Is this sufficient cooling?

[Dakrath]

I will be getting the following:

AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1.4GHZ (maybe Stepping AYHJA? it's only $5 more?)
EpoX EP-8k7a
Crucial 256MB x 2 PC2100 DDR-SDRAM
Hercules 3D Prophet 4500
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 60 40GB

And will add the following:
Floppy
Hollywood+
Pioneer DVDROM 103s
HP CD-Writer+ 8200
9gb seagate hd.

It will be using a mid-tower case with a 300W power supply which has a fan shooting out the back and a fan in the front of the case.

Newegg offers the Cooler Master EP5-6i11 retail heatsink/fan and the reviews don't sound too bad so that will probably be my heatsink/fan.

So my question is...will the fan from the powersupply and the front fan and the heatsink/fan be sufficient cooling or should I add additional fans to the case somehow? (or just leave it open?)

Thanks.

 

[Jiggz]

I'm more concern with the PSU than cooling since the 300W unless it's of high quality might not power up your 1.4TB. As for the cooling, you'll probably need at least another exhaust fan or one that sucks from the case located at the upper rear of the case. If you do not have space at the rear you will have to make a blow hole on the side panel. The front fan is OK but the PSU fan does not really count that much for case cooling and same with the HSF fan.

 

[CTho9305]

dont worry about it. if they sell it, odds are it wont melt the CPU. maybe if you go 10mhz over stock it will, but otherwise you can live without an intake

 

[Dakrath]

Hmm...in that case what brand/model of case do you recommend for this system? (preferably a mid-tower)

Also, what if I tried all of this hardware on a 300W PSU? Would it simply not turn on, or would I damage any hardware?

Thanks.

 

[Transistor]

Never skimp on a case, heat sink and fan unit, or powersupply for a high end T-bird or you will be sorry. I've seen some pretty bad 300Watt mini towers before. What model is that mini-tower you are using? It says on Cooler Masters web site that it can handle up to 1.4Ghz T-bird. I would trust it only if your case has really good air flow. If it was me, I would purchase a good aftermarket hsf. Like the Global Win CAK38 or Vantec CCK-6035D. I usually buy all my HSF from www.2cooltek.com. They have both units there now. If you are going to get those great parts like the EPoX mobo and 1.4Ghz T-bird it makes sense to ensure those parts are going to work properly by having good cooling and a good powersupply.

 

[Buz2b]

I agree with some of what is being advised. You should look into a minimum of a quality 350 watt Power supply. The Enermax EG365P-VE is an example of one but there are many. Start by going to this page to get some recommendations from AMD. The cooling you mentioned is the basic configuration offered for most systems but only meets just that, basic needs. One interesting workaround I found if you have limited space to add more case fans is to get a drive bay cooler. Basically it is an insert that fits into an unused 5.25' bay that has 2-3 small fans on it. They are normally sold to cool a hot hard drive but leave the hard drive out of that bay and you add a few extra cfm of air to your system. These fans are very low cfm, but you do get some tangible increase in airflow. Another way is to use a smaller 60mm fan added to the rear of the case if you are short on room after installing the 80mm. And last but not least, you can add a fan to the bottom of your case as long as you have some clearance between your case bottom and the surface it is sitting on (doesn't take much at all). It is easy to cut the bottom of the case and just in case you make a mess of it, no one will see! I installed one on the bottom of my case, just forward of the ends of the PCI cards and it blows (intake) a solid batch of air straight up towards the cpu. Dropped my temps a good bit as I was starving for air in my "bargin" case.
As far as the HSF, get a better one. Not worth it when you find your temps are higher than you are comfortable with but still in the "acceptable" range. Then you go out and buy a better one anyway. Save the money and get a good one first. In addition to what was suggested is the Thermalright SK-6 or a Tai-Sol 760092B. Conclusion: You probably won't "damage" your system using the 300 watt, but why chance the headaches of having to troubleshoot startup and lockup problems. Even if you get it working with the 300 watt it will be working hard and generate more heat because of that. You don't need to replace the whole case with it, you can just replace the power supply. It is an easy job to do.

 

[Transistor]

<< Hmm...in that case what brand/model of case do you recommend for this system? (preferably a mid-tower)

Also, what if I tried all of this hardware on a 300W PSU? Would it simply not turn on, or would I damage any hardware?

Thanks. >>



The Antec SX635 is a great mini-tower case for the money. Inexpensive, excellent cooling, nice looks, and a 350W power supply. You can get one for about $85.

 

[whitelight]

actually, i don't recommend the coolermaster hsf. i have one on my 1ghz and my 1.2ghz with a taisol gets lower temps. so a small investment in a better hsf might create less stress for you in the future. also, if you have an intake and exhaust, you will get good enough airflow through your case to cool everything down. i don't recommend opening up the case because you will widen the channel the air has to flow and will make the case cooling less efficient. opening my case actually raises the case temp a few degrees.

 

[lebe0024]

If you want a GREAT cooler with out the noise of a 7k fan, there's only two options:
1)watercooling,
2)SK6 with an 80mm fan and fan adapter. You can find this combo at 1coolPC for $49. It was reviewed at www.iamnotageek.com