HSF for my new rig...

[Zucarita9000]

I'm building my new system, and I've already ordered an Antec SLK3700AMB case, and I was wondering if I should keep the Intel stock heatsink/fan for the CPU or get a third party one. My brother's computer has a 2.8C P4, and the damn thing gets so loud!.

I want a quiet setup. I've read good things about the Antec case, so I decided to buy one. The problem is with the CPU fan. I've always used the bundled HSF and never actually used thermal transfer components before, and I was wondering wich HSF to get.

Every benchmark that I came across with only compare third party HSF against each other, never with the Intel's stock unit, so I really don't know if it would be a step up or down.

I've read wonderful things about Zalman coolers. I'll be getting an Asus P4P800-E Deluxe motherboard, so I need something that will fit into that motherboard.

Any comments will be appreciated.

 

[BW86]

zalman 7000alcu

 

[gxshockwav]

I second the zalman7000a alcu....pretty darn quiet...dont forget arctic silver 3 or 5

 

[Zucarita9000]

After reading and reading I think I'll get the Zalman 7000A AlCu + Artic Silver 5. I was wondering if -with the Zalman running at Silent Mode- the motherboard will boot up (since the cpu fan speed is so slow).

Another question: will the fan speed up as the cpu load increases or will it stay at 1350 all the time?

BW86: We have the same case!. Mine hasn't arrived yet. How's the noise with the stock Antec 120mm fan? What about the PSU?

 

[oogabooga]

i swear by the 7000alcu, it's great and is one of the minimums for a quiet pc.

As for will it fit, on your motherboard? i believe it will, but the problem may be your case. If your case is small/mid the heatsink may bump into the PSU, so see how much clearance you have.
If you have time and a fry's electronics, I know they carry the zalman. you can buy a zalman there and take it home to check it out.

 

[Zucarita9000]

I belive it will fit in the case. It's a super mid tower Antec SLK3700AMB.

 

[BW86]

Originally posted by: Zucarita9000
BW86: We have the same case!. Mine hasn't arrived yet. How's the noise with the stock Antec 120mm fan? What about the PSU?

the fans are very quiet. the case fans and the psu fans. The psu is great. its a little low on the +12v line (11.68) but overall a great psu. ITs a great case. The dust filter in the front is a plus.

 

[gxshockwav]

After reading and reading I think I'll get the Zalman 7000A AlCu + Artic Silver 5. I was wondering if -with the Zalman running at Silent Mode- the motherboard will boot up (since the cpu fan speed is so slow).

If the system doesnt boot up because the fan speed is too slow, you can increase the fan speed and then go into bios and set "Set CPU Fan Detected" to disabled or set the slowest rotational fan speed to less than or equal to 1300 rpm. Hope this helps.

 

[Zap]

The Zalman is a great unit. BTW, what CPU are you getting and will you be overclocking? Arctic Cooling makes some decent and low noise units for P4.

 

[Zucarita9000]

It'll be a P4 3.0 or 3.2, and I'll try to avoid Prescotts. I wont be overclocking, because the noise is my primary concern. My other P4 box runs at about 36-38º at idle, but the fan speed is about 4000rpm, and since the stock fan is rather small it gets pretty damn loud under load (over 5000rpm).

 

[oogabooga]

i switched to an amd 64, and a msi k8n neo fsr, and between the radeon 9800 (with an artic cooler rev3) and the heatsink, there is about 1 mm of space :|
But i really love how quiet my computer is,
I don't think the zalman has an onboard temperature adjusting system, so i do not think it'll adjust manually. I control the heatsink/fan through a rheobus anyway, and usually have it at 7v (which is sufficient to cool my slightly overclocked 3000+ under most loads, if it's intense i kick it up a notch)

if you're really curious, you can try out the 7700alcu, a 120mm fan instead of 92mm, in theory running it at lower voltages will be quieter and better for the heatsink, but i haven't seen to many reviews.

 

[Turkish]

Originally posted by: oogabooga
i switched to an amd 64, and a msi k8n neo fsr, and between the radeon 9800 (with an artic cooler rev3) and the heatsink, there is about 1 mm of space :|
But i really love how quiet my computer is,
I don't think the zalman has an onboard temperature adjusting system, so i do not think it'll adjust manually. I control the heatsink/fan through a rheobus anyway, and usually have it at 7v (which is sufficient to cool my slightly overclocked 3000+ under most loads, if it's intense i kick it up a notch)

if you're really curious, you can try out the 7700alcu, a 120mm fan instead of 92mm, in theory running it at lower voltages will be quieter and better for the heatsink, but i haven't seen to many reviews.

what kind of CPU (mine is 3700+) do you have? we have similar setups (same mobo) except the video card. i have a geforce 6800 GT. you have a 7700alcu heatsink/fan?

 

[Zucarita9000]

Originally posted by: oogabooga
I don't think the zalman has an onboard temperature adjusting system, so i do not think it'll adjust manually

Does that mean that I have to open my case and mess with the FanMate thingy everytime I run the cpu at full load? That doesn't seem very attractive to me...

When running the fan at silent mode, what's the temp. under a few hours of full load on a 3.0GHz P4?

 

[Zucarita9000]

After reading tons of post on the Zalman Forums I noticed that lots of people are getting high temp. readings on their CPUs. Is this normal with the 7000B-AlCu I'm planning to get? I mean, some guys area actually getting 60º at idle!... that doesn't seem right.

 

[Operandi]

I'm not sure how the stock Intel cooler works, but I'm assuming it runs off BIOS controlled fan speeds based on CPU temps? If that?s the case the Zalman will work the same, increasing speed as temp rises.

If not Asus has software that will do just that, increase air flow when things heat up. Also check out Speedfan it works on just about ever board that has hardware present to control fan speeds.