/whatever so I assume the plastic protected it. I don't remember what it was like on my 3200+.

If I went with the Zalman, I'd be using generic silicone grease, cos I have a small-toothpaste-size tube I bought and will last me for 20 years.

I know the 7000AlCu was unimpressive in performance on the 3200+ (although significantly quieter than this), but that could be because the 3200+ was simply not a cooling challenge, but at least it won't drive me batty like this. :/

Quote: Originally Posted by Hak Foo When I opened the stock heatsink (surely SOMEONE here knows what a boxed AMD CPU is like ) it had a layer of sickly-grey coloured stuff on it. I assume it's the standard pad.

Get rid of that goop and use Arctic silver 5.

Quote: Originally Posted by Hak Foo When I opened the stock heatsink (surely SOMEONE here knows what a boxed AMD CPU is like ) it had a layer of sickly-grey coloured stuff on it. I assume it's the standard pad. The sink had a piece of plastic to cover the bottom, but no little strip over the pad/goo/whatever so I assume the plastic protected it. I don't remember what it was like on my 3200+. If I went with the Zalman, I'd be using generic silicone grease, cos I have a small-toothpaste-size tube I bought and will last me for 20 years. I know the 7000AlCu was unimpressive in performance on the 3200+ (although significantly quieter than this), but that could be because the 3200+ was simply not a cooling challenge, but at least it won't drive me batty like this. :/

I doubt you will see much of a gain with the Zally 7000 over the heatpipe cooler, but it can't hurt to try... I did some testing not long ago on my X-2 and found it nearly equaled my 7700!

That being said, the "Big Typhoon" completely blew away both coolers!

And for 10$ get the AS-5, it realy will make a difference over most pastes, sometimes 3-5c or more!
(Though it can often can be nearly matched by some of the newer types that have come out in the last year)

Most aftermarket coolers will blow away the stock cooler, the top choices are the Zally 9500 but its rather pricey at over 50$ (And I see there is a 9700 on the way) the Big Typhoon (Around 35$) and a few models by Scythe and Noctua....there are many more "Good coolers" out ther in the 35-50$ range too, but these are just the ones that come to mind!

Noctua FTW for air cooling ditch the white pasty stuff that looks like ******* and get some AS5 its worth it in the end. Sadly no they cannot tell what paste you used or what HS you used if you clean them with alchohol before sending them off.

I didn't have a problem with the stock cooler aside from its maddening noise... and as I mentioned the strange way it didn't appear to be pressing the paste away. I'm gonna fiddle with some spare fans and see if I can find a 92 or something I can slap on and replace the 70mm (700ma rated!) screamer.

Edit: Mission accomplished.

Combining the AMD stock cooler with a 92mm fan creates a quiet cooling powerhouse. And replacing the stock paste with something which actually does ooze and do its job.

I used an old Nidec D09T-12PH salvaged from an old PSU (many early ATX PSUs used those fans for some reason). Ancient, dusty, and doesn't even have a third wire, but it's keeping the system quite cool under one-core-full-load-the-other-idle situation (cos I don't have a good full-load for the second core. Setting Virtual PC to the BIOS screen will redline one core, but you can't seem to open multiple instances), but it's as quiet as the Zalman was. The fan overhang gives draft to the heatpipes (perhaps wasteful) as well, but that's not the main draw.

Now I just need a better attachment method.. I used that green thin plastic stuff you use to tie tree limbs together and tied the fan frame to the plastic cage that once held the 70mm job