CPU Cooling

[FlyingV]

I'm selecting components for a new machine I'm about to build.

The CPU will be an Athlon XP3000+ It will be running at 100% capacity and close to 24/7!! and I want some powerful cooling to protect the chip.

Any recommendations?

[goates]

I have one of these (http://www.thermaltake.com/coolers/volcano/rs/a1889a.htm) on an AthlonXP 2800+. The highest temperature I've seen is 50° after running the Prime95 stress test for 8 hours, and it had stayed at that temperature for most of the test. Usually the processor is around the high 30's to low 40's.

http://www.thermaltake.com/images/coolers/volcano/1889/a1889.jpg

If you really need industrial strength cooling, you should look at the other products on the website or at the Zalman series of heatsinks. If you aren't overclocking though the Thermaltake one above should be able to handle the load just fine. Just be sure to make sure the rest of the case is well ventilated.

goates

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

FlyingV,

I am with goates, I really like the Thermaltake Product Line. For your needs, any of these will do nicely:

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/35-106-037-01.JPG

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/35-106-031-03.JPG

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/35-106-035-01.JPG

In my machine I have an AthlonXP 2500+ overclocked by a little over 500Mhz (from 1.83Ghz to 2.33Ghz). The is what I am using for cooling:

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/35-106-029-01.JPG

goates also mentioned Zalman.


The Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu CPU Cooler has to be one of the sexiest heatsink solutions you will find on the market. It is excellent at cooling and is very silent in operation. Here's Bjorn3D's take on the unit:

Many companies providing heatsinks today, especially those marketed toward the enthusiast crowd, seem to ignore AMD's and Intel's recommended maximum weight specifications for HSF units for their respective processors. Zalman Tech Co., Ltd. is certainly no stranger to this blatant disregard of the specs laid out by the makers of the chips its products are meant to cool. Thanks to jab-tech.com, I have had the privilege of taking one of these oversized coolers for a spin. The cooler I am referring to is the CNPS7000A-Cu, and it is compatible with Intel's Pentium 4 (Socket 478) and AMD's Athlon/Duron/Athlon XP (Socket 462) and Athlon 64 (Socket 754) CPUs. Weighing in at 773 grams, this cooler weighs over twice the specified maximum weight (300 g) of a cooler for Socket 462 CPUs and nearly twice the recommended maximum weight (450 g) for Pentium 4 and Athlon 64 CPUs.

http://www.bjorn3d.com/Material/Images/394_zalman1.jpg

Want to read more? Click here:

Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu CPU Cooler (http://www.bjorn3d.com/_preview.php?articleID=394)

Take Care,

Richard