Sata Mobo

[Jc Hawk]

I have a Gigabyte Ga-K8NSC Mobo. I got it for it's Sata ability. My question is do most newer Mobo's that have the Sata ability have ATA or Pata abilities through the IDE ports as well? Just wondering if I can use an ultra ata, or other format in the meantime untill I get my Sata hd.

My guess is it may depend on the Mobo or that a board advertised as Sata is Sata only. On the other hand, since Sata is the newer technology that most Mobo's with it are backwards compatable.

Thanks for responding to the noob question.

 

[interchange]

Yes. They support both.

 

[Jc Hawk]

TY Interchange !!!


I do have another question regarding thermal paste. I bought an a64 3000+ that I plan to OC in the future. Given the fact that I plan to OC does that change the thermal paste requirement. Do I want a higher quality paste? Stock HSF.

 

[Cheezeit]

What paste do you have? If you even bought somethng better than stock, it will be better

 

[Jc Hawk]

Oddly the CPU/HSF didn't come with any paste at all. On the bottom of the HSF there is a grey pad but that's it. I bought some lower end Artic Silver. 5.99 NE

 

[Cheezeit]

Originally posted by: Jc Hawk
Oddly the CPU/HSF didn't come with any paste at all. On the bottom of the HSF there is a grey pad but that's it. I bought some lower end Artic Silver. 5.99 NE

You're such a newb!

that "grey pad" is a thermal pad and does the same thing paste does.

 

[Jc Hawk]

Yes! I am a self admitted noob. But with time and a little love from the great posters here at Anandtech I hope to change that.

I have a question about that grey pad... Would one advise against putting any thermal paste on the cpu with the thermal pad? If so why?

 

[Traire]

Absolutely not! Never put thermal paste on top of an existing pad.

To be 100% honest, unless your doing some serious overclocking, the thermal pad on the heatsink will work just fine.

If you want to use something else, scrape off the thermal pad and clean the bottom of the heatsink as best you can. Then when you put your thermal past on, you want to make sure you use as little as you can. You want the layer between the cpu and heatsink to be as thin as possible. Different people will tell you to use different techniques. Some will tell you to spread the paste evenly with a credit card or something similar. Others will tell you to just put a very small dab in the center and thengently press the heatsink down onto the cpu and let the force of the locking mechanism spread the paste out.

If you put too much paste on, you will defeat the purpose of using the paste and you will have much higher cpu temps.

 

[Jakebrake]

You should remove the thermal pad if you want to use thermal paste (there are solvents designed to help you remove the pad, I would not recommend just ripping it off). And if you plan to OC you should get a better HSF than the stock fan.

 

[Jc Hawk]

Thanks for the info so far..... I do plan to OC, however, not right away. Within a month or so I will once I feel I have the knowledge understood. I was under the impression with the A64 Venice cores stock HSF will work just fine up to a certian point. Wether the stock HSF will work or not I know Ill be OCing and make the nessicary adjustments as needed. With that said I think I will be applying the thermal paste.


Thanks for the info.

I forgot to mention the CPU its a A64 3000+ Venice

 

[imported_rod]

I would just use the thermal pad for now. If you get another heatsink (like the XP-90) use the thermal paste, but the thermal pad on the stock HSF works great on my winchester. Idles at 30C when the ambient is 25C.

RoD

 

[Jc Hawk]

I found a great site that shows how to apply the very kind of compound I have. I have read from many forums that the pad might not be the best idea for OC'ers. First and foremost is the pad itself melting and resolidifing upon cooling. When it melts I have read that it fills the microscopic holes on the CPU that are needed to dicipate heat. If I want to change to a thermal compound later I won't be able to get the melted substance from the pad out of the mocroscopic holes on the CPU's metal finish. Having both on the cpu will hinder heat dicipation. Your thoughts ?