What does it all mean?

[jnmtt]

I am considering getting a new fan and heatsink for my P4 1.6A, however I find some of the terminology contradictory/confusing, i.e. what's important? fan speed, max. air flow, max. air pressure, C/W?

Thanks

 

[Slammy1]

The most important thing is heat sink.

 

[Cerb]

ºC/W for a combo HS/F. for just the heatsink, it depends, though low C/W numbers that are come to using a Panaflo L1A are a good indication.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

They are all important. But HS is the most important. Go for an slk-800U w/ a Thermaltake SCF2

 

[een]

My g/f has a P4 1.6A but with just one case fan, it runs at 46C under max load....
So, yours should be cool as well... Anything in the low 50 is still considered fine for under load temperature

 

[Slogun]

What's important varies for different users with diferent needs.

Most people basically want quiet, efficient cooling, myself included. So I concern myself with decibel levels vs cooling efficiency. Another concern is ease of installation...
The only way to really get that info, is not by looking at specs(except dB levels), but by reading reviews of HSF combos in operation.

You can see in my sig what I went for....
I LOVE my Zalman and have bought another for my son's hot thunderbird 1.4GHz rig.

This one has a quiet 92mm fan and the thing looks like a work of art.

 

[jnmtt]

Thanks for all the advice, I should also mention that I live in a tropical climate, ambient temps range 24-30 C. My CPU runs from 46-54 C normally. I have just started overclocking.