Adventures in running the CPU faster by keeping it cool<\/p>\n
By Zatni Arbi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Two weeks ago I wrote about my new PC in this
\ncolumn. A friend, Raymond, e-mailed me, questioning why I chose
\nthe 733 MHz Pentium III and not a faster one instead.<\/p>\n
He made a very good point: \"Once you've installed the CPU, it
\nwill cost you more to upgrade to a faster processor.\"<\/p>\n
My reason for choosing the 733 MHz was simple. I was trying to
\nkeep my budget under control. At the time I bought the
\ncomponents, the price of an Intel Pentium III processor running
\nat 733 MHz was almost the same as the one running at 700 MHz.<\/p>\n
Faster processors, such as the 750 MHz and 766 MHz, would have
\ncost a lot more, and, as I wrote in that article, I would be
\nhappy with anything faster than a 600 MHz. So I thought the 733
\nMHz would have given me plenty of overhead.<\/p>\n
There was a special feature of the motherboard that I had not
\ntested before I wrote the article, although Astrindo's Alfredo
\nHui had explained it to me and I mentioned it briefly in my
\narticle. The ASUS CUSL2 is a great motherboard for overclocking.<\/p>\n
Raymond's e-mail prompted me to try it out. The results made
\nme happy. I was able to raise the internal clock speed of the 733
\nMHz processor to 929 MHz. Intel would scold me for telling you
\nthis, but I have had no problems so far.<\/p>\n
The motherboard allows us to set the speed using its DIP
\nswitches or its BIOS. I chose the latter, because it was
\ncompletely problem free. The BIOS lets us increase or decrease
\nthe speed in small increments.<\/p>\n
I chose 929 MHz because it was the closest to being below 933
\nMHz, which is the fastest Pentium III that the motherboard
\nsupported, according to the manual.<\/p>\n
The Case<\/p>\n
To safeguard the system from getting overheated and having a
\nshort life, I decided early on to use a high-quality case. As I
\nwrote in my article, I had my mind set on a mid-tower Elan Vital
\ncase, as it was recommended by three other friends besides
\nAlfredo.<\/p>\n
At Elan Vital's website, I learned that the most popular model
\nwas the T-10. Last week, Alfredo informed me that he had received
\na new shipment of this case, so I went to his store and bought
\none.<\/p>\n
\"The power supply is very good,\" explained Alfredo. \"That's
\nwhy the price is quite high.\"<\/p>\n
The T-10 cost me more than Rp 1 million.<\/p>\n
The case is not pretty. It is a rather dull box and does not
\nhave any fancy transparent panels or colorful buttons. The front
\nface looks as if it was a piece of military equipment.<\/p>\n
However, it is well-built. There is only one thumbscrew to
\nlock the right side cover in place, although system
\nadministrators can use a padlock to keep it from being opened by
\nunauthorized staff members.<\/p>\n
The steel is far thicker and heavier than the Rp 195,000 case
\nI bought earlier. It has three 13.3 centimeter (5 1\/4 inch) bays
\nthat can be accessed and only one accessible 8.9 cm (3 1\/2 inch)
\nbay. I wish it had more internal bays, though, because I was
\nplanning to use an old Quantum ProDrive 2 GB SCSI hard disk that
\nis a bit thicker than the other hard disks. Now I might need some
\ntape to stick it to the bottom of the case as there is no more
\nspace for it in the bays.<\/p>\n
The case also has two places for additional fans, which can be
\nconnected to the motherboard and monitored by ASUS' PC Probe
\nutility. The boxes for the three 13.3 cm external bays and the
\nthree 8.9 cm bays can be easily taken out so that installing
\ncomponents, such as the CD-ROM drive and the floppy diskette
\ndrive, is easy.<\/p>\n
Opening the front face is easy, too. There is only one button
\nin front, which is the power button. It has to be turned 90
\ndegrees clockwise before it can be pushed, so this will prevent
\nan accidental power shutdown. The reset button is hidden inside
\nthe face, so I had to use a paper clip to reboot the system. The
\npower supply at the back has a master switch, too. Clearly, this
\nis a heavy duty case for serious computing.<\/p>\n
Whispering fan<\/p>\n
While I was at Alfredo's store, I also bought a special fan
\nand an air duct also made by Elan Vital. The fan, called Whisper,
\nis intended to blow cooler external air directly into the CPU. As
\nyou can see in the accompanying picture, the air duct channels
\noutside air into the CPU. The theory is that external air is
\ncooler than the air inside the case, because the motherboard
\nalready generates a lot of heat as well.<\/p>\n
Right after I got home, I transferred the system into the new
\ncase. The fan that came with the Intel processor was too big for
\nthe Whisper, so I had to replace the entire heat sink and the fan
\nunit. Installing the new unit was much easier than Intel's
\ncooling fan and heat sink because the latch was designed better.<\/p>\n
After all the cables were connected, I powered it up and,
\nafter awhile, I checked the temperature of the CPU and the
\nmotherboard.<\/p>\n
The PC Probe can collect historical data, and I always turn
\nthis feature on. There was not much difference in the temperature
\nof the motherboard. It fluctuated between 38 degrees Celsius and
\n39 degrees Celsius, almost the same as when I was using the
\ncheaper case.<\/p>\n
However, the CPU was now much cooler because the room was air-
\nconditioned and the air conditioner happened to be located near
\nthe back of the case. Before I overclocked the CPU, its
\ntemperature was between 18 degrees and 20 degrees. After
\noverclocking, its temperature jumped to between 35 degrees and 38
\ndegrees.<\/p>\n
But after I installed the Whisper, the CPU's temperature went
\ndown again to 18 degrees Celsius. It sometimes went as low as 13
\ndegrees, which is extremely good for an overclocked processor.<\/p>\n
Spinning at 3924 rotations per minute (rpm), Whisper's fan has
\na lower rpm than the fan that came with the CPU, which spins at
\n4787 rpm. Elan Vital used a lower rpm to keep the noise level at
\na minimal and make the fan last longer. Besides, the
\neffectiveness of the fan is not determined solely by the speed at
\nwhich it rotates.<\/p>\n
The new case and the Whisper fan helped keep my new PC cool
\nand allowed me to overclock it. I might add two fans later to
\nimprove air flow and lower the motherboard's temperature, which
\nnow stays at 38 degrees.<\/p>\n
By the way, PC Probe's default maximum threshold for the CPU's
\ntemperature is 72 degrees Celsius, while the motherboard's is 60
\ndegrees.<\/p>\n
The bottom line is by using the right motherboard, we can save
\na little by buying a less expensive processor and forcing it to
\nrun faster.<\/p>\n
However, you will also need the right case -- one with really
\ngood ventilation -- to prevent the motherboard and CPU from
\noverheating. Overheating will not only cause the system to
\nfreeze, it can also damage it.<\/p>\n
What's next?<\/p>\n
What else is there to add? ASUSTeK has an interesting add-on
\nfeature for the front panel of the CPU. It has several buttons
\nthat can be programmed to invoke a browser, an e-mail client,
\netc. It also adds two more USB ports in front, which are useful
\nfor connecting a digital camera and a PDA, like Compaq's iPaq
\nPocket PC.<\/p>\n
A version of this panel, which ASUSTeK calls the iPanel, has
\nthree audio ports. With this type of iPanel, we no longer have to
\nreach to the back of the CPU to connect a headset if we want to
\nuse a voice-recognition program or communicate by PC telephony.<\/p>\n
Once again I will have to wait as Alfredo does not have the
\niPanel available at this point.<\/p>\n
I will probably go for Plextor's PlexWriter 12x10x32X CD-
\nWriter, which Raymond recommended in his e-mail. Several web
\neditors have been speaking highly of it as well.
\n(zatni@cbn.net.id)<\/p>",
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