How to keep a Northwood 1.6A cool....

[TRIAD]

Ok for all you overclockers, what is the best cpu fan out there for a Northwood 1.6A.
Is it THERMALTAKE, COOLERMASTER, AVC....? Which on are you using and why?

 

[Duvie]

Well I am sure there is a 5000+ rpm fan and one that cost 40+ dollars, but I think that may be a waste....

It is unlikely heat may be the limitng factor on the oc anyways....

1)mobo stability and oc abilities
2)ram stability
3)power supply
4)overall concern of volatge increase damaging the integrity of the chip

I have seen very few having heat be a concern or a road block...

That being said I am saying the retail hsf can do just fine...I sepnt 19 bucks and went to pcpowercooling .com and got a "avc" hsf...many say this is not an actual sunflower though, but the avc name is all over it...

It runs about 4000rpms on my board yet audibly doesn't sound much louder then the retail fan...coupled with as2 I get about 8c cooler idle temps and about 15c cooler full temps....keep in mind this may vary from boar to board and instance to insance...generally I have seen about 4c idle and 10c full variance...


Overall I am saying anymore then this and it is overkill...I can't get any higher yet I am no where near the danger zone for temps...Too many other factors will likely bite you before this alone...

So spend your money wisely...getting a better power supply...spruce up case cooling as this can have a dramatic effect on overall temps as well...

 

[EtOH]

Duvie is dead on the money. The stock did well, but my "might be an AVC Sunflower" does amazingly well. 8 - 15 deg cooler than stock depending on load.

EtOH

 

[mra]

There is nothing wrong with the retail heatsink, but the retail fan is too slow, getting a Sunflower makes a difference mostly because the fan is faster

 

[Acanthus]

cheap as hell volcano-478 does great on my 1.8a if only the BD7 didnt restart itself then need a cmos reset to post, id be set.

 

[Uclagamer_99]

anyone have any experience with the new alpha?

 

[KenAF]

Henhow,

Seeing the the Alpha just began shipping to distributors on Monday, and it is not yet sold anywhere, it's not likely anyone has experience with it yet. I suspect we'll see the Alpha show up at retailers toward the end of next week.

The Alpha offers 60% better cooling than the AVC Sunflower with a 4000rpm fan, and 15% better cooling with a silent 2000cfm fan. It should be the premier heatsink for Northwood 1.6A -> 2600-2800MHz overclocking.

 

[Pauli]

My 1.6A @ 2133 with retail HSF runs 18-20C at idle, low 30s under load. Just get retail, don't even worry about it unless you're doing extreme OC'ing.

 

[LarryJoe]

I currently have a P4 Volcano and have an "AVC Sunflower" on the way. Temperature is not really a problem with the P4 unless you really start jacking up the voltage. With my Volcano, I run at 41C idle and as high as 59C under the stress of Prime95. I would like it a bit lower. I am running at 1.72-1.75 volts. At default voltage, the Volcano would keep it pretty cool. I am also about to do the wire trick to pins 1-2-3-4, so I figure if I have to pull this sucker out, I may as well try the AVC that everyone raves about.

All this said, the absolute best P4 cooler currently available is the Swiftech, BUT, you have to pull out your mobo to install it. Something I am not willing to do.

 

[sigmatic]

What is the new alpha's model? I don't know much of anything about Alpha products...

 

[Pauli]

Please disregard that 18-20C Idle temp that I reported yesterday. Apparently, the MSI 845-Ultra 3.0 BIOS lies about temperature. A flash to the 3.2 version shows more like ~35-36C Idle and ~48-50C under heavy load. Maybe I'll get some AS3 before I try higher overclocks.

 

[Rainguy]

What Duvie said. I really like the AVC Sunflower from PC Power and Cooling. It is not too loud and is a snap to put on. I have a couple of these 1.6A's with the Sunflower running at 2560 @ 1.6V. Heat is definitely not a factor in getting these higher. The Alpha will not be worth the money IMO.

 

[Regalk]

I just built 2 1.6As/P4S333 combo and for a price of CDN$408 each I would say even AMD would find that hard to beat at the o/c speeds achieved (both at 2.24G at 1.55v core). Th point is when you start getting crazy heatsinks like I did when I did my AMD TBirds you begin to lose that price advantage for no real reason. Intel P4s run way cooler than AMDs and the retail HS is just fine (both machnes are 32C idle, 43C load with a 40% O/C).
My AMD TBird idles at 37C and load at load at 47C with an approx. 40% overclock as well and still going after 6 months!
Did I really make a point?