Heatsink in Silverstone SG-01

[A2TheRizzo]

[H]ey!

I will be upgrading my current build soon, swapping out my 7900GT with an 8800GT, adding 2 more gigs of ram, and replacing my Athlon X2 4600+ with a 5000+ Black Edition Brisbane.

I will possibly be doing some mild overclocking, so I was wondering for those of you with experience/knowledge, what aftermarket CPU heatsinks you all would recommend for me that would fit without hitting the top of my PSU.

 

[PClark99]

I have used the Silverstone NT03 in my old SG01 builds with much success.

 

[Edvuld]

I've fitted a Zalman CNPS7700Cu. It keeps my E4300 stable in 1,8@2,7Ghz, at about 30% of the fanspeed, somewhere around 1300RPM.

 

[tiraides]

The "best" heatsink to use for the SG01 is Silverstone's own NT06 LITE (the LITE model doesn't come with a case fan). The catch is that the NT06 LITE uses the PSU fan to pull the hot air off the processor.

Other HSFs -- such as Zalman's CNPS7700 or CNPS8000, the Silverstone NT03, and even the stock HSF -- can work, but their cooling performance get reduced somewhat. The HSF (pushing air down onto the processor) and the PSU fan (pulling air up and out of the case) work against each other, creating an air vacuum in the (small) space between them. I've heard that this vacuum reduces the performance of the HSF by up to 30% (but I can't confirm that value).