To Use Stock Intel Fan or Not To Use Stock Intel Fan, That is the Question

[budgetGamer]

Hi,

I am new to this site and thse forums. I just created a budget gaming rig with the following items:

[*]Thermaltake SOPRANO VB1000BWS Black Steel/Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
[*]ECS C19-A SLI (1.0A) Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce4 SLI XE ATX Intel Motherboard
[*]SAPPHIRE 100106SR-RD Radeon X850XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
[*]Antec TruePower 2.0 TP2-550 EPS12V ATX12V 550W Power Supply
[*]Intel Pentium D 940 Presler 800MHz FSB LGA 775 Dual Core, EM64T Processor
[*]CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Unbuffered
[*]Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
[*]Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive


I am wondering if I should use the stock Intel fan that comes with the processor, if only for a baseline, before going and installing an after-market fan.

My issues are the following:
[*]Should I use it to baseline my processor for a while?
[*]Which fans will it inside my ThermalTake case?
[*]Will it be difficult to replace the fan after installing it?
[*]Will it be hard to remove the thermal paste?
[*]Will I damage the processor?
[*]I am not planning to overclock at first, so is this even necessary right now?

Thanks in advance!

~Andrew

 

[RallyMaster]

1. use stock fan until you find that a). it's too loud or b). it's not cooling well enough/you overclock
2. 120 mm fans will fit in Thermaltake case. if you're talking about CPU coolers, just about any one of them
3. no, it's not that hard to replace. some cooler require you to remove the motherboard though.
4. just use alcohol swabs to clean
5. if you aren't removing the IHS, you should be fine
6. no, if you're not overclocking yet, you should let it be stock. no point voiding warranty when you first get it (even though Intel will never know).

 

[budgetGamer]

RallyMaster,

Thanks for your quick and informative reply!

As for the second item, i was talking about just CPU coolers. Some of them, like the Artic Freezer 7, look like huge monsters that won't fit inside the case. I'm probablywrong though.

Again, thanks! And any additional comments you have for me are welcome.

~Andrew

 

[RallyMaster]

Freezer7 will definitely fit in your case but it might block the airflow from the window intake.

 

[BassBomb]

dont get the soprano, you will die at how hard it will be to keep clean... 1/2 my case is same finish and its deadly

get a aluminum case

 

[996GT2]

Use the Stock fan unless you don't like itb/c or noise or expect more performance for OCing, etc.

The stick S478 Intel fan that came with our P4 3.0GHz Northwood is pretty loud, so I assume the S775 coolers aren't too quiet either. Get a AC Freezer 7 or Scythe Ninja if you want a replacement.

For an aluminum case see the CM Wave Master for $65 at geeks.com. A LOT of features, like removable mobo tray, rear insert PSU, top USB, front LEDs, rubber feet, etc. I hvae one for abuild and it's great. Although it will require a 80-120mm fan adaptor or a drilled hole in the side for 120mm fan to have good and quiet cooling.

Or you could check out the Raidmax X; Rallymaster has one

But I agree, the TT Soprano isn't worth it. You can save money and get one of the above cases or check out TT's aluminum Tsunami dream for $88 AR at enwegg now. I have a friend who owns one and it's a great case, although moderately loud with stock fans.

 

[ND40oz]

My stock intel hsf sits at around 2300 rpm with my 930 at 3.75, but it manages to keep my processor at 27-28C at idle, mid 30s under full load. You can hear it, but it's not that bad.