My case/cooling solution

[drsafety]

here is the plan for my build (my first one)

NZXT trinity
msi k8n neo4
athlon 3500 venice
gigabyte x800 xl - passively cooled - runs HOT-core gets as high as 105 C according to PC Stats. I want this card because it is silent.

2x 120 Thermaltake thunderblade fans front/back
1x 80mm zalman slim fan on the side of the case

Should I use the stock venice heatsink/fan?
of course I will add thermal paste to the cpu.

obviously my priority is keeping my hardware at a reasonable temp, but I also want to have a fairly quiet system. Is this enough cooling?

I am also looking for general comments and criticism here.

 

[scrawnypaleguy]

I have that video card. Ran waaaay too hot in my wavemaster, (artifacting in BF2) so I replaced it with a Zalman vf700cu. However, your case should have a lot more airflow than mine, so you should be ok. The stock cooler is loud, so if you're concerned about noise, you may want to consider a quieter heatsink/fan combo, preferably something with a 120mm fan for max cooling and minimum noise.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

That WUZ the problem with the WaveMaster, wuzn't it?

My friend in New Mexico has an Athlon Venice -- 3000+, I think. He chose it for over-clock-ability. I think he's got it past PRIME95 tuned up to 50% above its rated speed. He used a modest, simple ThermalTake water-cooling kit with the 120mm radiator in a Lian-Li VB-1100 case -- I think it was that model.

You could probably achieve the same results with a top-end heat-pipe cooler.

As to modding the WaveMaster, I saw how someone did it, but the "wave" behind the monolith needed a chunk cut out of it.

That's why I stick with old discarded cases to mod, even if only SECC steel.

 

[JE78]

I've got a ATI x800XL as well and while playing BF2 with its stock cooler and montoring it with ATI Tool Tray 70c was as high as mine got.