Well, I need help with this..

[Vis]

Just bought a new 1.2 tbird and need to know if thermal compound is a MUST even with a huge heat sink and fan?
Also, when mounting multiple harddrives, what kind of space should I leave between each one? Right now the cage has room from the floppy and two harddrives but the amount of space between the harddrives is SMALL, not must light in between there...I'm worried about overheating. The final question is a fan one. The case I bought has a place to mount a fan internally, but the front of the case covers this up..should I "cut" out part of the case to allow more air into this puppy?

Regards.

 

[madthumbs]

Many people end up using too much heat transfer compound. It's gonna depend on other factors as to wether you need it or not, but too much can be worse than none. I would recommend Arctic Silver since I don't think too much of that would hinder heat transfer. The most important thing is that the heat sink has good contact with the cpu.

The lower RPM hard drives don't heat up as much, and the first thing to be concerned about with cooling is the inside case temperature. If you get enough air circulation, it should be ok.

There should be a vent hole in the bottom of the front plate of your case. This takes in the cooler air from the bottom and should spit the hot air out the top back. Cutting holes would probably just increase dust traffic.

 

[Flessan]

Personally... I think you are playing with fire...or at least lots of smoke...if you don't use a thermal compound between your 1.2 and the hsf. The 1.2's run Very hot. If you have air spaces (ie: the heat sink isn't perfectly flat) your processor will really heat up.

If you decide to do it. make sure you have a way to monitor the temp so you can shut it down in a hurry.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

AMD's own recommendation for case cooling is at least 2 case fans(one intake/one exhaust) in addition to the power supply. I would recommend more for a 1.2ghz, because no matter what heatsink you use, if you can't supply fresh air to it, it will not work effectively.

And that is a dangerous problem when you can't read core temp.

As far as thermal grease, get something on there, even radio shack grease. do not use too much(acts as an insulator).


Mike