My old computer is an Athlon Thunderbird 1.3GHz on an Asus A7M266 board in a In-Win A500 case. I bought it back when I was not so familiar/comfortable with building my own rigs, so I spec'ed out the parts and had a local computer store build it for me. It came with a generic cyclone-type HSF, an 80mm intake fan, and a 300W PS.
The thing ran HOT! It was stable as heck in the past two+ years I've had it, but it idled at around 58-60 degrees celcius during the summer and would reach 65-68 degrees at full load. It got to a point where I had to downclock (yes, how's that for sad) the CPU to 1.0GHz to reduce the temp. on especially hot days. I always felt uneasy about the temperature, but, since the system was stable, I didn't do anything about it.
A couple of weeks ago, I built my own Barton 2500+ rig on an Asus A7N8X Deluxe board (thank you NewEgg!). After that upgrade (which was also my first Antec case), I figured it was finally the time to do something about the Thunderbird rig. So, I ordered another Antec case (SX630II with a 300W PS), Zalman CNPS 3100+ HSF (thanks to recommendations here), Arctic Silver III, and a couple of 80mm fans. The parts came today, and after about an hour of transferring parts and testing, my Thunderbird rig is up and running now in its new home.
The difference is quite amazing. Right before I took down the rig to move it to its new home, I took an AsusProbe reading--at 1GHz, the CPU was idling at 57 degrees. Now, at 1.3GHz, it's humming along at 43 degrees! Needless to say I'm very happy with the results. I also positioned an 80mm fan in the drive cage to cool them down. Thanks everyone here for suggestions and help!
The thing ran HOT! It was stable as heck in the past two+ years I've had it, but it idled at around 58-60 degrees celcius during the summer and would reach 65-68 degrees at full load. It got to a point where I had to downclock (yes, how's that for sad) the CPU to 1.0GHz to reduce the temp. on especially hot days. I always felt uneasy about the temperature, but, since the system was stable, I didn't do anything about it.
A couple of weeks ago, I built my own Barton 2500+ rig on an Asus A7N8X Deluxe board (thank you NewEgg!). After that upgrade (which was also my first Antec case), I figured it was finally the time to do something about the Thunderbird rig. So, I ordered another Antec case (SX630II with a 300W PS), Zalman CNPS 3100+ HSF (thanks to recommendations here), Arctic Silver III, and a couple of 80mm fans. The parts came today, and after about an hour of transferring parts and testing, my Thunderbird rig is up and running now in its new home.
The difference is quite amazing. Right before I took down the rig to move it to its new home, I took an AsusProbe reading--at 1GHz, the CPU was idling at 57 degrees. Now, at 1.3GHz, it's humming along at 43 degrees! Needless to say I'm very happy with the results. I also positioned an 80mm fan in the drive cage to cool them down. Thanks everyone here for suggestions and help!
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