"Extreme" Consumer-Friendly CPU Heatsinks/Waterblocks?

Cerulean

Cerulean

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
9,476
A thought hit me: what are or is the best heatsink for CPUs? How about water blocks?

The reason I'm curious is because I've never really seen/found/figured this out. I browse through these forums and I see people suggest all these high-end heatsink coolers for video cards and CPUs -- but which one is really the best?

The same for water blocks (mainly since this specific item is usually forgotten/not talked about).
 
The Thermalright IFX-14 is the absolute best CPU heatsink there is right now.
 
That's sort of a tough question to answer. Even tech sites dispute this. I mean, MaximumPC loves Zalman's CNPS 9300AT, Frosty Tech is hot (no pun intended) for Sunbeam's Core Contact Freezer, SilentPCReview is gaga over Thermalright's HR-01 Plus.... See my point? From what I've seen, and just speaking strictly temps here, Thermalright's Ultra 120 Extreme or IFX-14 will be best, but you'll get within 1c of them with Xigmatek's HDT-S1283/s1284 coolers. Zalman's CNPS 9700, Enzotech's UltraX 120, Arctic Cooling's Freezer Xtreme, Tuniq Tower 120... all great coolers. It really depends on many other factors.
 
I suggest you do what most of us do, stop looking in the forums and go the the technical sites that review the heatsinks and investigate. Take everything with a grain of salt, scrutinize the testing methods and procedures of the results, mix in personal experience and come to your own conclusion.
 
BillParrish said:
I suggest you do what most of us do, stop looking in the forums and go the the technical sites that review the heatsinks and investigate. Take everything with a grain of salt, scrutinize the testing methods and procedures of the results, mix in personal experience and come to your own conclusion.
Click to expand...


i agree with ^^^^ him.. thats basicly what i did with mine.. which is how i came to choose my big typhoon VX over the Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120.. only a 3C difference in load temps in the reviews.. since i had a cpu that i couldnt overclock anyways.. the 3c difference ment nothing to me..

ya have to look at everything you plan to do.. if your going to overclock or not.. what temp ranges are you looking for.. how often your cpu is actually under high load.. things like that.. no sense in buying a huge expensive heatsink if your cpu will only hit 100% usage maybe once or twice a day.. also need to take into consideration if you want something silent.. or quiet enough that it wont drive you insane..
 
Wolf-R1 said:
I love it when people post crap without citing resources or proof. While it's fairly undisputed as to the validity of the Ultra 120 Extreme it would still be nice to have solid numbers to back things up.
Click to expand...

The OP didn't ask for proof. He asked what the best heatsink is, which is what I told him. Since you have such a problem with my comment though, here's some facts to back up what I said:
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=556&pageid=4
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=485&type=expert&pid=5
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=5&artpage=3204&articID=673
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/thermalright-ifx14_10.html#sect0
 
I don't see why he got so raged at you lost, it's not like you said it's hands down the greatest air cooler ever made, you just said it's awesome, which everyone already knows that...
 
Wolf-R1 said:
I love it when people post crap without citing resources or proof. While it's fairly undisputed as to the validity of the Ultra 120 Extreme it would still be nice to have solid numbers to back things up.
Click to expand...

Hey, guess what. The sky is blue...oh shit...wait...I don't have pics...nvm...:rolleyes:
 
Part of the issue is people have different opinions about what is best.

Best can = best performance with a screamer fan
Best can = best performance with a quiet fan
Best can = best performance with a stock fan
Best can = best performance for their budget
Best can = best performance for their space constraints
Best can = best performance for 40W C2Ds
Best can = best performance for 140W Phenoms

All of these change what might be the best. Couple that with the fact that the shape of the heatspreader on your specific CPU vs. the shape of the base of the HSF may change rankings some and the fact that reviews typically have less than 1C seperating 1st and 3rd and the actual ranking doesn't matter too much among the top contenders.

TRUE always scores well (and tends to like high flow / noisy fans)
Scythe ninja / TR HR01 like low speed / quite fans with their wide fin spacing.
HDC coolers like core contact and S1283 / S1284 always score well

Which is the best? Pretty much whichever fits your case airflow, noise profile, and pocketbook best.

Don't agonize over the decision. All the top contenders are so close to each other that it's not like your computer will explode if you pick the "wrong one".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top