mojoopo

Basic need to knows about air cooling.


1. The better airflow you have the cooler your temps are gonna be. This also means that you will be able to overclock higher and you can expect a longer life-span of your PC.

2. Buy a decent heatsink fan for around 25$ to 75$ USD.

3. Recomended Brands are:

Aerocool (HT-101)


Thermaltake Tower 112 (good reveiws)


Zalman (quiet)


Thermalright (XP-120 & XP-90)


4. You will also want to buy decent case fans ranging anywhere from 10$ to 25$ USD.

5. Some good fans are:

Vantec Tornado 80mm or 120mm (loud but very powerful)
Delta 120mm (190cfm best in class but loudest to)

Aerocool X-Series
Silverstone

6. Use good quality thermal grease like Arctic Silver 5.



Setup:

Best setup for case fans are 2 front intake, back exhaust, side exhaust or intake if directly over the cpu HSF, 1 top exhaust (best is a 120mm), 1 bottom intake. I have chosen to put a Vantec PCI fan so that it blows straight on my video card.

I also recomend using harddrive coolers but only for high rpm or high capacity drives.

CPU Heatsink fan installation(for socket 478):


First off get yourself a decent HSF, like the ones listed above. Be carefull taking off the old hsf, because you do not want to break the brackets that hold the hsf's to the motherboard. To take off the old thermal grease use a old credit card or anything to that nature. Do this gently until all the old thermal grease has been removed. Once removed test fit the new hsf. If everything is fine apply the thermal grease to the cpu. Put only a bit on, pea size drop. Test fit the new hsf again and see if the hsf has spread out the thermal grease evenly if yes put the hsf back on. If no try putting a bit more thermal grease on. After the hsf is on continue to screw it side by 360 degree turns alternating from each side untill both side are tight.Taddah you are done. note.(you might want to plug in the power to the motherboard before you start for no hassle trying to plug it in at the end)



Alternative to removing thermal grease (provided by ATVkid*AFZ*)


First, use 99% Isopropyl Alcohol to remove the grease, using a Q-tip to get the alcohol on. you can pick it up at a CVS or some store like that. Next, dip the q-tip into the alcohol and begin spreading it around the chip, making sure not to get any on the PCB. next, beginning with a fresh q-tip, begin wiping the solution off. using a paper towel isn't reccomended because it leaves a great deal of lint on, with a q-tip you can get all the stuff off with more precision. if you manage to get some of the gunk on a pin while wiping it off, get a needle or something to that effect and just scrape it off, making sure not to bend anything. once all the old grease is off, put some more alcohol onto a q-tip and rub it down once more, because this gets all the lint and fingerprint oil off from when you were removing the grease. you're all done.


Thank you for your time.
Thanks goes out to atvkid for the info!

REMEMBER TO FOLD FOR Overclock.Net!!!

Heatsink fans, thermal compounds, fans or any thing mentioned on this thread can be found on the following sites:

CANADA:
www.bigfootcomputers.com
www.tigerdirect.ca (what i use)


USA:
www.newegg.com (most americans use this)
www.compusa.com
www.tigerdirect.com
www.monarchcomputers.com

Key Terms:

CFM........................CUBIC FEET PER MINUTE
HSF.........................HEATSINK FAN


Note: (Don't forget to rep if i was helpful)

blob

TT Tower is also, I've heard, was a very good HSF. And Delta fans are nice, as are YS Tech

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Burn

yep, don't forget to include Thermaltake Tower 112. good quick guide though.

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We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.
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Burn

also, mention the more turbulence you can create, the better, because that moves more air around...

__________________
My CNC Mill Project
We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.
--Randy Pausch
Current Best Benchmark

mojoopo

thanks ill include it right now

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mojoopo

new update just made to my guide including hsf installation

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Burn

you've got removing the heatsink all wrong. put the following in (or paraphrase)

First, use 99% Isopropyl Alcohol to remove the grease, using a Q-tip to get the alcohol on. you can pick it up at a CVS or some store like that. Next, dip the q-tip into the alcohol and begin spreading it around the chip, making sure not to get any on the PCB. next, beginning with a fresh q-tip, begin wiping the solution off. using a paper towel isn't reccomended because it leaves a great deal of lint on, with a q-tip you can get all the stuff off with more precision. if you manage to get some of the gunk on a pin while wiping it off, get a needle or something to that effect and just scrape it off, making sure not to bend anything. once all the old grease is off, put some more alcohol onto a q-tip and rub it down once more, because this gets all the lint and fingerprint oil off from when you were removing the grease. you're all done.

__________________
My CNC Mill Project
We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.
--Randy Pausch
Current Best Benchmark

mojoopo

thats very well phrased do you mind if i use exactly wat you said and give you half the credit for the guide

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Burn

go ahead, i don't mind. just remember to cite me as a source....lol

i kinda designed what i said around someone using it word for word, so it should fit right in.

__________________
My CNC Mill Project
We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.
--Randy Pausch
Current Best Benchmark

mojoopo

thanks theres the improved guide

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