Heatsink modding

quicksilver · 19 Oct 2009 at 09:13

When I stripped my Dell for parts, one of the parts I have decided to keep was the heatsink tower.

It was the standard one that fitted the Pentium 4 3.8Ghz cpu (This particular one) and I was wondering if:

A: It would work with a Core2Duo E8400
B: If there is an easy way to mod it to add some extra 80mm cooling fans

Not really interested in overclocking the E8400 unless it is doable with the Zotac mini itx boards so theoretically that heatsink would be fine with the Core2 as core per core it is slower than the P4 it will replace.....or is that bad thinking?

The other thing that may make me decide to keep the P4 is overclocking it.

Is that particular P4 overclockable, if so, how far theoretically with just air cooling and what motherboard would be the best option for the processor?

David41 · 19 Oct 2009 at 10:03

Forget about the p4 if you have an e8400, and forget about that old heatsink too. Even something relatively inexpensive will give you more than adequate cooling and a little head room for overclocking.

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2

quicksilver · 19 Oct 2009 at 10:52

I haven't got the E8400 yet but soon I will have

JonJ678 · 19 Oct 2009 at 11:48

Bear in mind that it may not work with the motherboard from the Dell, and that the dell psu & motherboard may blatantly ignore the atx spec.

Without seeing the heatsink its hard to say, but I'd be surprised if it can't cope with the e8400 well enough. For fans, just cable tie them on.

Zotac mini itx boards can definitely overclock, iirc some headcase at xs is running a quad core over 4ghz in one. They cannot undervolt however, which I consider daft. No so great at bios updates/customer service either.

quicksilver · 19 Oct 2009 at 12:18

the E8400 is not going into the Dell at all - that has been stripped for parts.

the heatsink looks like this:

That's good that the Zotac is overclockable

though I may not overclock...

How about the P4? is that one overclockable with the right board?

shadowscotland · 19 Oct 2009 at 12:31

And OEM P4 570 - sell it - silly hot cpu - but top end upgrade path of a 800fsb mobo
As to the heatsink - it may be the focus but there is not much room between the fins.
High static pressure fans only (or as dell do use a shroud)