[Alien]

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

Zing, if you want us to go C2D then donate us the board/cpu and we'll happily do it mate

Nah, I'm a more staunch AMD fan than that, if he wants me to switch teams he'll have to cough up a pair of Clovertowns.

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

Lol, another trip to my mate to cadge his artic silver off of him Would you suggest lapping the CPU block to get it smoother, or just use some brasso/duraglit to get it smooth?

If you mean just to get the goo off, acetone will do it, that's what I used. You can probably get some from your local chemist for less than £2. Then give it a wipe over with some Isopropyl Alcohol. You can do the same on your CPU, but take it out of the socket first - Acetone & plastic don't play nicely together, & it's the plastic that usually goes home crying to mummy. [just put a little bit on a bit of soft kitchen roll] Although not the best finish I've ever seen on the bottom of a heatsink, the finish on my stock heatsink was good enough. You can lap it if you really feel the need & are confident that you know what you're doing, but I wouldn't bother

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

I may have to revisit the case/fan situation again then. The problem is due to no chipset fan or a fan on the GPU so heat is radiated into the case more!

I know it's an Asus, but what board is it you've got? I can't remember if you've said or not. [I just want to look it up on Asus' site, so I can see the layout of it] I haven't got a fan on my chipset heatsink at the moment, infact due to the fact that the AM2NF3-VSTA is rather... compact, the corner of the chipset heatsink is practically touching the cooler on my X800. I could probably fiddle with the chipset heatsink a bit to give a little more room, but it'd just be more hassle & I can't see the point at the moment [I bolted it to the board rather than trusting those silly push-pin things].

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

The 80mm intake is held in a plastic cage that clips onto the inside of the case at the front, so it's not actually on the outside of the chassis but inside it.

That's not a problem, you just remove the plastic cage & drill 4 holes in the case for the screws to go through. As for the inside vs. outside thing, I assumed it was inside, as they usually are.

Originally Posted by Web-Junkie

It should be between the front removable panel and the front of the chassis where there is more space to draw in cooler air. May have to start cutting some holes in the front chassis and use the 120mm fan thats hung under the HDD bay rather than the 80mm fan. Could also drill some air holes in the front plastic cover to help draw in more air. Something to play about with tomorrow then

Nope, you want [ideally] some free space on both sides of the fan. I don't mean in the sense that it's just hanging in free air, like your 120mm is at the moment, I mean nothing actually in the direct path of the air for at least 1/2 an inch either side. As long as there's... 15-25mm between the fan & whatever is the nearest inside object [hardrive cage?] that is plenty.

As for putting holes in the front plastic panel - what I suggest is 1 big hole, & use 1 of those round black plastic ducts that you've seen on a couple of sites linked earlier in this thread. That will cover up any rough edges you left on the hole you cut & make it look more professional, & you can cut the back end of it to length so it goes to within about 1mm of the metal panel of the case where the fan is mounted. Why 1mm gap? because you're unlikely to get an absolutely perfect seal between the back end of the duct & the metal chassis of your case, & an important part of both good airflow & reduction of dust in your case is making sure the air only goes to & from where you want it to. To that end, you invest in a cheapo foam mousemat [cheapo £1 jobbie will do just fine], & cut out an O-ring to go between the chassis of your case & the duct. It dampens vibration & stops air/dust going in/out of the gap between the duct & chassis. You can even go 1 step further & cut out a square piece just a bit bigger than your fan, with the hole in the middle just that little bit smaller than the diameter of the end of the duct. If you make holes in the corners for the fan screws [I've actually used nuts & bolts in the past], then hey-presto instant fan vibration dampener, & air/dust gasket all in 1. Of course, if you're going that route, you'll want another 1 on the inside of the chassis between the metal & the fan, & then a small piece on each corner. It's a lot easier to put the washers [to stop the foam slipping over the nut] & nuts on on the side of the fan that isn't touching the case with bolts that are long enough to go all the way through the fan & chassis than to use shorter bolts & try to do up the nuts against the side of the fan nearest the chassis. Trust me, I learnt that 1 the hard way.

If I haven't done a good enough job of explaining it &/or you're having trouble picturing what I mean, let me know & I'll try to knock out a pic in trueSpace.