Aftermarket coolers for Sandy?

kcjay

n00b
Joined
Dec 9, 2006
Messages
26
I thought I read that socket 1155 from a cooling mount standpoint would be no different than 1156. Is this true? If so, what heatsink/fan combos do you guys plan on going with? I've been out of the game of building pcs for a bit, so I haven't kept up with this stuff.
 
The same coolers that work with 1156 will work with 1155. The hole placement in exactly the same.
 
The same coolers that work with 1156 will work with 1155. The hole placement in exactly the same.

Yeah that was nice of Intel not to screw us on that. I have an Noctua NH-U12P SE2 and I would be very upset if I had to get new brackets. I've seen plenty of other people saying similar with V8s and Megahelms.
 
Wow... that's one hell of a cooler. Looks to be the best out there for an OC'd i7.

Both the Noctua NH-D14 and Silver Arrow are better, IMO. They also appear similarly price.

Beware frosty tech's charts. The Zalman may appear quieter, but it's actually louder once you turn up the fans to get performance close to the silver arrow and noctua coolers. FT gives you so much data (which I actually like) that it can be easy to misread and think a cooler is better performing than it is.
 
Amazon.com has the Corsair A70 for $46 - $15MIR right now. So I ordered one of those.

Warning: it's big. Don't order this for a compact case.
 
Anyone have an 1156 Bracket for a CoolerMaster V8 they'd sell? Mine either didn't come with one since I bought it so long ago or I've misplaced it. I'd pay, say, $8 shipped?

Send me a PM!
 
do you really need high end aftermarket cooler for sb? i don't exactly remember but i've read article somewhere that some $30 aftermarket cooler was keeping it really cool @ 4.5 + ghz
if i'm wrong n/m
 
EDIT: i don't vouch for the legitimacy of this article. also i have no idea what TJmax for the chip is, or whether or not the processor was under load at these settings.

interesting read here: Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs Chill Aftermarket Cooling

apparently the Cooler Master Hyper TX3 ($20 on Amazon right now) is sufficient for cooling an i7-2600K at 5.2 GHz.

for some reason i'm unable to link to the benchmark reviews website. Here's the quoted article:

Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs Chill Aftermarket Cooling
Purchase the World's Best CPU Coolers at FrozenCPUIntel's cool-running Sandy Bridge processor architecture could mean the end for aftermarket cooling manufacturers.

There's a lot to like about Intel's new Sandy Bridge desktop processor architecture, from eight-way independent processing threads, to Turbo Boost 2.0 and a shared 8MB Smart Cache, to an improved AES-NI that dramatically better encryption/decryption. Those are all great things, but have little to do with most hardware enthusiasts. Sandy Bridge is the most efficient processor Intel has ever sold, allowing compute performance to set new standards while it overclocks beyond 5 GHz before warming up. Benchmark Reviews will separately publish our results of the Intel Core i7-2600K and Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge CPUs, but in this article we look at the unexpected consequences of a truly modern processor and how it might mean the end for the aftermarket cooling industry.

Intel's Core-i3/i5/i7 Sandy Bridge processors deliver a winning combination for overclockers, which is why world record benchmark scores will be set and broken in rapid fire succession. I've seen the possibilities first hand: at a recent ASUS technology summit to learn more about their upcoming features and technology launching with the P67-Express motherboard series, I was able to participate in the overclocking of a new Sandy Bridge processor. While Intel had undoubtedly hand-selected the processors for this event, there was something that couldn't be faked: cold operation. Watching the processor reach beyond the 5 GHz mark was impressive, but what punctuated this achievement was how cool the CPU ran while being extremely over-volted. The i7-2600K I worked with managed to skip past 5.2 GHz while pushing a mere 68°C. I'm sure you're wondering what cooler kept this processor running so cool, and here's the shocker: it was a 92mm Cooler Master Hyper TX3.

You read that correctly. This little $26 heatsink used three skinny heat-pipe rods and an Intel push-pin mounting system to tame an overclocked 5.2 GHz CPU to 68°C. It didn't require a ProlimaTech Megahalems or Thermalright Venomous-X, and even our beloved Scythe Mugen-2 would have been wasted on this effort. I think you get my point: it was the lowest possible denominator on the aftermarket cooling scale, and most impressive overclock could be done without all of the extra heat-pipes and copper fins. It's also why there may now be an entire industry poised to collapse as a direct result.

Aftermarket cooling was an industry born from demand, and it goes way back to the year 2000 when Intel Pentium 4 and AMD Thunderbird processors roamed the Earth. It didn't take extra voltage or any overclocking for these CPUs to reach 70°C, usually all that was needed was the push of the power button. Being the feeble (but unlocked) processors that they were, overclockers seized on the opportunity to squeeze more performance out of them. It didn't take much effort back then, and so long as you knew how to raise a front size bus and multiplier you could be setting world records... so long as your system didn't melt down first. Somehow enthusiasts survived the age of solid brick-shaped heatsinks with a noisy 80mm fan screaming on top. It wouldn't be until 2006 that enthusiasts could enjoy the wonderment of modern heat-pipe technology, and the extreme temperatures of the Pentium-D processors for this period could be contained.

But that's when the desktop CPU industry slowly began to change. The dual-core Intel Pentium-D was arguably one of the hottest-running processors ever produced, followed closely by the molten Pentium 4 HT processors that were still being sold. It wasn't until Intel's Core 2 brand made its debut later into 2006 that CPU operating temperatures would once again be considered reasonable. Of course, around this time the quad core Intel Core 2 Quad would be announced and further extend the need for aftermarket cooling on desktop computers. This was followed by the launch of Intel's Core-i7 enthusiast processor on November 2008, which maintained modest operating temperatures that still called out for better cooling, but added strain to aftermarket cooling manufacturers by once again changing the mounting socket.

I've illustrated how CPU operating temperatures peaked in 2000 with blistering hot P4's, only to see small improvements and cooler performance with each successive product series. After the 45nm Core-i7 Nehalem architecture was tick-tocked by Intel's 32nm Westmere, things began to change and soon the operating temperatures were at their coolest in years. Then came Sandy Bridge, and made it so that the idle operating temperature was virtually the same as ambient room temperatures. Even under normal load, the new 32nm Sandy Bridge CPUs proved that wafer-thin stock coolers could keep a handle on heat. Up to this point the message has been that cooler CPUs are killing the aftermarket, but there have actually been two factors helping to destroy margins for heatsink manufacturers.

Sockets are the problem, and they continue to change faster than manufacturers can break-even from tooling up the previous design. Without going back too far into the history of desktop processors, we'll take a look at the past ten years. Starting with Intel, we begin with Socket 423 for the Pentium 4 processor. This was a short-lived socket that was quickly replaced with Socket 478 less than a year later, yielding an interface that actually lasted a few years. In 2004 the Socket-T design was released, more popularly known as LGA 775. Nehalem processors brought LGA 1366 (Socket B) to market in 2008, and then Westmere delivered LGA 1156 (Socket H) late into 2009. Now we have LGA 1155 (Socket H2) for Sandy Bridge, and thankfully it re-uses the mounting holes for LGA 1156. On the AMD side the evolution of sockets is more tolerable: Socket A (aka Socket 462) covered 2000 through 2003, when AMD launched Socket 754 for the Athlon 64 series. Socket 939 became available in June 2004, and was replaced by Socket AM2 in 2006. The good news here is that AMD's subsequent Socket AM2+ and AM3 have used the same cooler mounting positions.

Nine different mounting design changes over the past decade might sound like only one per year, but AMD and Intel seldom match their platform release dates. This adds tremendous strain on an industry already suffering from relatively low profit margin, and forces manufacturers to design and re-tool their production lines with each new change. This used to be a cost to doing business, but then sales began to decline as processors became more efficient and thermally responsible. Now each mounting change amounts to little or no return on the investment. As the desktop computer industry begins a fresh start into 2011, I find myself curiously concerned for aftermarket cooling manufacturers. When heatsink sales dry up and profits disappear, it's not long until product development comes to a halt. Just like anyone who made RAM-sinks and Northbridge coolers a few years ago, soon the day will come when CPU coolers are also an unnecessary product line. Could Intel's cool-running Sandy Bridge processor architecture mean the end for the aftermarket cooling industry?
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
do you really need high end aftermarket cooler for sb? i don't exactly remember but i've read article somewhere that some $30 aftermarket cooler was keeping it really cool @ 4.5 + ghz
if i'm wrong n/m

It really depends on what people are doing. Yes there are a few good $30-$50 dollar coolers. But working on a quad core over clocked to 4.5Ghz is another story. I plan to over clock to somewhere between 3.8ghz - 4.2ghz. I also have a HAF 932 that's a well ventilated case. Not all cases are well ventilated, in fact it's common for average people. On top of that some of us live in places that have hot climate. If I did a couple hour gaming session on my PC in my bedroom during the summer without AC I'd burn it out.

There are a lot of reasons for big CPU coolers. The best is a cool CPU is an efficient CPU with a long life span.
 
Last edited:
I also chose the Silver Arrow because I want to try to keep my pc quiet, not totally silent, but within a reasonable level.
 
Sandy bridge uses very little power. Even at 1.5V a $30 tower cooler will keep it under 70C.
 
I really like the Tt V1 Copper I have. Initially it was installed on a LGA 1156 i7 860, then i7 920 and now i7 950. I bought a second one for my X6 1055t. Gonna keep it for SB/IB. It's universal* and fits everything. http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1148&ID=1548

*Some of the old units don't have the universal LGA 1156/1366 bracket. There's a cheap kit available for those. The first one I bought made before LGA 1156 lacked it, the one purchased later had it.
 
there a lot of reason to go with something cheaper, Dark_Shroud pointed out some good reasons not to, but to each their own. If your pc is in your basement and the temperature never goes above 80F, then you have a great reason to go with a cheap heatsink.

But just in case, here are some reasons I like the Noctua products
1) They come with a good thermal compound, so you don't need to buy arctic silver. Most other companies use a cheaper grease.
2) Most come with 2 fans that each cost 15-20 bucks a piece. So right there, you "save" some money. You can move these fans around in your case.
3) These things are quite.... My HD makes makes more noise.
 
there a lot of reason to go with something cheaper, Dark_Shroud pointed out some good reasons not to, but to each their own. If your pc is in your basement and the temperature never goes above 80F, then you have a great reason to go with a cheap heatsink.

But just in case, here are some reasons I like the Noctua products
1) They come with a good thermal compound, so you don't need to buy arctic silver. Most other companies use a cheaper grease.
2) Most come with 2 fans that each cost 15-20 bucks a piece. So right there, you "save" some money. You can move these fans around in your case.
3) These things are quite.... My HD makes makes more noise.

Yeah, my house is like 68F year round... another reason I didn't see the point in spending $60+ on a hsf.
 
The other option of course is spending $20 on $60 HSF. I got both of my V1s for $20 or less. :p
 
I'm going with a corsair h70, plan on keeping the 2600k stable at 4.6+~Ghz daily.
 
I got my Noctua NH-U12P SE2 for $66 shipped and I used gift money to pay for it. Two top quality fans, great TIM, all the brackets I needed. I wanted a Megahelms but I just couldn't justify the price in anyway. I actually use the stock heat sinks most of the time if I'm when I'm able to get away with it.

I like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus, I usually try to go with this if the stock heat sink won't cut it. Otherwise I'm a Noctua fan all the way.
 
I picked up a Cooler Master Hyper 212 on BF for 15, but have since changed purchased the XSPC Rasa 360 kit.
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...Water_Cooling_Kit_Hot_Item.html?tl=g30c83s137
There is also a 240 version.
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...al_CPU_Water_Cooling_Kit_Hot_Item.html?tl=g30

In my opinion if you are going to spend more than the $30 a Hyper 212 commands, you may as well pick up the full WC loop. It will end up being much more flexible and higher performing than the $60-$100 you spend on high end air or H50/H70.
 
In my opinion if you are going to spend more than the $30 a Hyper 212 commands, you may as well pick up the full WC loop. It will end up being much more flexible and higher performing than the $60-$100 you spend on high end air or H50/H70.


If the $60~100 dollar coolers are a waste, then the full water cooling systems are even a bigger waste.
 
If the $60~100 dollar coolers are a waste, then the full water cooling systems are even a bigger waste.

I'm talking performance per dollar. A push/pull hyper is going to come within a few degrees of a top end aircooler or H70. If you step up to a WC loop however, you will get significantly lower temperatures and the added flexibility of gpu cooling.
 
I'm talking performance per dollar. A push/pull hyper is going to come within a few degrees of a top end aircooler or H70. If you step up to a WC loop however, you will get significantly lower temperatures and the added flexibility of gpu cooling.

Having had both, I wish I'd taken more screenshots - but I on my Phenom at home a Hyper 212+ with push/pull scythe medium speed slipstreams was within 1-2 degrees C of an H70 with the same setup.

I think a Hyper 212+ will be more than enough for SB.
 
Having had both, I wish I'd taken more screenshots - but I on my Phenom at home a Hyper 212+ with push/pull scythe medium speed slipstreams was within 1-2 degrees C of an H70 with the same setup.

I think a Hyper 212+ will be more than enough for SB.

Absolutely, I agree that the Hyper is more than enough for all but the most extreme OC's on SB. I was just pointing out that because the Hyper is so cheap, there is really no point in spending cash on the real expensive units like the TRUE or H70 when real watercooling is so close in price to those high end units and would give a much better return on investment.
 
Only thing about the Hyper 212+ is the (in my own opinion) horrible installation instructions. Works once you figure out how all the pieces fit together though.
 
Unless you're going for big overclocks, aftermarket coolers may not even be necessary.

Buyers should be aware that the K versions of the 2500 and 2600 come with a tower cooler that looks to be much more adequate than Intel's usual fare and can be switched to quiet mode:

http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Intel-Core-i72600K-and-i52500K-Processors-Debut/?page=7

I was going to be shopping for an aftermarket cooler to make sure it was quiet, but now I won't even bother.

Edit: read the following posts - it appears that this is a misunderstanding, and that retail 2500K and 2600K CPUs are shipping with the low-profile cooler instead of the tower cooler.
 
Last edited:
Only thing about the Hyper 212+ is the (in my own opinion) horrible installation instructions. Works once you figure out how all the pieces fit together though.

There is a video you can watch that apparently makes it a breeze.
 
Unless you're going for big overclocks, aftermarket coolers may not even be necessary.

Buyers should be aware that the K versions of the 2500 and 2600 come with a tower cooler that looks to be much more adequate than Intel's usual fare and can be switched to quiet mode:

http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Intel-Core-i72600K-and-i52500K-Processors-Debut/?page=7

I was going to be shopping for an aftermarket cooler to make sure it was quiet, but now I won't even bother.

Yep they got to 4.4ghz or so with low 70's load temps with the stock cooler, seen similar results elsewhere too :eek: . Honestly I'd buy a $20-30 aftermarket and call it a day, something like the Xigmatek S1283 that I have comes within 2c of a Thermalright TRUE and 4c of a Prolimatech Megahalems anyway for 1/3-1/2 the cost, more than enough for the 5ghz+ oc's people are getting with low temps still.
 
Unless you're going for big overclocks, aftermarket coolers may not even be necessary.

Buyers should be aware that the K versions of the 2500 and 2600 come with a tower cooler that looks to be much more adequate than Intel's usual fare and can be switched to quiet mode:

http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Intel-Core-i72600K-and-i52500K-Processors-Debut/?page=7

I was going to be shopping for an aftermarket cooler to make sure it was quiet, but now I won't even bother.

Not sure this is entirely true. My 2600K came with the basic, low profile circular cooler. I have not seen one with the tower design, unless it's a later SKU or something.
 
Armpit - you should look into this, I have read that the 2600k (not the 2500K) comes with the tower cooler.
 
Armpit - you should look into this, I have read that the 2600k (not the 2500K) comes with the tower cooler.

The chip and packaging is genuine and not tampered with so I'm pretty sure the retail cooler is the dinky low profile one. I think some reviewers (or all) got the tower cooler with their chips because the chips themselves came without any cooler and were not retail packagings. I may be wrong on this, and if I got shafted on the cooler I'll be annoyed.
 
You weren't shafted. My 2600K only came with the stock small cooler as well.

In regards to this thread, I'll be using the Ven-X I just pulled off of my current E8400 build for my 2600K... I bought a Hyper 212+ to replace it in the meantime as I plan to keep the comp around.
 
Kyle did say that both his 980X and the 2600K came with a tower.... So something is up. And anadtech also said that the tower is included in the 2600k... I think it's worth finding out what the deal is.
 
Back
Top