Cooling questions

[pandashark]

I'm in the midst of working on cooling for this athlon xp 3000 machine im building. I got a barebones kit off tiger direct, the soyo k7vme one. It's pretty nice, and a good price, except that the case is horrific for cooling. The only exhaust fan is on the power supply. My temps are 63C with the case sides off so it's pretty bad.

Anyway what's the difference bettwen arctic silver and the ceramique stuff? I got some cermaique in the package i order, but...I didn't trust it as much as my old tube of artic silver 2. is ceramique supposed to be better?

And additionally I'm not just trying to get some fan setups going. I don't have too many hsf options, because the power supply covers the CPU in this case, so there's not much more clearance. I'm using a dynatron something or other HSF that has a copper core (aluminum surrounding).

So the fan isetup im thinking about, I'm getting one of those Logisys 3d fan cards, and i'll have an intake fan on the front of case. I'm also trying to use the holes ine the side of the case (for ventilation) to mount another fan, to help bring in air. So all these fans will basically bei ntake fans, and there's only the one exhaust on the powersupply. My question is will this setup work at all? I'm going to have a ton of intakes but very little exhaust. so i'm not sure if that does any good

Does anyone have suggestions on what I could try with this machine, besides get a new case?

 

[chilled]

Ceramique is the silicon based cheaper alternative of AS. It's a couple of centigrade off AS3. I would just get AS5 if I were you, it's reasonably priced anyway.

You should have a tad more intake than exhaust so that the dust that is inevitably attracted into the case, does not enter via optical drives. I suspect you need 80mm fans for that case. I would usually tell you to get two: one for the intake and one exhaust. However, by your descirption it seems that you cannot fit another exhaust...

See if you can pick up a new case. If your on a budget I would get the Cheiftec BX/DX cases, but I'm in the UK so you'll have more choices there stateside. See if you can pick one up with 120mm intake/exhausts. Maybe someone can suggest one?

 

[lobadobadingdong]

I've used both, ceramique is non-conductive, and is only about 1/2 degree C difference in cooling from AS5, if applied right. after my thorough testing of the two I chose to use ceramique for all my new builds simply because it's easier to clean up when upgrading heatsinks.

editn the case bit, try different directions on your fans (the front fan should be blowing in tho) most people find that an even flow of fans typically yields the best results, but in some cases its cooler using either a postive or negitve flow.

 

[pandashark]

Actually I think my tube is AS2, so perhaps i should switch to cermique. how big a difference does it make?

The case has no other exhaust besides the psu fan. Additionally the PSU is mounted in an odd sideways position, which is why it covers the cpu

I like it for the handle, since this case will be move around a bit, but I guess the case isn't well-suited to the system that I'm building.

My theory on the case fans is that if I have more instake of cool air from outside, somehow or another, it will displace the warmer air in the case. I just have to make sure it doesn't end up recycling warm air in the case. And I'm not sure if that's correct

Thanks for the advice