Which hsf should I get for my Northwood 1.8a?

[Roger73]

Hi all! I'm new to overclocking and need some advice

I just got:
*a new cheapo casing (because I didn't know better)
*Asus P4B
*Northwood 1.8a

Migrated from my old system are
*2x 256MB SDRAM PC133
*GF 2 MX400
*generic ultrawide SCSI adapter
*3Com NIC
*2x 40 GB IBM hdd *
50x CD Drive
*Yamaha 8824 CDRW.

Outdoors temperature is 35 C.
Ambient room temperature is around 30 C.
My air conditioned room is around 28 C.

I overclocked the fsb to 123, giving me 2.2 GHz. Vcore not changed. ~1.428V (reported by AsusProbe)

As reported by AsusProbe:
The mobo temp is 32 C at idle, and 33 - 34 C at load.
The CPU is 45 C at idle and the highest I've seen before chickening out is 60 C.

I guess I need a better hsf than the stock one.

Finally, my questions.
Will the Thermaltake Volcano 7+ help decrease the temperature to a reasonably low level (I have no idea what is a good operating temp)?
Or is there some other hsf I need (but don't know about them yet)?
What other stuff should I get (eg. AS3)?

Thanks.

 

[jdurg]

I was in the same quandry that you are in. I have a P4 1.8A chip overclocked to 2.43 GHz with a vcore of 1.70. My idle temp is around 45-48 degrees Celsius, and under full load I'm at around 65-68 degrees Celsius! I first had a Thermaltake P4 Volcano 478, but that didn't really help out. (Temps were only around three degrees lower.) Right now, I have a lapped stock hsf on my chip. I just recently decided ordered an Enermax 431W power supply that has an intake fan right where the heat generated from the cpu goes. Hopefully that will help cool off the cpu. Also, I ordered a CoolerMaster IHC-H71 heatsink. That heatsink is made from over a pound of pure copper metal. Copper is much better at transferring heat than Aluminum is. The CoolerMaster also has these weird heat-pipes in them, and a very powerful 70mm fan. (Which thankfully is pretty standard. I have heard that the fan is about as loud as a delta, so I may have to swap it out and use the fan from my old P4 Volcano.)

I should be getting the power supply and fan by the end of this week, and I'll post back with how well they helped to cool off my system.
So as for which heatsink you should get, many people here swear by the Alphas. If I hadn't already put my system together, I would have gone with one too. But whatever heatsink you decide to settle on, try and make sure it's made from copper. Copper is just far superior to aluminum in terms of heat transfer properties. (I guess my forensics chemistry degree has finally come in handy. lol.) Also, use AS3. A 3 gram tube is not expensive at all, and since you'll be ordering parts anyway you might as well use the best thermal grease out there. Also, make sure you have enough case fans to bring in cooler air and expell all the hot air your system will produce.

Good luck with everything and make sure you tell us all how it turns out. If it weren't for the Anandtech crew, I'd have never been able to successfully put together my killer rig and overclock it like I have. This forum is simply amazing.

 

[Roger73]

Thanks.

I'll go check out the prices for the Alphas and AS3. These things don't come cheap where I live. Will take some time to decide.

What should I actually look out for in a hsf?

 

[CoDerEd]

I run 1.8@2.6 FSB(145) with stock HSF it's good and quiet too
my cpu idle temp is 41C and 47-50C loaded.
i was gonna try the stock first before i buy another one, but since
the stock serve me good then i keep the stock hsf.

 

[jdurg]

The main thing you want to look at is the Rca number. (At least that's what Cooler Master refers to it as.) The number is a measure of how well the heatsink/fan combo removes the heat from the CPU. The lower the number, the better. The IHC-H71 that I mentioned earlier has an Rca value of 0.25. (From reviews, I see that it actually is around 0.30-0.33 in a real life application.) So you want that number to be as low as possible. A good place to go for heatsink reviews is www.overclockers.com. Go to their review section and take a look at the reviews they have for heatsinks. That's a good way to see what you need to look for. That is where I learned about what to look for in a hsf. (As well as anandtech forums.)

 

[Barrei]

Alpha Pal 8942T c/w YS Tech variable 80mm fan, 3pin with rpm sensor,with speed dial to adjust fan from 800 rpm - 3700 rpm , 10.2 cfm - 48.9 cfm , 18.0 dba - 39.5 dba , 1.08 watts - 3.08 watts , 2 ball bearing , life expectancy 75000 hrs.

 

[Roger73]

I dropped by the local Comp/Elec mart. The only one they have is the Thermaltake Volcano 7+. Bought it for US$30. Will try it out and post results.

I hope it works out fine... what is actually a safe temperature for the 1.8a Northwood?

 

[THUGSROOK]

the Thermaltake Volcano 7+ should be a good cooler.
i know the regular Thermaltake P4V was awesome - and only $16 shipped too.

right now im using an Alpha with an 80mm Vantec fan - 27cfm 21dba.
idle = 34*C
full load = 48*C

check my sig for rig...

 

[Roger73]

Attached the Thermaltake Volcano 7+ to my machine.

As before
Ambient room temperature is around 30 C.
My air conditioned room is around 28 C.

As reported by AsusProbe:
The mobo temp is 32 C at idle, and 33 - 34 C at load.
The CPU is 41 C at idle and the highest I've seen so far with the new hsf is 48 C.

I guess it does work a bit. Too bad I didn't manage to get the Thermalright 478. But it's better than the higher temps I used to get.

 

[nugaluga]

where did you get the heatsink from for $30
that is a really good price

 

[Roger73]

Sorry to disappoint you. I live in Singapore. Bought it from a Comp/Elec Mall called SIm Lim Square. Lots of shops. Very competitive prices.

Actually I bought the hsf for S$58. After conversion, I assumed many would be familiar with US$, it came to about US$30.

 

[Camma]

Alpha 8942 with any kind of fan you like. I'm using a Panaflo 1LA (dead silent!), and running my 1.6A @ 2480, with temps around 42C under HEAVY load. These things are SO cool!