"Citizen Bob" <spam@uce.gov> wrote in message
news:458a862c.102466734@news-server.houston.rr.com...
>I have a 2.4 GHz Celeron D which is a Socket 478 P4 Prescott chip with
> a crippled pipeline cache.
>
> If I run certain video conversion programs, the CPU internal
> temperature as measured by MBM5, reaches 58C and then it levels off.
> At the same time other processes slow down measurably leading me to
> believe the internal clock was slowed down because of the high
> temperature.
>
> The problem appears to be made worse when the heat sink gets filled
> with lint. I have 4 fans on the case, front, rear, side and PSU. There
> are no filters on these or on the other means by which dust can enter
> the case.
Hence the increase in temp
> Please recommend which way the air should flow for each of these fans.
Normally CPU fans blow on to the CPU cooler, but I would recommend
benchmarking both ways as every system is different - you might find that
sucking air through your cooler is more efficient.
> Also recommend an affordable method of keeping dust out of the cooler
> assembly. I am considering putting a piece of porous foam on top of
> the fan, the black conducting foam you get with boards that are
> sensitive to static electricity.
If dust is getting into the case, then it has to collect somewhere. By
adding a filter between the fan and target then you simply give the dust
somewhere to collect and will probably reduce airflow more rapidly, than
filtering nothing and doing a regular clean. Perhaps the general environment
should be examined around the PC - is it in a very dusty place? - could it
be moved?
All I can say on coolers is - You said that you don't really think something
large and copper based is relevant as it would be overkill for you, but at
the same time you say that your CPU is getting too hot and you are concerned
about noise.
The correlation is NOT between noise level and air flow rate, but noise
level and fan speed - this is important as a large fan can spin
slowly+silently and move the same amount of air as a small fan spinning
quickly+noisily.
You must decide if your priority is cool, silent, or a combination. A
combination will tend to cost more than just focussing on one or the other.
I say 'tend' because it can be done on the cheap...
I have a silent cooler from Zalman - the "Flower" heatsink with a 120mm fan
blowing over the heatsink. The fan is silent and moves as much air as an
80mm whiney fan would. I also have 2 80mm fans for case-in and case-out, but
both are under volted from 12v to 5v to slow them down and run them
silently. My Athlon 2500+ PC runs silently and never gets above 'warm'. The
only noise is the 'silent' Samsung Spinpoint hard disk.
This setup might not generate enough airflow for your system - benchmark and
test to find out. But you could do something similar with 120mm fans for
more airflow.
Have a look at
http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/home for quiet coolers and
fans (and all sorts come to that!) (check their B-Grade pages).