GUIDE: Air-cooling for CPUs, GPUs, and just about everyone of you

I just purchased and installed the Coolermaster Hyper 212 and so far its a nice budget cooler for my OC'ed e6750. (running 3.4 on air from stock 2.66) 830 case with 3 of the 120mm fans in the side panel, 1 120 on top, 1 120 out the back, and 2 on the front for my to 4:3 modules. The rig has 8 HD's, and 2 optical drives and running sli 8800GTS cards. B4 the cooler with the stock intel i was getting between 45-50 idle, and mid/high 50s full load.

after hyper 212 install idle is low 30's and at full load high 30s. I'm really impressed with this cheaply priced cooler, now my only question is...where can i find the fan that is installed on the cooler? I would love to buy several to make all of the case fans match the awesome 120mm black / neon blue lit fan that came on the cooler.

Nate
 
I'm looking for a cooler for my Q6600. My case is the CM Centurion 5 so I don't have a ton of room but some to work with. I'm going to over clock it to around 3Ghz(333FSB), maybe a bit more. I thought about using the stock cooler, but I want my new chip to be nice and cool.

Is the stock Intel cooler as bad as everyone says? Would it be OK for me to use? I live in NY, so temps aren't extreme or anything most of the year. Except for today, it's 90F:D

I'm trying to stay within a certain budget so I'm looking for a cooler around the $25-$35 range and see the Xigmatek/Kingwin coolers(92 and 120) and the Freezer 7 Pro. I understand the AC F7P comes with mx-2 pre-applied which would be a nice head start and save some money. Would that cooler be sufficient for my needs?

Thanks for any help!
 
Thermalrigth 120 ultra eXtreme, I have with not good fan and is amazing,,I am sure you will have the best air cooler of the world. I have my q6600 vcore 1,4~1,5 Vcore and never pass over 63, remenber my fan doesnt the best is old TT blue led.I recomend use Freeze of the OCZ thermal paste.
 
I'm trying to stay within a certain budget so I'm looking for a cooler around the $25-$35 range and see the Xigmatek/Kingwin coolers(92 and 120) and the Freezer 7 Pro. I understand the AC F7P comes with mx-2 pre-applied which would be a nice head start and save some money. Would that cooler be sufficient for my needs?

The AC Freezer 7 Pro is more than adequate for that level of OC, just check my sig.
 
Hard to imagine, but this HSF from the same company is HORRENDOUS.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186009

I haven't tried the Freezer 7 Pro, but this Alpine is a piece of complete shit.

The contact surface looks like someone finished it with a band saw. The idle temps on an X2 5000+ Black Edition is 48c with load temps at 80c.

EIGHTY C. This is at stock speeds. Yes I've remounted it.

I really need to get a new one, but with build quality this poor, I'm hesitant to get another AC product...
 
i can recommend the xigmatek heatsinks. i have a kingwin 12025d, which is the same as the 1284 from xigmatek (this one is good cuz it's a lot less tall, but still 120mm fan). it's also $20 cheaper than the ultra 120, and only about 2-3C more.
 
So I'm looking to OC my E8400 to 3.6Ghz, other specs in my signature. Looks like I'll need a new cooler to replace the stock one that came with the E8400, since my temps jump to 48-49 celcius at 360 x 9 @ 3.24Ghz.

Also I dont know much about voltages, they're 1.216V now at 350 x 9 @ 3.16Ghz, temps at 43-44 celcius I think, running stable, what should they be at 3.5Ghz-ish?

I dont fancy watercoolers, any suggestions for a cheapish 45-60$ aircooler (or whatever they cost in the US, 20-30EUR is average for hsf's here in Finland. :)) or do I need a more pricey one to get the clocks over 3.5Ghz without hitting major temps on load?


How would Noctua NH-U12 compare to Intel L775 stock cooler?
 
i am using PC Power and Cooling 80mm silencer fans #802312, the specs seemed really good for an 80mm quiet fan: 27 CFM / 20 dBA / 1700 rpm. I don't know what they go for now, I know I got them on a hot deal or sale a few years ago.
 
Hi guys,
Im looking at OCing my Q9450 to 3.2ish and was looking at the Zalman 9500 from the guide (also, is that possible on stock voltages?)

But i realise that the 9500 is really old now, are there any alternatives that are good, but not too expensive? I only want to spend about $50-$70NZD
 
Plenty of alternatives... Zerotherm's NV120, Thermalright's Ultima-90 or Ultra 120 Extreme, several different Noctua models, etc.
 
Hello. I'm looking for alternative CPU cooling. My system specs are below. When shopping for Socket F CPU cooler, I really did not find too much that would be compatible especially with 3.5" mounting pitch. Right now, I'm using these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835114068. They almost always run at full speed well above 5000 RPM. I have smart fan and cool'n'quiiet enabled in bios settings. Also when using an energy saver profile in CPU temps on average is 40 -50 C and MB temps around 60 C. I recently upgraded from Mobo L1N64-SLI WS and dual AMD Athlon 64 FX-70s. I notice now my CPU temps are about 10 degrees more with the Opterons. I remember reading that the newer Opteron were supposed to run cooler. Also with the fans running at max speed it almost sounds like a mini vaccuum cleaner in my office. I would appreciate any help with producing lower CPU temps by using an alternative more quiter cooler. Any suggestions would be greatly aprpreciated. Thanks.
 
Hello E.T. Thank for the info. Right now the cooler that I have, Dynatron F558 is working okay. At full CPU load my temps are as follows:

MB: ~65 C
CPU1: ~55 C
CPU2: ~50 C

I have mutiple fans placed in my tower also inlcuding this:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999812.

I would first need to know before considering purchasing a different CPU cooler:

are the temps mentioned too high?

If not, I really do not think I would need a different cooler. Also if anyone has experience using Dynatron coolers that would helpful. I cannot find much reviews and ratings for this make. I paid about $30 USD for each cooler. Any feedback would be highly appreciated. Thanks.
 
Hello. Just an update...I removed my fan controller for my chassis fans. So now they all run at max speed which produces more noise. But my overall system temps are down. At idle my average temps are as follows:

MB: ~59 C
CPU1: ~44 C
CPU2: ~38 C

Also I don't recall using thermal paste for my CPUs. There was some leftover when I purchased my Opterons (used). So I purchased http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007. I am going to try it out next week and post back. Thanks.
 
Hello all,

I'm looking for some info on a HS and fan that would suit my needs. I have checked the first post in this thread, and while it is excellent, I still have some ridiculous, neurotic fear lurking in my mind that I'm going to buy something and it won't fit, will suck, etc etc.

So, I just went in for some new hardware, as follows:

ASUS Rampage Formula
Cooler Master 690
Intel E8500 3.16 ghz
Corsair Twin 4 gig DDR2 RAM
BFG 8800 GT
I have an older Antec PSU 550 w, pretty decent still. Fan blows outward.

The stock HS/F from Intel just doesn't cut the mustard. I had initially mounted it wrong and the chip shut down on me quickly from overheating. I saw one of the pushpins was a bit loose on the HS, but decided not to mess with it too much until I got a new sink and fan, as I had heard some people have had to quite literally warp their motherboards to properly apply the Intel HSF.

I have some intention of overclocking, but not by much. I would like to go SLI at some point, however. I don't know if that affects the CPU, but I assume another card would only make the system hotter.

Price isn't much of an object, but I'd like to stay under $50 and be able to sleep at night with the computer on. Opinions?
 
Also checking in here and looking for some recommendations for an aftermarket HS/Fan. Haven't used anything since the Thermaltake beasts we used to slap on Athlon 2500s at the old shop so I'm way out of the loop. I currently have a socket 939 system with a 3800+ X2 that's getting pretty long in the tooth. Running into some issues with playability and smoothness in Fallout 3 for example, no big shock. Sometime between the end of this month and early next year I will likely be upgrading to a newer rig, likely a socket 775 Intel system with an E8400 or the like depending on how much prices fall and how quickly.

So what I'm looking for is something that will fit a tight budget (ideally ~$30) and work with both 939 and 775. Not looking for big overclocking here, don't need something that will be 15 pounds of copper, just something that will be the same db or quieter than the stock offerings and let me squeeze a bit more life out of my current system while I save for new parts and then cool the new one. Thoughts?
 
Just a friendly reminder that we all have heard a thousand times but sometimes even us vets forget to do. Get the dust out! So I built my Senior Rig in my sig in September and moved Junior into second class status. I probably hadn't cleaned out Junior in a few months. So today I opened him up and did the routine can of air and the vacuum routine. Holy Moly! Cpu now idles 13ºF cooler than before. I took out enough lint/dust/whatever to engulf a half dollar coin and that was just from the Tornado fan sitting atop my SLK-800. Unbelievable how much dust bunnies can accumulate in a few months.
The good news was Senior barely had any dust and I will be sure to keep him that way.

So its been said before but I will say again clean out the inside of your case monthly.
 
You know.
I feel like such a nub. My Q6600 (system built about 6 months ago or more) was the first CPU with heatspreaders I have had for a long time. Before then, I had a Barton. Looking at how the AS5 is supposed to be applied to the heatspreader type cpu's I realized that when I put it together, I put it everywhere, ha! Old school slathered it all over the place, smoothed it out with a credit card and smacked a HSF on it. I'll be cleaning that up next week when I get my new heatsink, but I just thought that was hilarious.

Thanks for the guide. Just goes to show, even us old dogs need to read up on this stuff sometimes.
 
After some research I thought to check my fan grills and filters. They were all accumulated with dust...YUCK. After some cleaning temps were down. Getting rid of the dust buildup is definitely good advice. Thank you.
 
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