New Cpu

[Livy]

im currently about to uprgade my computer, getting a new nforce 2 based board, athlon 2500xp, barton. 333mhz.

in light of clockers pc post, i was wondering whether to go for the retail one with the amd hs+f. for £70.

or the oem one with an aero 7 lite cooler for £77.

i probably wont be overclocking to begin with, thought i will probably look into it at a later date.

edit: this is the board io will probably get, along with some crucial pc2700 ram

http://www.dabs.com/uk/channels/components...?quicklinx=2Q7L (http://www.dabs.com/uk/channels/components/motherboardsandaccessories/productView.htm?quicklinx=2Q7L)

[Kunal]

i still would get the retail version, simply for its warrenty (3yrs compared to 90days) and the aero 7 lite, isnt that good of a cooler espcially if your overclocking, i recently replaced mine with a thermaltake volcano 12 extreme (only about £5 more) and my temps have dropped from 45 to 38 idle (on a 2000+ oced to 1.825ghz, 146 x 12.5)

[Livy]

the warranty issue doesnt bother me to much, as ive never had a problem with components failing, a few cdrom, and a hdd,

also i would prefer it to be quiet aswell.

[Kunal]

still i would go for the retail version (it might fail for all you know!), try the heatsink that comes with it, if its crap, go buy another one

[Livy]

Originally posted by Kunal@23 November 2003 - 18:56
still i would go for the retail version (it might fail for all you know!), try the heatsink that comes with it, if its crap, go buy another one
suppose, its only a fiver difference between them

[kazaaliterock]

if its only 5 buck diff. then definately go w/ retail. i went w/ oem because the diff between that and retail was like 20

[Livy]

im gonna go with that and see how it goes, also would it be worth paying a little extr the now and getting pc3200, (400mhz) ram. rather than, 333?

[Virtualbody1234]

The retail version of the CPU is well worth it to pay a bit more. You get the cooler and a much better warranty.

The retail cooler also works quite well.

[Livy]

Originally posted by Virtualbody1234@23 November 2003 - 20:11
The retail version of the CPU is well worth it to pay a bit more. You get the cooler and a much better warranty.

The retail cooler also works quite well.
thats what made me ask, since clocker seemed to have a good experince from it, and your microfin one. i thought they werent very good so i was going to get the aero 7 lite cooler. but in light of it, may aswell save £5 overall and get a better warranty

[healimonster]

you often get customer service with retail and not with OEM.

but that might not be the situation here.

[Kunal]

Originally posted by Livy@23 November 2003 - 19:51
im gonna go with that and see how it goes, also would it be worth paying a little extr the now and getting pc3200, (400mhz) ram. rather than, 333?
yes, i would get the better ram, esp if your gonna overclock later

[bigdawgfoxx]

Ram that runs the same as the CPU is always a good thing...so PC2700 at 333Mhz would be good. Only get 3200 if your going to overclock.

[Livy]

Originally posted by bigdawgfoxx@23 November 2003 - 20:35
Ram that runs the same as the CPU is always a good thing...so PC2700 at 333Mhz would be good. Only get 3200 if your going to overclock.
thats the thing, i may be overclocking, if cooling is fine, and the result of cooling wont be to loud, but it wouldnt get done to begin with, but i was thinking of getting it so that if i were to uprgade my cpu at a later date to a 400 fsb then the ram would also run at the same speed. instead of having to buy the ram again

[clocker]

If the price difference between the PC2700 and the 3200 isn't too great, then go for it, I say.
The OEM HS I think is a pretty good unit, the microfin looks better than the one I have, but I don't know if it performs any better.
Remember that I am using a non-stock fan with mine.

[Livy]

if its not as good, or a quiet as i would like i could invest in a new fan, an easy job to do.

[clocker]

The stock fan is very quiet, especially if you have software control over the speed.
My Asus board has this feature and I have also used Smartfan to speedup/slowdown the rpms.

I haven't tested the entire stock AMD HSF as yet.

Holy shit! The whole board just changed! What a day this has been...

[Livy]

another thing about the amd stock cooler, will all new amd cpus come with the microfin type hs? its a 2500xp barton im gonna get, and im in the uk and its from ebuyer

[clocker]

That I don't know.

My 2600+ came with the old style.
Maybe your supplier could tell you when you order.

I am using the old style.
I have only said that the new Microfin looks like it should work better.
That's what I thought about the Zalman too...

[Livy]

im sure vb said he was having good results with the microfin, anyway. can you tell from the pic?

http://image.ebuyer.com/UK/P0046513_C0000022_P0000000.jpg

[clocker]

Yes.
That is a microfin.

I'll be interested in hearing about your results.
Please post them.

[Virtualbody1234]

I'm not sure which one you will get either.

As for the microfin one... I think it's slightly better as I have tried my 2400+ with the thicker fin heatsink and get slightly higher temps (not sure if it's enough diff to worry about).

I think it has to do with the total surface area for heat dissipation. The microfin coolers have many more 'fins' so that makes for more surface area.

[Livy]

Originally posted by clocker@24 November 2003 - 02:00
Yes.
That is a microfin.
:D mind you doesnt mean it will be. anyway, ill be getting it all soon. :)

[clocker]

Originally posted by Virtualbody1234@23 November 2003 - 19:01


I think it has to do with the total surface area for heat dissipation. The microfin coolers have many more 'fins' so that makes for more surface area.
Not only that but the fins are much, much thinner.

A superior surface area to mass ratio.

Plus, that thing has skived fins, a feature that all the high end aftermarket coolers brag about and AMD doesn't even mention.
Talk about modesty.