Looking at that list my first suggestion would be to put in a CPU fan, but maybe I'm missing something.

The first thing to do is open the case and make sure that your heatsink is clean. Dust building up in the hs fins will reduce cooling efficiency. Also blow out the heatsink fan - although you can't really do one without also doing the other. In fact, while your there, get a can of compressed air (couple bucks a can at Costco, BJ's, etc. - probably more like $5 at Staples, OfficeMax, etc.) and blow out the whole case. Use a vacuum to pick up the monster dust bunnines, but don't touch anything inside the case directly with the vacuum nozzle. It's not likely, but you don't want to create a static electrical discharge.

Next, look at a good heatsink fan combo for socket 478 chips (like Pentium 4) I like Newegg.com, but there are other good sites out there too. Once you find a product you like, use the google product search option. The highest rated fan/hs on Newegg is a Thermaltake. Click here to see all socket 478 f/hs combos sorted by user rating

Edit, just noticed you said your P4 uses socket LGA775. I thought they were 478. If lga775, that gives you a lot more choices. The ultimate heatsink is the Thermaltake Ultra 120. You'd have to add your own 120mm fan and would have to "lap" the base (file it down to be perfectly flat) to get the best performance though. I use a Zalman CNPS 9700 that is ok (about 3.4 ghz on a 2.4ghz rated Q6600 with temps at or below 60celsius). The Tuniq Tower also does a good job.

Make sure that the new f/hs comes with a good brand of thermal paste. If you go with thermaltake and they include the paste, that should be fine. Otherwise Arctic cooling MX-2 is the best combination of performance and ease of application. However unless you intend to do serious overclocking, one of the Arctic Silver compounds is just fine too. Arctic Silver 5 is very popular and easy to find. But again, if you get a good brand of f/hs like thermaltake and won't overclock your rig to max, whatever they provide will be just fine. Click here for thermal paste products on Newe...ems are at bottom of page

I would also strongly suggest adding at least one more case fan. They are quite cheap and will improve ventilation. Some can be noisy so check the db (decibel) ratings where they are provided. I use 4 case fans plus the power supply fan on rigs that I overclock. This insures good air flow for all system components and provide some insurance if one of the gets jammed with a stray cable or just fails. Normally at least one fan in the front of the case would be blowing on your hard drives. The 2 in the rear would be for exhaust (push-pull configuration).

One of the best forums for this sort of information is Xtreme Systems Forums. Although XS is a team on WCG, they are much, much more than that. In fact one of the founding members was just in Taiwan overclocking an Intel 9770 chip to 5.8 ghz. These chips aren't even available yet - Intel provided them for the demo. There is a whole forum just for air cooling. Poke around and if you can't find what you want, just register (may take a couple days) and post your question.

Good luck.

OK - it's the thermalright ultra extreme 120 - always screw this up (also call TRUE 120 or TR 120 - guess that should have been a hint).

I thought about mentioning some of the potential logistical problems, but it's not really possible to cover them all.

Some f/hs will come with a back plate that is mounted opposite the cpu socket for support. That's how the Zalman 9700 works. However the 9500 i think mounts like a stock f/hs - don't remember now. So as long as the support brace/bracket/plate is sturdy, you shouldn't damage the motherboard.

As for damaging the cpu, I don't know what the chip looks like but since it's lga775, i guess it looks like a quad core. If so, the metal cap is the integrated heatsink. That is actually welded to the silicon. Short of putting it in a vise, I don't see how you could damage the chip or the cpu package.

What DOES happen is people over tighten the mounting screws and strip out the threads. I think that's a more realistic danger. However I beleve Alien when they say people have done these things. You do need to be careful. And a lot of things go unsaid because they're assumed - like making sure to ground yourself before touching anything, making sure things are properly aligned, double-checking before tightening, etc.

You also have to look at the dimensions of the f/hs. Some of these are massive. The TRUE 120 is about 6 inches tall and some people have a hard time squeezing it into their case. So you really need to do some recon and make sure whatever you get will fit. And if you buy just a heatsink - like the 120 - leave space for the appropriate fan.

I'm not an expert on this stuff either but I have done a build recently and try to keep up with the XS forums - although it is overwhelming at first.

I did find this graph that may help



Not sure when it was published but it's been quoted several times and people at XS seem to agree with it's conclusions.

Since the 6600 cpu use lga775, you should be able to use any of these coolers - subject to whatever limitations are imposed by the size of your case, wiring, etc.

However unless you intend to overclock your cpu, this is probably a waste of money. Most likely you just need to clean off your existing fan/heatsink. I'm not too familiar with P4's, but I don't think they should be running that hot unless your either overclocking or have a clogged f/hs.

You might even get a boost in cooling just by taking off the present f/hs and using a good thermal paste. There's a procedure for doing this so you should google something like "cleaning and applying thermal paste". However I think the main thing is to use a good solvent like 90% isopropyl alcohol (not the 70% stuff - too much water) and cleaning both the heat sink and IHS (integrated heat sink on cpu chip) thoroughly.

If you want a cheap but very proficient heatsink + fan, that would be more than adequate for your needs, take a look at the arctic freezer pro 7. Excellent cooling for about £15.

Mine is only a P4 3.6 ghz with hyperthreading, nothing too fancy.