Cooling Athlon XP 2000

[uberthomas]

Hello, I recently bought a athlon xp 2000 w/ ecs k7s5a motherboard. I don't intend to overclock. To cool it I got a thermalright ax7 heatsink and the panaflo l1a fan. I have a few questions

-will this setup be sufficient to cool my processor?
-the fan has a 2 lead plug, but my motherboard wants a 3 lead plug. i was just going to take the 2 leads out, and plug them into a 3-prong connector. do i need the 3rd lead? (i'm assuming its the ground)
-if the fan doesn't push enough air, which one should I get instead?
-What's an acceptable cpu temperature range?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Pancho7]

Hi Uber,
I'm new here, but not new to building pcs.
The AX-7 is a decent budget heatsink, a little dated(alum vs. copper) but will still cool very well especially if you don't intend on overclocking.
However, the Panaflo L1a doesn't push enough air to allow the heatsink to cool the cpu the way it was intended. It's rated at 1900 rpm and 24 cfm, okay for a case fan but not the cpu. No way.
Get yourself a higher output cpu fan, 35+cfm min. Other options if you're worried about noise are thermo controlled fans(if range is suitable) or variable controlled fans that can be controlled manually for higher output only when you need it.
Temp range is debatable, personally I feel fine as long as the cpu temp is less than 59C at a high load. I prefer my temps to be about at least 10 degrees C cooler than that(which they are), but mid 50s is still safe.
An aluminum case will also bring your cpu temp down a few degrees as well.
Also, the 3-pin header on the mb is for 12v, grd, and monitor/sensor(if your mb has this feature). See your mb manual for details.

 

[LAVAB84615]

Originally posted by: uberthomas

-What's an acceptable cpu temperature range?

im running an xp 2000+ also, and am aircooled with a thermaltake volcano 7+ set on low... my temps are: idle- 28C, load- 39C

also, i agree with pancho in that you will probably need a higher output fan to slap onto that HS. i would get one of these... 50cfm at a noise level that is relatively tolerable [40db]... if noise doesnt bother you though, you could go for one of those high output vantec tornados [84.1cfm but 55.2db!!]...

 

[uberthomas]

Thanks for the reponses! I really appreciate it. Are there any quieter fans that would still push enough air to cool my processor? This computer is going to be running in my room while i'm sleeping. Thanks!

 

[Pancho7]

I like to use a thermo controlled fan. It offers very quiet operation when cpu usage is low and increases cfm as needed when gaming, etc.
ThermalTake SmartFan II is a good one, just be sure to place the thermo sensor close to the base/cpu as directed.

You can see it: here

 

[xXgambitXx]

i use the Panaflo L1A w/ the AX-7 to cool my 1800+ and it works great. never goes over 50C. i can't imagine the 2000+ would need THAT much more cooling.