Using CPU Fan from 2.4GHz on 3GHz CPU - safe?

[real_ki]

Hi.
I posted before about my computer needing a warm up else it reboots and etc... and it was decided that it's a mobo problem. Thank you all for the help on that...

So, I've ordered a P4 motherboard which supports upto P4-3.4GHz processor and 800MHz FSB. Then I thought.. hmm.. I might as well spend another $15 or so to get a bit faster processor (P4-3GHz) because with the 2.4GHz playing some movie file was bit choppy and I know 3GHz would play fine since that's what my other desktop has and it plays fine.

The 2.4GHz processor had the heatsink and fan from Intel(the one that came with processor). And my question is... would it be safe to use that fan from 2.4GHz processor on 3GHz processor?

Another way to ask this is... Are the heatsinks and fans that come with Intel Pentium 4 processors designed for that particular processor's speed? Or do they use the same heatsinks and fans for all their P4 processors?

I probably should spend another $20 some bucks on a new fan and better thermal paste, but I'm trying to minimize any additional cost on this machine...

Hopefully I get a response saying "It's safe".

Thanks!

[Fruss Tray Ted]

I would try it but I would first go into BIOS and watch the temps for a bit. If OK there, I would boot into Windows and watch the temps with some utility such as Sisoft Sandra or other temperature monitoring programs.

I think it will be fine but you`d be best to approach it with caution as I mentioned above.

[real_ki]

Well... I tried with a cheap thermal paste (suppose to be made by Antec, but a Silicone paste). According to Intel, the maximum temperature my processor can handle is 69.1C. Well, with the existing fan and this cheap thermal paste, it stayed around 60C idle and easily climed up to 68, 69C and once in a while it jumped up to 71C. It scared me a bit so I ordered one of the Rosewill fans which I use in my other PC along with one of the better reviewed Tuniq TX-2 thermal paste, and put the old CPU back in till they arrived.

With the new fan and better thermal paste, my CPU is now staying between 40s and 50s (whether CPU is idle or in high use).

One thing I noticed and should have known... is that the existing fan had this thermal tape which I initially though was part of Intel's heatsink... but I think it was a thermal tape that I should have taken out before applying the cheap thermal paste and probably would have gotten a better result than what I originally had.. and perhaps that might have been good enough, but since I ordered a new set and didn't bother to try that. But if one of my heatsink fans go bad, I will give this a shot and see how that goes...

So to answer my own question... like Ted mentioned... give it a try and check the temperature. But it will be worth while to get a new heatsink, fan and good thermal paste for long term investment.

Thank you for your suggestion, Ted.