Best thermal paste? Best low-height HSF?

[BD2003]

I've got practically no room between my DVD-ROM and the top of the fan on my CPU, and it keeps overheating.

So whats the best thermal grease I can get for this bad boy, and what about a small HSF. I assume a smaller fan will allow for more airflow since theres more room for it to suck air from...

 

[mechBgon]

How much space do you have, can you measure it? edit: also, what kind/speed of CPU?

 

[BD2003]

Duron 750, socket A. From where to where do you want me to measure? Top of cpu core?

 

[mechBgon]

If you can give approximately how tall the heatsink + fan is from base to top of fan, I will try to hunt up something that leaves more "breathing room."

 

[mechBgon]

Well, I went and rounded up some possibilities for consideration. Here is a nice one: Thermalright CB-6L with copper base

I heard good things about this one, now if the store only carried a slim 60x10mm fan... SVC GoldenGate
They also sell it with a fan and chromed grille for the same price SVC GoldenGate with fan and grille

Basically an AMD stock retail cooler sold separately: Dynatron microfin heatsink/fan

True 1U rack-mount coolers: Vantec all-copper and Vantec aluminum
Alpha PAL 15-3U, very classy

As for thermal compound, almost everyone recommends using only genuine Kraft Miracle Whip. No wait... I meant to say Arctic Silver III

Hope that helps out.

 

[SithSolo1]

Well I guess I'm a lil out dated but Arctic Silver II worked just fine for me.

 

[mechBgon]

Nothing wrong with AS II either, I still haven't used up my tube of it yet

 

[BD2003]

Right now that HSF/FAN I'm using is about 40mm high. Using a cheapo generic HSF. Think a new HSF and Artic Silver will keep it from overheating?

 

[randomlinh]

hell, i'm still on my original tube of AS I!!! this thing lasts forever! And it better had for the price i paid for it (which i don't remember anymore... but it was a lot for just some thermal grease).

what case do you have anyway that has your dvd over your cpu... the only thing i can figure is the PIA cube case.. since i have the same problem.. lucky for me the golden gate fits nicely

Linh

 

[BD2003]

Its an Inwin case. Heres the newegg link.
http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?image=11-108-166-01.JPG/11-108-166-02.JPG/11-108-166-03.JPG/11-108-166-04.JPG/11-108-166-05.JPG/11-108-166-06.JPG/11-108-166-07.JPG/11-108-166-08.JPG

Its a thing of beauty....small, yet juuuust big enough to accomodate full sized pci cards.

That vantec 1U looks nice, incredibly slim, but how can it possibly cool good when its that small?

 

[mechBgon]

Dang, 40mm rules out the Thermalright, which is 42mm tall with the fan. The Dynatron jobbie is 46mm tall with fan, and the GoldenGate is 40mm if equipped with a 10mm slimline fan, which you'd have to buy elsewhere.

I did spot a better buy on the Alpha: Alpha PAL 15-3U at CrazyPC. That, combined with decent thermal compound, ought to handle the Duron fine, but it's still a bit expensive and not likely to have much usefulness on any future upper-end CPUs.

Is that in a BookPC type of case, out of curiosity? I had one of those once, and it tended to run pretty hot. edit: ah, I see whatcha got now

 

[BD2003]

Its a bit bigger than your average book PC, but its still pretty cramped. I had to squeeze wires under the DVD to get to the IDE ports, had to squeeze the power supply cables through all sorts of contortions just to get them to reach to the drives...but its worth it.

This thing plays DVDs and Divx with absolutely awesome quality, but I also have about 6 different emulators and about 1000 games hooked up to it too. Basically a lot of my favorite childhood games are on it. But it keeps crashing! :|

 

[mechBgon]

I spotted a link from CrazyPC to an AnandTech review of low-profile coolers, looks like Mr. Alpha is pretty decent: http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1571&p=2

EDIT: Wow! The little monster is only 6 degrees behind a PAL8045 equipped with a 20CFM Papst 80mm fan. Dang! :Q Chart of full-sized coolers, which the review says can be compared directly!

 

[BD2003]

Hmm, the alpha looks nice, but I'd have a heart attack before I could shell out $27 for a HSF. Besides, I'm not trying to OC or anything, just trying to get it stable...

 

[mechBgon]

Ok, here is my ghetto budget-o-matic mod idea for you then... get out a hacksaw and take about a centimeter off the fins of your existing heatsink. The increased breathing room will probably more than make up for the reduced surface area, and it won't cost anything. By the way, what are you using for thermal interface material at the moment?

 

[BD2003]

If I wasnt such a klutz I'd give that idea a go, but I'll have probably cut my fingers off in the process.

Right now I'm just using the half rotted away thermal pad on the cheap HSF.

 

[mechBgon]

Ok, I'm not giving up on my ghetto mod. Get some really coarse sandpaper, tape it down to something, put your heatsink fins-down on it and start hustling it around! You'll have it shaved down to "racing depth" in no time. And how about one of these for $2.75 shipped?

 

[SithSolo1]

Eeek! I condem thy thermal pad to h3\\, you go there, you go there and you DIE! Seriously, get rid of the termal pad, those things blow of lack of sleep and a better term. Just putting Arctic Silver 3 would lower your CPU temp by about 3-6 degrees Celcius.

 

[BD2003]

I've got $20 to throw at a HSF and thermal goo. $40 is way too much.

Hehe, I'm looking at this thing now, and the thermal pad is practically non-existant at the core. I'm gonna try and get some paste for it and see what I can do with the fan a bit.

If that doesnt work, I can always get a new HSF, but I'd rather not if I could avoid it.

 

[Blain]

A Diamond Member who won't shell out $27 for a HS...

What's this world coming to? I guess the terrorist HAVE won!

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: Blain
A Diamond Member who won't shell out $27 for a HS... What's this world coming to? I guess the terrorist HAVE won!

Its not that I wont shell out $27 for a HSF, its that I wont shell out $27 for a HSF for something that plays movies and SNES games and isnt being overclocked...

 

[mechBgon]

and the thermal pad is practically non-existant at the core.

Aha, you have the one-use-only, melt-to-fit type of pad, then. That's got to be a major contribution to your overheating problem right there.

 

[BD2003]

So for the record, would it be a bad idea to gather up the untouched thermal pad surrounding the core, and spreading it back around the middle so I could cover the core?

 

[mechBgon]

I'd do that, if I didn't have any thermal paste yet.

 

[BD2003]

Hehehehe who said 2AM is too late(early?) for fun with heatsinks....