I just upgraded my CPU to a Q6600 that I had laying about. What I need help with is finding an adequate cooling solution for this. I've read that others are using quad core CPUs and would like to know what they are using for cooling.

Thanks

There is not all that much you can do to improve the cooling of the processor itself due to the custom heat sink and space limitations.

Recently forum member Eidos found a way to add a fan on top of his Heat Skink. The link below will show you what he did and what results he achieved.

http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2010/09 ... rt-server/

As you know the CPU cooling is a passive cooling system which has been the case since the introduction of the EX47x Series MSS. Some users have used the FAN headers on the front of the motherboards to install an additional fan in the front to help improve air flow. Others have installed fans in various locations of their servers and have written about what they have done in the forums.

By far the best thing you can do is place the server in an area where the ambiant temperature is more favorable and does not restrict air flow. If heat is a concern you may opt to place a small fan in front of the server to help introduce additional air into the server.

Keep in mind that additional air flow also increases dust build up which also creates heat so if you are in a dusty area then you will have to blow out your server more frequently.

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With no disrespect intended, if you wish to run a quad-core CPU, you will experience cooler temperatures with a 45nm Yorkfield-core quad instead of the 65nm Kentsfield-core one you are using now.

If you have no need of hardware virtualization, going with a Q8200 should be a good bet. The budget models (Q8200, 8300, 8400) have less L2 cache, and should run a little cooler than the mid-or-high-end Yorkfields as a result, and they will definitely run cooler than your Q6600. Alternately, you could go with the middle route, a Q9300 or Q9400, with 6MB of L2 instead of 4MB, or the high-end, a Q9450, 9550, or 9650 with 12MB of L2. The high-end processors not only cost much more, but are unlikely to give you a lot more performance for what a Mediasmart server normally does.

Yorkfield-core quads also support SSE4.1 instructions, so with if you are encoding video with your Mediasmart server (and using an SSE4-optimized encoder) you could see performance gains of 20% over an SSE3 quad-core.

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