What fan/heatsink should I use if I will NOT be overclocking?

[NickSD]

I'm going to buy an Athlon XP 1600+ and one of the KT266A motherboards. I don't plan on overclocking, although I may overclock it very slightly if it's not too much extra effort. All the posts I've read seem to focus on all kinds of thermal paste and huge heatsinks and loud fans... I just want to know what the most simple configuration would be that still provides decent cooling. I want a quiet fan that doesn't drive me crazy... I am going to use the Enermax EG365P-VE (FC) 350W power supply if that makes any difference.

Thanks!

Nick

 

[ku]

thermal compound is a must regardless of what kind of cooling you are looking for. Even if it's a $.75 compound, it's worth paying the 75 cents for a couple degrees cooler. For the heatsink, i'd suggest the sk-6 with a quiet fan. The one from 2cooltek.com isn't bad. I only use sk6 on my computers and computers i build for other people. It's great cooling.

 

[Rahminator]

Buy retail XP 1600 then because it doesn't cost much more than oem, but you get a sticker and a heatsink with fan that is very quiet and you might get a slight overclock from it.

 

[Morse]

Get a huge heatsink with a quiet fan then Go with an Alpha8045 even though your not overlcocking.....80mm fans are nice and quiet