The CPU Cooling + RAM - make it boot!

One of the biggest noise maker in a PC is the CPU cooler if it is a normal one. Generally it runs around 1000-2000 RPMs or more depending on the CPU's temperature. (The other one is used to be the ventilation of the PSU which is now eliminated by chosing the fanless PSU FSP Zen 300W. I hope you can find one such PSU in your country too.)

Now that I have bought the CPU (AMD64 X2 4200+) I can calculate based on it and plan what kind of CPU cooling to buy. Considering that dual core AMD's recommended maximum operational temperature is around 65 Celsius degress it's not an easy task to complete. Looking around on the network for reviews on silent CPU coolers available at my local hw stores I've found this review about some of the passive CPU coolers. I've found some others as well that convinced me that I should go with Thermaltake Sonic Tower revision 2 (that can handle 4 different CPU slots, luckily the AM2 too). Reviewed as an excellent heat sucker I purchased one for around 8000 HUFs (~$38). Now it's time to put together those nice things: case + PSU + CPU + passive cooler!

It wasn't a big thing, I had to swap the original plastic base with the newly provided and fix the cooler onto it, after putting the CPU into place. Note that there's an option to add a 12cm ventilator onto the cooler with some brackets and a little piece of metal provided within the package of the cooler. The PSU unfortunately didn't fit into the house so I have to put it into another corner of the case. Not nice, but working properly. :-)


Yes, after that I added 2x1GB of Kingmax 800MHz DDR2 RAM to the system, dual channeled... (256MByte given to the shared memory of the video card)... oh, push the button, and yes! The system boots and starts! But what the hell? I cannot hear any sound except the nonexistent click of the monitor turning on! :-) Yes, that's very nice, I thought...