CPU Cooling....

[Nemesis]

just a quick question for all you hardware folks out there, i'm getting a new cpu/motherboard/fan combination, is it absolutely ESSENTIAL that i use a coolant gel between the cpu and the fan?.

Basically i dont have any of the aforementioned gel, and i was wondering if my new pc is gonna leave a dent in my face if i switch it on.

Ta!

G

[bac HayabaSu]

nah it isnt essential gregster, just creates better heat transfer to the heatsink. it will keep your cpu a little cooler, but if your not planning on overclocking it it wont hurt to run it like that for awhile. i dont have any in mine, and my cpu never gets beyond the safe operatimg temperature recommended by amd....

[MalevolencE]

Depends what processor you are using, I believe AMD run
hotter than Intel.

Better to be safe than sorry. thats what I say

the gel is only about 3 quid a tube.

:)

[Nemesis]

yeah, erm, slight problem there....

1. the CPU IS an athlon XP

2. I cant find anywhere around here (Crappy ol essex) that sells it, any ideas?
i tried looking on dabs.com and simply but basically i cant find anything on their either.

Ta.
G

[MalevolencE]

OK

If you have an AMD XP I would seriously use the thermal gel
between the processor and sink.

erm

If you have'nt got a computer exchange near you(they sell it) then try this website.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Overclocking_Accessories_27.html

I buy all my bits from here, they have very competitve prices and lots of goddies for overclocking if your into that kind of thing.

Good Luck

:)

[Nemesis]

cheers pal, buy yourself a pint from me! lol

[Oppressor]

I didn't use paste on my amd 1gig and I burn't it out !!!
So I would never not use it now :)
(fortunatly they replaced it under warenteeeee :)

[SouLjah]

Most heatsinks should come with a thermal pad underneath them. This pad acts in the same way as thermal paste, basically making sure that the cpu is making contact with the heatsink. Any old kind of thermal paste will do... I'm using el cheapo paste, and it's giving me temperatures which are at most 2 degrees [celcius] higher than the best thermal transfer paste.

I hope this helps.

[-=bac=- L.B.Jester [GEN]]

Thought I'd be able to give you some facts but can find any references right now.... got tired of looking, but here goes from memory. The cooler you can keep a semiconductor (your processor) the more power you can get from it. Each deg C above 25 you have to de-rate it by so many mW. Heat sink compound (the paste/gel) improves the bond between the semiconductor and the heat sink. There is a formula of how much power you can get from a semiconductor using a heat sink to transfer heat, with and without using heat sink compound. You can always get more buy using the compound. The better the heat sink compound the better at transferring heat to the heat sink and away from you processor and the more power you can get from it. I would highly recommend getting some gel/paste and get some half decent stuff. Is usually cheap anyways. Have a big tube of it here, but I can't throw it that far lol. It's called Heat Sink Compound Type 44, supposedly the best stuff you can buy. If you can't find it at a computer store try an electronics store that sells components. Do you have Radio Shack there? Would imagine they'd have it. Hope this helps. smilies/wavey.gif

[ 18 January 2002: Edit by: *bac-g*L.B.Jester ]

[Johnny Moxlow]

I think that is what I have, all I kow is my compound is silver, and it works pretty good. The heatsink/Fan I got on mine really helps too. Bastard sounds like a hair dryer when I am on the computer.

[Ghost In The Shell]

well client of mine, General Manager's PC, pentium4 1.5 brand new rebuild PC, cpu fan blade was stuck (wasnt rebuild by me), 3weeks later, system had unpredictable errors at random times, ending up corrupting data on the harddrive and barely recover his contact list all else had to go bye bye. I spend later that day 7hrs narrowing down components, identified was fan not cooling the CPU, it resulted frying the motherboard since heat build ups on the CPU increases driving current (electricity/juice) up the ying yang. well thats $75 dollas per hour comes out to tears not including all rest of the software reinstall, configuration and motherboard replacement.

Yup better get more cooling than necessary i say LOL