Phenom II X4 920 cooling options?

[neurotic]

I just upgraded my old Athlon 64 3500 to a Phenom II X4 920. I got a great deal on the chip and I had heard really good things, especially about how cool it ran even with the stock cooling. My results were far from cool. The stock HSF had my non-overclocked chip hitting 45C at idle and approaching 60C after only a couple minutes of prime. After receiving multiple errors in prime I sent my stuff back to newegg for a replacement.

Are these temperatures normal for a Phenom II? I reseated the HSF and reapplied arctic 5 three times without any significant change.

I decided on my replacement P2 I am going to go with aftermarket cooling regardless. My problem is that all the normally recommended options like the xigmatek, etc, are all oriented with the fan blowing hot air off my 8800GT directly into my PSU. The orientation for intel is always ported out the exhaust fan on the case, however.

Are there any good cooling options for AMD that are oriented correctly? Does it actually matter? All the benchmark reviews show the xigmatek performing great, but the benchmarks always negate the real world application. They either watercool the video card or run synthetic tests it seems.

Thanks

 

[sirmonkey1985]

currently right now i use a thermaltake big typhoon VX 3.4ghz 1.456v 51C full load 33C idle.. though i wouldnt recommend this cooler.. but just shows whats possible with such a crappy cooler.. id suggest the xigmatek s1283 or if you want to go really crazy you could go with the TRUE..

heres a few heatsinks that may work for ya.. getting harder to find the TRUE..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103055
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608002

yeah i agree with you with some of the bench marks on heatsink.. they really arent all that real world.. but what they try to do is remove the variables to show the heatsinks performance by its self..
the one thing with the phenom II especially if you decide to overclock.. it overclocks better being cooler then it does by throwing voltage at it..

 

[neurotic]

I've been thinking about going with the Xigmatek or the OCZ Vendetta 2 but they both offer horrible mounting options for AMD. The only cooler I can find that mounts correctly is the new Zalman 9900LED. It's a little on the expensive side unfortunately. I may end up giving my money to Zalman anyway just because they are the only company to offer vertical mounting.

I just noticed the new Silenx IXC-120HA2 which is a knockoff of the ziggy also mounts correctly for AMD. A nice bonus is included fan controller and extra clips for a second fan for a push/pull setup. I think I found my heatsink

 

[cerwinvega]

Running a 920 with an AC Freezer...originally I was just curious, but I have been quite satisfied with the results, and have decided to stick with it for now.

I bought it for my 125W 6000+ Windsor awhile back, and have run it on that, a 9950BE, and now the 920.

Might not get the results of some of the larger coolers, but for the price, I really cannot complain.

At 3.2Ghz and ~1.4v I'm getting idle temps in the mid 20's with C&Q, 30-32 without.

Running IBT, I've yet to see it break 45C. I do have SmartFan enabled on this board, and at full load I still have about 400 or so RPM to go. (idles around 1300RPM, max load at 1800RPM, fan limit at around 2200RPM)

We'll see what the summer brings.

You're probably looking for something larger, but, just thought I'd share my experience.