Case fan cooling of CPUs - which motherboards?

[jhigbee]

I have been purchasing AMD CPUs for many years now. However I may have to switch to Intel because of the following:

On Pentium type motherboards (such as Dell & some IBM), a case fan blows onto a large heat sink which is attached to the CPU.

I know of no AMD motherboards which support this or cases set up to do this. If you know of any let me know.

So anyway here are my questions:

1. What Pentium motherboards are designed to allow a large heat sink over the CPU which is designed to have a case fan cool it?

2. Are there cases specifically designed for such motherboards which have a properly placed fan?

3. Who would supply the plastic tube thing which diverts the air from the case fan onto the CPU heat sink? The motherboard manufacturer? The case manufacturer? A third party?

I've found that case fan cooled systems (such as the Dell towers & desktops) are much quieter than systems which require a fan mounted directly over the CPU heat sink.

I know there are water cooling systems for AMD, but I wonder if it would in the long run be cheaper to simply go with a Pentium and a case fan CPU cooling solution?

I could just buy a Dell I suppose since it has such a setup and is much quieter than heat sink mounted fan solutions, but I prefer to build my own systems. So I guess I have to switch to Intel, even though I would prefer not to. But I will if it means getting less noise without having to pay a lot of money (for water cooling).

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by jhigbee on 06/23/04 11:42 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[pat]

the cooling you are referring is mostly use by system makers such as dell or hp. it is not a question of board or cpu, even if you go with a standard case and an Intel cpu, you will have the same setup as if you go with AMD...a CPU and a heatsink in a case with fans.

I bought an AMD mobile 2500+, clocked it at 9X200 (1800MHz) and put a thermaltake Silentboost on it. With a fan controller, I run the fan half speed, my 3 other fans half speed too, and while running Farcry at high setting with my AIW9600XT (very playable at1024x768) my temps just goes over 45C. Current AMD64 CPU support 'cool and quiet technology'. Do a little rechearch to see what it is and hw it works.

So, either you can buy a Dell or if you can find just a case from such manufaturer and try to fit a board in.


-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[Cybercraig]

You can find those cases on E-Bay. Just get a MB with the CPU in the same position and a power supply and you are there. I don't think you want to mess with the stock Dell PSU.

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. Now, let's eat!

 

[Tavelkyosoba]

whats better, buy any cpu and case you want. then you slip a small dryer exaust duct over the heatsink(fasten with zipties), and connect the other end to your case fan(fasten with zip ties.

ONLY oem's do the air ducting thing because A. oem's suck. B. they have full control over everything that coes into their case. C. they want to make it more difficult to upgrade so we are forced to buy a new computer.

but if you really want to duct it that much(and i can see why, its quiet), the project i suggested is only 20 mins at the most and super easy and cheap to do. no fumbling around trying to get the dumb oems to work with your parts, no fumbling around trying to FIND the oem case.

I've got a book of matches,
I've got a can of kerosene,
I've got some bright ideas involving you and me.

 

[Cybercraig]

The 3" duct mod should work too. It's just not that hard to mod a Dell case if that's really what you want. I've always found them short on space inside.



"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. Now, let's eat!

 

[Crashman]

Buy an old Dell Dimension, replace the power supply with a standard ATX power supply, add any ATX board you like with the CPU in the standard location. Give me the old Celeron or PIII CPU, motherboard, and Dell power supply, and you're done. AMD/Intel doesn't matter so long as the CPU socket is in the standard location.

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