question about passive heatsinks

[ryan1]

hey guys,

i've been trying to figure out ways to make my computer more quiet, and i've received a lot of helpful suggestions; however, no one's mentioned using passive heatsinks. i was reading in cpu magazine today about a guy that replaced his active fan/heatsink combo on his cpu and video card with passive heatsinks. this would allow for the removal of two of the biggest sources of noise in the case... sounds like a great idea, but is it something i should consider? i didn't think a p4 (mine's a 2ghz) would be able to survive without active cooling...

i've heard of the sapphire radeon 9700 that uses a zalman passive heatsink, and it's received good reviews... i haven't heard of anyone using passive heatsinks on p4s though, what do you guys think?

thanks in advance,

- ryan

[ktkendall]

I know I wouldn't want to chance it. Even if it works the increase in average operating temp will shorten the life of the processor. I remember when I upgraded my first PC from a Pentium75 to a 133 and the guy at the shop said I should get a HSF anything over 100MHZ.

[morriswindgate]

The idea of a passive heatsink in a computer is kind of a deception. Many of the older retail computers did not have a fan on the CPU heatsink, but they would install a duct on the power supply that sucked air across the heatsink.
Inorder to have a fully passive heatsink you would need one several times larger than the unit you now have in order to shed the heat given off by a CPU.

[setfree]

If you want less noise you should consider going for a water cooled setup. The only processor that I've ever heard of being able to run without a hsf is made by VIA. The Eden Cpu is only about 533mhz (actual speed in comparsion to a pentium is alot less) and its built onto one of there motherboards. Its actually become pretty popular with people who are looking to build tiny quiet computers to use as dvd players and such, because the board that it comes on is Mini ITX form factor which is the smallest ones I've ever seen. Check out this link for more http://www.mini-itx.com/store/default.asp?c=2#p2

[largosama]

Passive heatsinks? think about this. I think they started that in the 486 days. now look at today. nearly 2003. I think the only easy to do solutions are the 2 below:

1. Shut the computer in a big, sound proof box LOL
2. Get a water cooling kits for a few extra dollars like setfree mentioned

[glc]

The stock Intel retail HSF on the P4 is almost silent.