Stock HSF or Alpha for 3.06?

[MysticLlama]

Hey all,

I'm getting a shiny new 3.06 today sometime, and I'm wondering what to do for cooling since I haven't been following it too much lately.

Currently I have an Alpha 8942 with a 2.66@3.00, but it seems to be a little warm (though completely stable), I can't remember the exact temps right now.

I don't plan on overclocking the 3.06 much if at all, and the Alpha is kindof a pain to install/uninstall (which I guess is okay if I put it on and leave it).

Is the Alpha enough better to move to the new chip, or should I just call it good with the stock sink? One thing I did like about the Alpha was that it sucked air away, and I have the case exhaust fan and power supply exhaust fan right there to suck the air out.

My case also usually runs a tad on the warm side because of my hardware.

Specs:
Lian-Li PC60
P4 2.66@3.00 (going to 3.06)
Epox 4G4A+ Motherboard (going to ASUS Granite Bay)
2x Corsair XMS 3500 512mb @DDR375 fastest timings
Adaptec 2100S RAID Card
3x Seagate Cheetah X15 36GB
Radeon 9700 Pro
Audigy 2
2x 3Com 10/100 3XP Server NICs
Pioneer 16x Slot Load DVD

Cooling:
2x 80mm Intake Fans
1x 80mm Exhaust Fan
1x Slot Blower (Right under 9700)
1x92mm Exhaust + 1x80mm Exhaust (550w Enermax)
Alpha 8942? w/Sunon 80mm

 

[Technonut]

If you are not going to OC the 3.06 much the retail HSF should be fine. It has a very hefty copper bottom, along with many fins... I would at least try it first... You could always install the Alpha later if you are not satisfied with the retail HSF.

EDIT: If you are going to use Arctic Silver, I would lap the bottom of the retail HSF before installation.

 

[GrumpyMan]

The stock hsf does a fine job of cooling the chip at around 37 idle and ~ 52 at full load. However it is loud running at full load. I got an SLK900 with a 92 mm Panaflo on it and it is quiet compared to the stock hsf. I get 34 idle and 49-50 full load now. I've never used the Alpha so I can't help you there. But it should do the job nicely from what I have read.

 

[MysticLlama]

So it's loud running at full load? Does it actually adjust the speed by how hot it gets? Wouldn't that be motherboard dependant?

I think that right now the 2.66, IIRC is around 45 or so idle and 55-57 full load. Maybe not quite that high, it seemed to me that it was pretty odd that it didn't fluctuate very much.

 

[GrumpyMan]

The stock hsf has variable speed capability which I'm sure is regulated by the mobo. When that fan hit 5500 rpm it would make high whiney pitch which I could not stand. And once it got going then it would not stop even though the rpm went down slightly. Now on my P4T533-C the 92 mm fan runs at such low speeds that it does not register with the bios (even though it provides superior cooing at lower rpms). You can disable the rpm sensor, so that so it doesn't interfere with booting up, in my bios at least.

 

[oldfart]

Its actually self regulating. The speed varies according to ambient temp, not CPU temp. I've never heard the 3.06 fan, but from what I read, it is quite a bit louder than the 1.6 - 2.8 fans.