Cool PC build from loose parts

[The_YongGrand]

I recently got fascinated by the idea of cool and quiet PC, so I decided to rummage my drawers and search for some loose parts of computer to build up a cheapy Linux PC for the HTPC and some other micro stuff.

Basically my Athlon XP 2400+ won't cut it - not because of the speed - it's the Aero 7+ cooler which is very noisy, and it dissipates too much heat to even warm up a living room in a cool rainy day at night. (I'm in the tropics!)

Then I found some PCChips (yeah they are not very good) which have those embedded C7 processors which are very very quiet and very very cool.

Also, searching in my online auction sites I can see some cheap Socket 478 board + a Pentium 4 1.8A GHz which maybe can do a much cooler PC.

My question is,

1.) Is a Pentium 4 1.8A processor cooler compared to a Athlon XP? What are the normal temps for these? If the normal temps for these are 30 degrees, that will be my better choice.

2.) Have you tried any of these PCChips embedded combo sets? Are they good, or are they just too bad for anything?

3.) What if I stick a slower Duron (Socket A) into my Athlon XP PC and put in a basic heatsink instead? Is a Duron much more cooler than an Athlon XP?

[Cricket]

You won't be able to find a cooler running CPU than the C7 embedded processors...I heard they can run even without a heatsink installed. But they aren't really powerful.

The P4 1.8A won't run cooler than a Athlon XP, it'll run hotter.

I heard the Durons actually ran hotter than the Athlon XPs but can't verify since I never built with a Duron.

Cricket

[glc]

The 1.8A is a Northwood core and runs VERY cool. I had a 1.6A that ran at 34C idle and 40C under full load with a stock Intel heatsink/fan running at about 2300 rpm on an Intel D850 board. I wouldn't touch a PC Chips board with a 10 foot pole.

[The_YongGrand]

Hmm... great. I'll choose the Pentium 4 1.8A for sure if it's really cheap, since I have other components lying about in my house, I might build up another PC.

I'm trying to find Socket 478 boards with Intel chipset, but they are sometimes rare and I don't feel like buying a new one since it's already even rare (except the Asrock series). I'll maybe try harder to find the Asus ones.

[glc]

The 1.8A is only 400 FSB, so you can go with an original 845 chipset if you need to. That would be SDRAM, the 845D was DDR. The 845E supported 533 FSB and used DDR. The SiS 645DX was an acceptable alternative to the 845E, it was fully license built, I believe the Asus version was the P4S533.

[The_YongGrand]

I see. The SiS 645Dx... I found many of these inside those small-form-factors.

Btw, I have another loose 128MB DDR RAM 266MHz one. Planning to run a HTPC with linux system inside.