Should I upgrade my Heatsink?

[Civic2oo1x]

I have the Asus A7N8X-DX motherboard and I'm going to be using my older XP1400+ (I believe that it's an 1400). Going to upgrade to a Barton chip in the summer. I've been using my Alpha 8045T paired with a Sunon 50.2 CFM fan. On my older Abit board I had temps of around 48-52 C for the CPU and 32-34 for the system. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it was a loud HSF setup. I plan on ordering a Panaflo L1A fan (24CFM, 21dba) compared to my Sunon 50.2CFM, 40dba). First, would the Panaflo provide enough cooling? And second, I've heard from numerous people that the SLK-800 is the greatest heatsink since sliced bread. Is it worth the upgrade from my 8045 to the SLK-800? Would I expect to see a good deal of decrease in temps? And overall, would it be worthwhile to ditch my 8045 in favor of the SLK-800?

 

[jarsoffart]

The Thermalright SLK-900 is coming out some time now, but it uses the motherboard mounting holes. You use the Alpha PAL8045 so I don't think the different retaining mechanism would be a problem. I don't think 48-52C is bad for your temps. Mine are rather similar, using the SLK-800 also on a Abit board (KR7A-Raid). I use the Turbo Cool fan that came with my Chieftec DX-01BD, which I imagine pushes less then 50 CFM. I think it's more like 30 CFM? It's not too loud.

 

[Jhhnn]

The panaflo should work fine, provided there's adequate case ventilation. Processor temps will be higher, no big deal if they're 60C or less- probably a lot less. Disable the cpu shutdown w/o fan rpm signal in the bios before you switch over, the panaflo has no signal....

Absolutely no reason to upgrade to a slk800- it's only slightly better, and that's only according to some sources... they also clog with lint & dust very quickly, due to the very narrow fin spacing...