P4 Fan/Heatsink Recommendations

[godspeedx]

I've got a P4 2.5 ghz with stock heatsink and excellent over-all cooling in my case. I had it overclocked to 3ghz for about a week, but it's running a little hotter than I'd like it. I need to know some quality heatsink/fans. And also, where can I buy that artic silver II stuff?
O, does anyone know a fan that is good for overclocking a GeForce4 TI 4200?
Thanks.

 

[mrman3k]

For the P4:
-Get a good HSF like the Swiftech MCX4000 with any 80mm fan. I recommend for the fan that if you have a case window, get one of the Antec LED fans so that it will look spiffy. Get these at Newegg
-Get Arctic Silver 3 (AS3) from Newegg

For the graphics card:
-I would recommend getting the Thermaltake Crystal Orb HSF
-Between the Crystal Orb and the GPU, use a dab of AS3
- Now don't forget the memory, even if it might already have memory heatsinks, they are usually of poor quality and are stuck on by thermal tape. Instead, get some of the Tweakmonster RAM sinks, either for BGA or TSOP memory depending on which one is on your 4200. I would guess you have TSOP memory chips.
- Get Arctic Alumina Thermal Epoxy
- The Alumina Epoxy will be permanent, but the performance is near that of normal AS3

Get these parts and put them on, and you should be in OC heaven!

 

[Ketchup]

On my P4 I am using an Alpha 8942 with a Delta 47 cfm fan (very quiet for a 4000 RPM fan) that I got from Sidewinder Computers for $42. It is a great unit. It performs more or less the same as the Swiftech MCX4000 and it is about $15 cheaper. Plus, they also throw in some Artic Alumina for free (it performs the same as Artic Silver III.)

For your video card, I personally don't recommend you buy a better cooler. I just put some Artic Alumina on the core of my MSI GF4 Ti4400 and left the stock heatsink on. The reason is that the chips architecture, not heat, will keep you from overclocking it too far. I read a review of a PASSIVE cooler for the GF4 made by Zalman. It made the core run much warmer than it did stock, but the core overclocked just as far as it did before with stock ACTIVE cooling. My card overclocks from the stock 275 to 312, It will actually go much higher than that, but above 310-315, the performance of the card actually goes DOWN!

If you want, I can get you the links to some of this information, Just let me know.

Hope this was helpful.

 

[JuicyFruit]

hey there ketchup79 and anyone else that has knowledge of this badass cpu cooler. i'm thinking about getting the pal8942 with a 50cfm fan that comes with it.

link here.

my concern is if this monster will fit on my p4b533-e. is there any way to check before i place an order? $38 shipped to where i live sounds farely cheap.

thanks a lot.

one more thing, should the fan be sucking or blowing for optimal performance?

 

[Ketchup]

You should have no problem fitting the Alpha PAL 8942 on virtually any Pentium 4 motherboard. To install the heatsink, you just have to remove the mounting bracket around the CPU socket (for the retail cooler) from the motherboard and use the mounting holes to mount the heatsink. The 8942 does not not extend beyond that bracket.

There is nothing worse than having a heatsink that doesn't fit. Once I ordered a Swiftech MC462 for my Iwill XP-333. The board had the power supply connector right next to the CPU socket, and I had to file off some of the copper of my brand new heatsink. Since I switched over to the P4, it's nice to know I will never have that problem again.!

 

[JuicyFruit]

sweet! thanks man. ordering now.

 

[godspeedx]

-mrman, thanks, i think that was the fan i was trying to remember. I'll get that one.
-ketchup, yes, i'd like to see some links to that stuff about the vid card

thanks

 

[Ketchup]

Here are some links to the Zalman VGA Heatpipe:

http://www.gamersdepot.com/hardware/cooling/zalman/vga_cooler/001.htm
http://www.dirkvader.de/page/zalman-heatpipe.html
http://www.myworld.com.my/v2/reviews/hsf/zalman/zm80a-hp/
http://www.myworld.com.my/v2/reviews/hsf/zalman/zm80a-hp/index.asp?view=4

And here are some reviews of the Thermaltake all Copper Geforce4 Heatsink:

http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=review&dId=270
http://www.overclockersclub.com/thermaltakegeforce4cooler.shtml

My point is, you may get a couple megahertz out of a new cooler for your video card, but the stock one is fine for me.

Here is a couple reviews comparing the MCX4000 to the PAL8942

http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=54180
http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=53586

You could go with either cooler, I just saved some money and went with the Alpha this time.