Rekiwi's Blog

I built a computer a couple years ago.

CompReal made me do it. He said it would be easy and it was.

With my company paying 50%, I decided to kit together an upper-midrange system. It's been fast and, despite some Vista pains, fairly reliable.

But the CPU with OEM cooler was pain from day one. It rattled and hummed. Because I was ignorant and unwilling to spend any more money, I fashioned a couple of high-tech shims from a cereal box and wedged the damned heatsink fan quiet.

About two years later, most of the technology in my box had hit the hardware price trough. 4GB of low-latency RAM for $22? I can't pass that up.

While installing the new RAM, I stupidly wiggled one of my cardboard shims. The CPU cooler fan started buzzing and rattling again. Time to replace the damned thing. Who can pass up a deal on an "ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler"? I mean, it's huge, solid copper, sports big ol' heat pipes, and it's "Pro". Dude. And if I'm going through the trouble of replacing the fan, why not just swap out the CPU for a faster model with a later-generation, more efficient core?

So now, after using my air compressor to blast out great gouts of dust and a brief dance with a modern zero-insertion-force socket, I've got a faster, quieter computer.

Yay.