| BABYDOR.COM
MOD #7 - NEW CPU HEATSINK/FAN - 05/04/02 |
One of the key
components to overclocking the heck out of your CPU is, of course,
a kick ass heatsink and fan combo. Hands down, one of the
best HSF's out there for the P4 is ThermalTake's Volcano 7+.
So, of course, I had to buy one. Hell, I've already got two
TT products in this box, what's one more. And gosh darn it,
it's got a silver grill...matching case components is always fun.
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Attractive packaging. Though the "TT
Boy" Kind of scares me. |

Rather shiny...and at about 2.5 pounds,
rather heavy. |
So, things to note: Adjustable
speed fan with High/Medium/Low settings for 6000/4800/3000 RPMs,
depending on mood and desired noise level. 36 tiny copper
fins to better dissipate heat and mounting clips for a P4 socket
478 or an Athlon socket 462 or P3 socket 370. Handy...but
I'm only interested in the P4 clips...why run a crappy Athlon,
after all?
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Shiny Heatsink... |

And without a flash. |
Next up we have to free
the P4-1.8a from its existing setup. The stock HSF had a
thermal pad on it, so that will need to be scrapped off before the
classic Arctic Silver 3 will need to be applied. And boy, is
it sure fun to make a mess with the Arctic Silver and almost drown
your CPU because you pushed a little too hard on the syringe.
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The P4 after removal from the original
setup. |

A blurry pic of the P4 after a good
cleaning. |

A nice thin coat of Arctic Silver applied. |
Pretty simply process of applying the Arctic Silver...they even have
directions on their webpage for proper application. Now it's
just a matter of slapping the P4 back in it's socket, tossing
together the Volcano 7+ (*some assembly required) and clipping the
whole deal together...and taking some pictures along the way.
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A close-up of the 2 pounds worth of heatsink. |

The assembled product...just don't drop it
on your CPU... |
Very simple clip on process, easy removal too....sure as
hell beats the removal process of the stock heatsink...just be
sure to hold the HSF in place while your clipping it on as it has
a tendency to slide around a bit. All in all, it's a nice
looking product...however, did we mention the noise concept?
It's no delta, but then again, it's about twice as loud as the
stock fan...and that's just when it's set to medium...it's a bit
like having a window fan on in your PC.
Cooling results? Well...I'm not impressed yet. I
was running at 2.4ghz with the stock HSF....now it will only
run stably at 1.8ghz...rather disappointing, but needs further
research. Temperature wise, my idle temps are still 104°,
just like before...heavy load temps (ie: Morrowind) run at about
125°, down from about 130°...but is the loss of 5° worth the loss
of 600mhz? But then, every review seems to love this little
HSF...perhaps poor lil' dor has done something wrong? Too
much Arctic Silver perhaps? Easy enough to clean off...we'll
have to try that again soon....
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Before.... |

After... |

After...exposed. |
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Oh boy! Another dorky sticker! |

Still need to do work on the front, don't I? |
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