fan recommendations and overheat stuff

hey all,

after 26 hours of uninterupted downloading my modem (internal 56k) was on the fritz for a day or so. i also noticed durning that mini-heatwave we had in NY last week i had about 2 crashes a night. so i was hoping to get your thoughts on cooling fans (ie, manufacturer, type, cfpm, and so on).

i don't know much about hardware but the slot fans look easy enough to istall myself, what about the kind that mount over the processor? is there a difference in performance?

_noise_ is a major considerations (my wife often naps while i work--in our "cozy 1bdrm lft"/"dank and cramped apt"). how loud is a good fan? are there really quite ones?

suggestions on creating better air flow around the cpu?

if you have any ideas or past experiences i'd appreciate the info, thanks in advance.


fyi--i have a sony vaio rx640 (off-the-shelf kind), typically leave it running days on end, heavy modem use.

Try waving papersheets towards the comp :P

Seriously though, i have absolutely no idea.
Maybe a search for google could turn up something?

Hey,

Yer there pretty simple to install yourself, just make sure you put a bit of silicon cream on the bottom of the heatsink when you install it.

Check out www.overclockers.co.uk, i dunno if you can get them shipped out to the US i think you can.

I got a Globalwin FOP38 of there and it keeps my pc running at around 29 degrees, even with a geforce 4 and 1.4ghz in it. But you gotta bare in mind the UKs tempreture ;). Generally though global win are a nice make.

Hope that helps
TNT

Some simple cheap solutions,

Take the side off the PC when weather is hot, and direct a fan into it if needed.

Find an old PC, get the fan from the case, bolt it onto the IDE drive holders, pointing it to the CPU, should be able to plug it directly into your MB or IDE power(with adaptor).

Use a seperate cable for your monitor (not a pass thru the case) as a lot of crashes are due more to cheap power supplies, not over heating. (particularly with Athlons)

I have seen pics of PC's in an eski (cooler) of oil!