hi, I have a problem with my heatsink and fan, and I was told to replace them. I need to know: Firstly, which heatsink and fan to buy? P4 1.9GHz 60GB HD 512MB RD RAM GeForce 3 GC Those are my specs, now I need to know which heatsink and fan to buy, which would keep my CPU at low temps, but not make too much noise. Also, I need to know how to install a heatsink and fan. Will it be easy? Or is it hard to do and should I take it to the shop to let someone who knows how to do it. I would, if someone can explain it to me, prefer to do it myself, as I don't particularly want to spend more money on someone doing it for me.

oops..in the CPU/Ram box i put 256..it should be 512

Can you explain what the problem is? The only thing that can go wrong (other than a bad installation) is that the fan can go bad. If that's the case, all you'd really have to do is replace the fan...& if you're careful, you can probably do it without removing the heatsink from the CPU. The fan is held on with 4 screws. If you wanna replace the whole unit, there are quite a number to choose from...it depends on how much you wanna spend. Try searching at Newegg.com

instructions here: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,751531,00.asp Like jam said you may not need to do this at all. Maybe just a new fan. low temps and high noise go together but the heavier the sink and larger the fan the better your temp/noise ratio. But unless you overclock there is no reason to go for super temps. Here is a quiet p4 cooler that's a good price. http://www.svc.com/arcoolsupsil1.html http://www.silentpcreview.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=94&page=1

ok, well this is what the problem is: once every couple of times i turn my pc on, my fan makes a REALLY loud noise (about 3/4 times its normal noise) and i asked a few people who know about it more than me and they told me to replace it. one of them told me that I had to replace the whole unit, and not just the fan. your advice?

something about the fan being a whole unit with the heatsink and that they had to come off together. he said that it was prolly cos of dust inside the unit and they both had to be replaced? help?

just take the cover off your case and see if there are 4 screws on the fan (there usually are) that you can unscrew to take the fan off. Also note where the fan plug is plugged in when you take it off. Then take the fan down to any computer store and but one that has the same screw holes (most are the same) and a plug that looks like yours. And you might as well dust off the heatsink after taking the fan off.