In an effort to keep using all my current kit I setup my new Abit NF7 mobo yesterday, which took most of the day! One of the main problems I came across was at the first boot. I had a beep error that suggested the cooler was not attached, the ram was not seated correctly, or the agp card was not seated correctly. I reseated everything, but suspected the version 1 coolermaster xdream HS. This takes a separate molex power off so there is a lame cable you have to put in the cpu fan socket so the mobo can detect it, and read speed. After trying to get it to work over an hour, I gave up and dug out my stock coolermaster HS. It booted fine first time. Only problem now is it runs at 61% idle. So after all that rambling, can anyone recommend a good socket A cooler? Maybe one that does not require me to almost snap my board when installing it. Thanks
You should checkout places like ebuyer for cheaper hsf's and overclockers for more agressive ones. Since you have a xp2000 try going for something thats copper, has an 80mm fan and works on "socket A/462". Perhaps a zalman flower cooler would suit your needs as its large and quiet and you can re-use it if you upgrade (supports A64 and LGA775) I found one for ~£27 inc VAT. But still, with a low powered cpu i think you could get away with almost anything that fits a socket A motherboard
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Thermalright_120.html ive got the second to last item.the alx800 with a vantec stealth fan....brilliant £5 hs...cant ask for more...got my OC'd 2500+mobile at 2.31GHZ in the mid 40's in idle. cheap and simple to install.great quality hs.
Was looking about the forums and the thermalright SI-97 was recommended, but looking at the that alx800 I think it will do the job fine, and save me 25 notes. I was quite worried about the SI-97 dodgy mounting too. Ran the comp just on desktop all day yesterday, the idle came out 51 degrees on the stock H/S. Thanks for the info guys
