Good $40 CPU cooler for an AMD X2?

[InorganicMatter]

On Tigerdirect, the 4200+ OEM is $520, but the retail is $560. I figure the $40 difference should be enough to get a heatsink much better than the stock one. I may do a small ammount of overclocking, but it will mainly be for a learning experience (I have never OC'd before, so I figured I might play around with it a bit). Quiet is good, but I'm not one of the hyper kind that demand absolute silence. I heard good things about the Zalman 7700 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118114), but the price is over $40 after the $6 shipping (robbery...$6 to ship a HEATSINK? :eek: ). What HSF is a good choice?

[aZn_plyR]

xp-90 for 25 bucks and a fan of ur choice...if ya dont care about noise..tornado...or a panaflo or sunon fan ...etcetc.. will be better than the stock one too.

[InorganicMatter]

XP-90 is the same price as the Zalman 7700, not to mention that the XP-90 doesn't have a fan, while the Zalman does. Any other ideas?

[Laplacian]

As I've mentioned in other threads, I have a 7700AlCu (with AS5) on a P4 640 LGA775 and I am not too happy with it. It only brought down my temps 1-2 degrees C at most and seems to be just as noisy as the stock Intel HSF (with the fan at ~1900rpm). My temps are fine (~57 C load), but I really wanted to overclock a little--I guess I can't do that now. Not happy at all with this thing. I am starting to think that maybe the stock Intel HSF is not so bad. Not sure about the stock AMD cooler.

EDIT: If you decide to get the Zalman anyway, I got mine from amazon.com for $33, free shipping. It takes a week, though.

[(cf)Eclipse]

stock is pretty good, but not great. my vote goes to the xp-90 or xp-90c

[mikelz85]

As far as the shipping goes, yeah it sucks, but it's standard fare (includes handling) IMO, as a heavy heatsink should cost around $4 to ship (at least USPS priority). Given that this is a dual core CPU, won't the cooling requirements be VERY high (dual cpu setup would have had 2 hsf units, now only one for the same/similar heat output)? I'd say a XP90 along with a panaflo would be a good bet, not sure about overclocking though, as I haven't seen any pics of the retail box hsf, which would be a good reference point. If your board can fit a XP120, I'd go with that as it will be cooler/quieter (though more money, but it is a $500+ cpu).

[sipher]

I actually got an xp120 for $42 not too long ago. I would say find an xp90 for $25 or so. With shipping and fan will probably be around $40.

[Peepaw]

Another vote here for the xp90. I just finished installing one on my P4 setup and it dropped the load temps by 6c, idle temps dropped by 4c. This is a fresh install of AC5 and may get a little better over the next couple of weeks.
Temps with stock hs were 32c at idle and 44c load.
Temps with xp90 and a 92mm Panaflo fan 28c idle and 38c load.
P4 3.2c@3.6

[RawsonDR]

xp90 25 dollars (http://store.yahoo.com/svcompucycle/xp-90-21.html)

Pick a fan to go with it and order.

[pigpen]

On Tigerdirect, the 4200+ OEM is $520, but the retail is $560. I figure the $40 difference should be enough to get a heatsink much better than the stock one.

What's the difference in warranty period though? I think that if you're already willing to pay $500+ for a CPU, the extra $40 is peanuts if it means an extra couple years of warranty.

[Peepaw]

Jab-tech.com also has it for $24.95 (xp90)

[aZn_plyR]

xp90 25 dollars (http://store.yahoo.com/svcompucycle/xp-90-21.html)

Pick a fan to go with it and order.

yah I forgot to mention it cost 25 bucks, about half as much as te zalman :)

[mikelz85]

What's the difference in warranty period though? I think that if you're already willing to pay $500+ for a CPU, the extra $40 is peanuts if it means an extra couple years of warranty.
My opinion exactly, not to say picking a cooler isn't fun, but I'd even consider buying an aftermarket cooler and the retail box just for the warranty given the cost of the chip, and the high risk part that it is (unlike buying an extended warranty on a fridge from best buy or something).

[Eric1285]

$6 to ship a heatsink is a steal. I shipped a thermalright SLK900A the other day and it cost me nearly $10 for ground shipping!

[aZn_plyR]

I agree...it's only 6 bucks :) I thought retail vs oem was like 20 bucks diff...but anyways..if it's only6 bucks..get that and then toss an xp-90 on tehre and a new fan..