A7V400-MX - Asus K7 Socket A Via 400Mhz mATX

[velusip]

http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socketa/a7v400-mx/overview.htm#

My experiences with this motherboard have been reasonable, but there are a few issues I must address and a few things I must ask:

1. The Manual is printed wrong! Make sure to download the updated copy: http://usa.asus.com/support/downloa...=28&m_id=1&f_name=e1817_a7v400-mx.pdf~zaqwedc

2. Pay extra special attention to your DIP Switch settings. I have fried a processor because the original printed manual is wrong! See Issue #1.

3. This is not an overclocking board. However, if you have a decent vid card, memory, and loads of cooling, you might be able to get a 166MHz FSB proc up to 200MHz (this is your only option).

4. mATX with mounts all around! (Chipset and processor cooling mounts at your disposal.)

And now for some questions:

1. Has anyone ever tried forcing a Zalman 7000 (or variant) HSF into a mATX case by bending a bunch of the copper/aluminium blades aside or around your PSU?

In my world, there is no such thing as idle temp. So I get a constant 63 degrees celcius with an AMD 2800+ XP (Barton core), with one case fan running and 65 degrees celcius without the casefan. My intentions are to make a very quiet machine. This proves difficult with the case I have (lots of breathing holes, very metalic reverberations). I'm wondering if I should buy an older Zalman flower or the newer Zalman 7000 (and bend it to fix).

Any ideas?


p.s. My gpu is an ATI 9250 which runs way too hot, anyone have a nice Gforce card they wanna sell?

 

[Mark099]

I didn't have problems with the dip switches or manual.

I would strongly suggest you NOT spend a lot of money on a HSF with that board. If the AMD fan is a little loud for your taste, you can always to what I have done and get a 80mm to 60mm adapter.

http://www.1coolpc.com/akasa.htm

You can easily add a quieter 80mm fan that cools even better than the 60mm AMD fan.

 

[velusip]

I didn't have problems with the dip switches or manual.

I would strongly suggest you NOT spend a lot of money on a HSF with that board. If the AMD fan is a little loud for your taste, you can always to what I have done and get a 80mm to 60mm adapter.

http://www.1coolpc.com/akasa.htm

You can easily add a quieter 80mm fan that cools even better than the 60mm AMD fan.

Thanks for the tip, but I know that funnels often decrease cooling performance. In my experiences anyway. The idea is to get the temp to decrease slightly, but more importantly silence the rig.

I still want to get a decent HSF because they last. I'll just carry it over to my next computer (Which will most likely be an AMD 939). If I don't get the big $60 Zalman 7000 and bend it to fit, I don't mind spending $30 on /something/ to lightly cool and quiet my rig. There are 4 computers running in this room and they are all going to be quiet if I can help it.

 

[Mark099]

They don't really act as a funnel, but mostly as an adapter. It's an easy way to secure a 80mm fan to a 60mm heatsink.

In my setup, I am using a cheap $5 80mm fan and it cools better than the AMD fan by about 4-5C.