Recommend a quite, good Heatsink for P4?

I have a 2.8ghz Northwood core P4. It runs hot. Hotter than a Northwood should. I lapped the stock intel HS and used Artic Alumina. The fan also likes to make weird noises, and sometimes not spin up right away. Plus it screams a high pitch shreak. The HS is solid aluminum, and straight up design. I see now intel has revised their HS with a copper cored radial design, and it does seem to cool better.


Anyways, I need a replacement that is QUITE, and cools better than my aluminum stocker.. I have a vent tube that goes right over it, so all the sound goes right out the tube...

My MB has a row of electrolytic capacitors on one side of the HS, so I can't fit a gigaintic HS on there or it will interfer...

This one looks nice, and might fit my MB.

Comments? TIA.

What's the motherboard brand/model?

I have a 2.4ghz P4 on a ESC 848P-A. Ran a stock Intel cooler for a while then switched to a Vantec Aeroflow VP4-7040. It's not the quietest heatsink fan at 36db but it is not too loud either; most of the noise being air flowing through the fins rather than a high pitch whine from the fan motor. It fits the spot for a socket 478 processor very well without hanging over the edge like some larger heatsinks.
Inexpensive, works somewhat better than the original Intel heatsink (idle temp went from 42c to 36c) and my computer is no louder than what I had originally (you can't hear it when the case is closed; some may say it's noisy and others may say it's quiet but it depends on your definition of "loudness")
You may also do some "mild" overclocking with it (I brought mine up to 2.6ghz without any problems and it might be able to go higher)


(This picture has my original Intel fan)

If you do buy the Aeroflow; make sure you don't accidently get the AMD socket 370 one by mistake! Both the P4 and the AMD one look exactly the same except for the clamp that holds it to the CPU socket. Don't ask me how I learned this!

http://www.overclockers.com/articles644/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835110008

Haven't listened to or played with the Masscool but if you want something quieter than 30db; you can go for it instead.

Anyway, try to use a better heatsink grease than what comes with the cooler. I used Artic Silver 5 as I had some left over from building another computer rather than the white Star-420 grease that also came with my heatsink.

I've got a Zalman 7000Cu and really like it. Very quiet and keeps the CPU cool too. I've read they've got others but this is the one I use.

-LT

I'd second the Zalman. They are made from the ground up to be quiet. It's their niche in the heat sink world. They aren't the ones that will cool the best and let you do some crazy overclocks, but they will keep you from having to put up with a loud fan.

yuandrew - The intel HS came with wax pad. I ditched that, then lapped the HS. I used Artic Alumina grease, but apparently still with all that it wasn't very good.

Is the white Star-420 grease worse than Artic Alumina? Perhaps I could talk to BugLightGeek and "borrow" some of is AS5.
My MB is MSI neo2 plantnium special edition I believe. It's black instead of usual MSI red. I'd have to look it up. I'm going to bed soon, I'll post the model tommorow.

Comparing the specs on the Vantec vs Masscool on newegg:
RPM 5600 vs 2700 (cfms about the same)
dba 38 vs 26.5
So, I think the masscool will be a LOT quiter, thats quite a big difference! BTW what is the size of the fan on there? 80mm?

LT - I really like that one, looked at it before, but I'm pretty sure it won't fit at all on my MB.

It is pricey but I am amazed by the new Zalman

http://www.zalman.co.kr/usa/product/view.asp?idx=165&code=005009

I am using it on an Athlon X2 3800 and I can't get the temp over 40C.

The Zalman is big but only at the top. The only problem I had was the daughter board being butt up against the top vanes. I just wire tied it a couple of mm off and it's been going strong ever since. The shape is kinda like a mushroom so I don't think board bound objects will be in the way.

-LT

what is the size of the fan on there? 80mm?

Click to expand...

It's a 70mm Y.S. Tech TMD fan. The design of the fan is unique in the way the the motor is on the rim of the fan instead in the center which allows more airflow to the middle of the heatsink.

If you look closely at my heatsink, you might be able to see the copper core underneath the middle of the fan. The rest of it is aluminium fins that extend out the sides.

The Zalman looks very good too. However, like many large fans, it probably won't fit on my system since the power supply is in the way.

i found ya can reduce heat a lot by cable routeing and keeping system clean.more fans dont nescary be better ya have to be able to remove as much air as ya put in.my cpu with a amd stock fan is 21 c idle.but i also reduced the volts to cpu.to the lowest i can and it still be stable and be able to run prime 95 for at least 8 hours

OK I couldn't resist. Here's a pic of the Zalman in my box. Note the daughter board.




Good luck with whatever you decide.
-LT

If that Northwood is a hyperthreader and it ain't hyperthreading, either because the mobo doesn't support it or because it's shut off in the BIOS, it will run considerably hotter than it should.

I have a Northwood 2.6c hyperthreader in one computer and a Northwood 2.4b non-hyperthreader in the other computer. I use the Zalman CNPS6500B-AlCu CPU Cooler, which is a fanless heatsink..

I have only one fan in the computer besides the power supply fan. It's a 12 cm fan mounted on the back of the case and blows across the CPU heatsink.

It's now turning at 320 RPM and the CPU temperature is 91 F. Can you say quiet, boys and girls?

Natcherly I have a very cool and quiet power supply, Seasonic s12 330 watt, and cool and quiet hard drives, Western Digital WD2000JS.

I'll post pictures later.

*** My MB is: MSI 865PE Neo2 Platinum (685pe intel chipset). The case is an Inwin mid-tower, awesome case. I looked at the prices on the Zalman coolers, and they are expensive. I think I'll skip over those since I'm not sure it will fit, and don't want to spend that much. I don't need top of the line, but better than intel, and quiter. I'm looking around the $20 range. ****

peachfuzz: That *might* fit. I'd have to remove my air duct tunnel that goes to my cpu. But you could aim it at the back, and not run a case fan, as it would help blow air out the case. Or run both, and the case fan would help pull air through the CPU fan... Interesting...

yuandrew: True, I'm not sure the Zalman will clear my PS, or my memory sticks...

raggie: my PS cables are all out of the way, and my MB came with round floppy/IDE cables; there's plenty of air flow through my case. I've got that covered. It's just the darn processor HS that isn't performing well.

LT: on the Zalman, can you rotate it 90 degrees? That way it looks like it'd clear my RAM, but might hit the PS...

eluminator: It's HT, and yes the BIOS has HT enabled. Windows picks it up as dual processors. My PS is super quite too, as is my HD (WD sata) which I can not hear at all. Quitest HD I've ever "not heard"!

I figure I might as well post my full specs for the heck of it.
InWin Black Mid-tower.
PS: case came w/ Powerman (FSP= Fultron, Sparkle, Powerman) QUITE! (430w)
Intel 2.8C HT Northwood 800Mhz FSB
Corsiar DDR400 512mb low cas numbers (can't remember)
MB: MSI 865PE Neo2 Platinum
LiteOn 52x CD burner
LiteOn DVD burner (does everything, even DL-,DL+, it dont care!) Just need to find some DVDR cheap...
Geforce 5900XT (looking to get a 6600GT or 6800 someday)
WD SATA 7200 RPM 80gig.
Samsung Floppy drive

Ram costs 1/2 of what I payed in Aug 04. When I get money I'll probably throw in another 512 stick and upgrade my Vid card.

Case has a spot for a 80mm fan up front, 120 in back. I don't run either as it's too loud (my fans aren't quite). When running one or the other (front/back) in case temps drop 3C. CPU only goesup .5C. 36C case temps without fans. I never did see what temps were with both running. One nice thing about running the fan in the back though is it sounds like a ton of wind blowing on something, and drowns out my high pitched whine of my Intel CPU fan.

It doesn't help that the computer is in a corner and the back and side vents face 2 walls to bounce the sound off of right back at me.

I don't really remember if you can go 90 on the sink but the fins are in a circle so I'm not certain what you'd accomplish. I do remember that putting the RAM in the slot closest was a tricky but I've got 6 slots so everything is a bit tight.

-LT

Heatpipe towers like the Hyper 6 are nice. (Own one, lovely heatsink.)

Thermalright SI 120 with a Nexus or Panaflo 120mm fan to top it off may be the ticket. Excellent cooling and fairly quiet if not run at 12V. Clearance issues with the XP 120 on most mobos should have been taken care of with the SI.

Something isn't right. No need to lap anything. I never did. You should clean the mating surfaces with isopropyl alcohol and a lint free microfiber cloth. Anything other than the microfiber will leave lint that will seriously impede heat transfer.

Once you use the wax pad, you can never get it removed completely because it sinks into the pores of the metal, which it should, but I've never had any trouble anyway. I use Artic Silver. After cleaning the surfaces, you put one small piece in the middle, the size of a BB. Set the heatsink on squarely, rotate a bit to squish the Artic Silver, clamp it, and hope it never moves again. It's very easy to get the heatsink mounted cockeyed so it doesn't sit flat. It's also easy to use too much of the heatsink grease.

The Zalman 6500b Cu/Al is selling for $30 at directron. It fits my Intel and Asus mobos easily. The Zalmans come in all copper and also in aluminum with a small amount of copper. I recommend you don't buy the all copper. I believe they are just for show. Not only do they cost more, but they are much heavier and greatly exceed the Intel weight specification. They don't cool much better than the Cu/Al version. The 6500b comes with a 92mm fan and bracket and manual speed controller. Because I'm a quiet freak, I don't use this fan. Instead I duct the rear mounted case fan so it blows on the heatsink.

You definitely need a case fan. The fan on the CPU heatsink only moves the heat from the heatsink to the air inside the computer. You need to also remove the hot air from the computer case. The noise, and the airflow, of any fan is proportional to speed. You can slow up a fan by reducing the voltage. There are several devices you can buy to slow them up. Zalman supplies one along with a 92mm fan when you buy the 6500b CPU cooler.

Another trick for slowing up fans is to run them on 7 volts. Just connect the 12v lead to a 12 volt pin from the power supply. Connect the "ground" lead to a 5 volt pin from the power supply. Presto, 7 volts. Most fans will start reliably at 7 volts.

You can also buy quiet fans. The bigger the fan, the slower and quieter it will be when moving a given amount of air. I never use the popular 8 cm fans. As I'm a quiet freak, I don't even use the 9.2cm fans. As I mentioned earlier, I have just one 12 cm fan, and that one turns slowly.

I don't mean to brag (hee hee), but just to give you an idea of what's possible, at idle my Northwood 2.6c runs at 90F (32C) and my only fan is turning at 300 RPM.

The heat thrown off by the CPU varies greatly with usage. Have you checked your CPU usage with Task Manager? When you are sitting there reading posts, it should be running a few percent max.

Ideally the fan should be temperature controlled. My fan is plugged into the mobo and is controlled by the BIOS. When my CPU gets busy and throws off more heat, the BIOS senses that and increases the fan speed. When that happens I can actually hear the fan if the room is very quiet.

For me, the only good computer cases are those that take 12cm fans. I currently use the aluminum Antec SuperLanBoy. It's small and light and flimsy. If you want a case you can sit on, you don't want this one.

I used to use big heavy expensive aluminum cases made by AMS that had 12cm fan openings punched out by coolcases.com. I decided these were too big and heavy. I now have two sitting side by side in the bedroom and use them for a night stand

Maybe when you lapped the heatsink, you didn't get it flat. The mating surface of my Zalmans definitely has a better finish than the Intel heatsinks.

The 6500b Cu/Al fits most mobos. Here's a link:
http://store.yahoo.com/directron/cnps6500balcu.html

Here's a fan speed controller:
http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/fanmate2.html

Quiet fans:
http://www.directron.com/quietfans.html

More fan speed controllers:
http://www.directron.com/speedcontrol.html[\url]

How are you measuring the CPU temperature? If you should be looking in the BIOS, that reading can be misleading because the BIOS runs the CPU at 100%.

eluminator: I took the wax pad off before using the HS, so it didn't melt. After I took it off, I used acetone to clean the HS off, then began to lap it. Cleaned both surfaces with alcohol, then put some AA and whiped it with a razor blade smooth & thin. BTW, I did not lap my CPU, but found it was VERY concave

Sitting here reading this thread, CPU usage is 0%. CPU temp is 49C. Case temp is 34C. This is readings in windows, with the software my MB provided. My MB controls fan speed too, but since it's so hot, it runs fast most of the time. Right now its 3000 something RPM. Thanks for your help. Sounds like I'll be spending a decent chunk to get my CPU cooler, and reduce the noise with fan controlers etc.


Everyone else, I'll look into the suggestions later on.