Noob question here, need a little help

[MikeTaha]

Hi,

Haven't put together a rig in forever. Been using a crappy low end dell for the past couple of years and it's really getting outdated now. I decided to take advantage of ebay's MS Live cashback deal and some awesome posts from the members here at the hot deal section.

I have not finished purchasing everything, still missing a couple of things but here is what I have so far.

E8400 CPU E0 stepping
4 Gigs of DDR2 1066 ram
750GB Sata HD
2 x 22x Sata Burners
Asus P5Q Board
Cheap 585w power supply that had decent reviews on newegg, I figure if I made a mistake I'll get a zalman or something.

I am using the retail heatsink/fan for the CPU and just want to run everything on air, water cooling and all that is too complex for me. hehe

Only thing missing to complete the package is a GTX 260 BFG OC edition that I am waiting for to come in the mail.

I put everything in a cooler master mystique 632S link below
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811119129

Now my question is cooling. The case has two big fans, one on the front and one in the back of the case. I hear that this CPU overclocks decently, so I want to do that, im hoping I have decent enough components to get a little past 4ghz on it.

Now there is a side vent on the door on the case. It sits right on top of the CPU and I thought maybe it would be a good idea to throw a fan in there to cool the system better. Now have never added my own fans before so I don't know what kind of fan I need to buy and what size. So I would like some help please.

Thanks for reading my long rant, looking forward to trying farcry 2 soon. Ran it on my dell and it was a slideshow at the minimum settings :-(

 

[Billb2]

When setting up case cooling, the CFM intake should be about equal to the CFM exhaust, or the fans are just working against each other. See P-Q curve.. And yes, usually adding a fan right above the CPU helps cooling. But, does the CPU fan blow up or down? You don't want the extra fan to interfear with that.

See the "sound room" on Sidewinder Computer's website.

 

[RallyMaster]

Side fan takes a 80mm fan but if you're OCing, you're most likely looking at a tower cooler. If you get a tower cooler, you will no longer be able to place a fan there from what I can see with my Scythe Ninja 2 inside the Mystique 632S. The provided front fan in the Mystique is an LED 120mm and the rear is a standard 120mm. Both should be around 1200RPM but due to airflow restriction in the front, the fan will do <75% of its rated airflow (42 cfm rated, IIRC). Nice choice of case though. I'm much happier with the 632S than I was with the CM590. Cabling was also less of an ordeal with the case being smaller and the PSU at the top.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

No, he is using the stock heatsink.
But the thing is, the CM Mystique already has an air duct for your CPU cooler (which takes air from above and pushes it down to your CPU).
Go ahead and put a fan in there if you want, it looks like an 80mm.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Newegg reviews are crap. For the most part people don't know a damb thing about PSUs. When it comes to power you should never go cheap. Its the life blood of your system so if its cheap and something goes wrong the whole system is in dange of being damaged.

Considering the video card your getting you need a good quality PSU. So you need to be looking at a Corsair PSu in the 550W or higher range. Another good option would be PC P&C, Thermaltake, Cooler Master, and Antec. If your spending less then $60 on it, regular price, then its not worth it.

With everything your looking at you'll want a good quality case with good airflow. I suggest looking at the Antec 300, CM 590, or the CM 690. All great cases and are well priced.

 

[Zepper]

If your case has room for them, try some 38mm thick fans f/r. Will increase your overall thruput of air thus cooling likewise without upping the noise by much. For CPU cooling improvement, if needed, get an OCZ Vendetta or Vendetta 2 or even an Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro or other highly-ranked HSF with f-to-r air pattern. All are considerably more efficient than the stock. No side fan needed, and they will work better with the case's natural air flow pattern.

.bh.

 

[MikeTaha]

Ok thanks alot for your help.

I will listen to these suggestions and will be ordering a New PSU for my rig, also adding an 80mm Fan on the side duct, and upgrading the CPU Fan to one of the suggestions noted. Gonna go look for these on newegg now.