Which LGA 775 CPU Heatsink???

MightyMatt

Gawd
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Dec 23, 2006
Messages
532
Hey all,

I'm looking to overclock my CPU (2.83GHz - 3.4GHz) and I need a new heatsink/ fan combo (air cooled only, please). I currently am rocking an ancient Zalman 7700 (Newegg Link). The 7700 is about 2,600-2,700 RPMs and very noisy, so I'm hoping for a quiet heatsink/ fan combo that you can't hear , but can disapate the heat of a 50c-60c CPU and drop those temps, especially under a heavy load.

I'd spend upwards of $50 on a heatsink and fan(s) for it. Also, I use Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste, but am open to suggestions that would seriously improve that aspect of my cooling issue. My mobo is mounted vertically, like most mobos, so this can't be a huge heatsink, right?

I have GT AP-15 fans that I can't hear and those run about 1850 RPM's, so anything around that sound level/ speed and can cool effectively is idle. Suggestions, please???

Thanks! :)
 
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I would go with a Hyper 212+, as Tiporaro suggested. Heavy/Tall heatsinks are alright to mount vertically, which is why they require an additional backplate to be installed.


But honestly, I was able to hit 4.0GHZ on my E6300 using the stock cooler.. not sure why that 7700 isn't able to keep your chip cooled at 3.4GHZ, unless it's not a Wolfdale?
 
But honestly, I was able to hit 4.0GHZ on my E6300 using the stock cooler.. not sure why that 7700 isn't able to keep your chip cooled at 3.4GHZ, unless it's not a Wolfdale?

That 7700 is a small weak HS, and hes running a Q9550, allot more heat than a E6300.
 
I'm running a H60 on my Q8200 and running it at 3.33ghz. My temps never exceed 55c.

I second the Hyper 212 recommendation if you absolutely wont go liquid. they have a great reputation for a reason.
 
I couldn't be happier with my Megahalem cooler :) I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to someone.

iZg12367.jpg


With my old cooler, I was hitting a thermal wall around 3.4Ghz (Q6600 CPU). With this cooler, I'm getting cooler temps @ 3.8Ghz than I was with my old one at the stock 2.4Ghz. It's large, but if you have the room for it, it's a killer heatsink... especially once you start adding fans to it :)
 
I was so satisfied with my Noctua NH-D14 on my Q6600, that instead of taking it off, going back to stock, ordering a free bracket, and moving it my LGA2011, that I just left it there and bought the NH-D14Se2011 for the other box.

It's huge, but it's easy to mount, quiet, and works well.

Edit: For thermal paste, the Noctua comes with NT-H1, better than AS5
 
I was so satisfied with my Noctua NH-D14 on my Q6600, that instead of taking it off, going back to stock, ordering a free bracket, and moving it my LGA2011, that I just left it there and bought the NH-D14Se2011 for the other box.

It's huge, but it's easy to mount, quiet, and works well.

Edit: For thermal paste, the Noctua comes with NT-H1, better than AS5

The noctua gets great reviews, but they sure want a premium for a hsf.
 
Go with the 212 and use anything else besides AS5. I went with the pre-packaged CFIII from my Venomous X and load temps went down 4-5c over the AS5 I had applied before.

The premium heatsinks are real good but there are diminishing returns when compared to the 212 when you factor in price.
 
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus (Newegg Link for Specs)
or
ZALMAN CNPS9700 (Newegg Link for Specs)

Thoughts? Why not the Zalman?

If I was to get the CM 212, would I want to swap out that stock fan for, say, a GT AP-15 1850RPM 120mm fan? I have an extra. My Corsair 300R case also came with a 120mm fan that is not in use, would that work? Would I want to add it with the stock fan? What fans would you use on the CM 212 heatsink and how would you mount them?

Also, can someone link me the most optimal thermal paste for this on Amazon or Newegg?

Hardforum's Thread with detailed pics of my case's current cooling setup: Link

Thanks again for the great advice so far!
 
I personally was never a huge fan of the Zalman coolers. Had one or two go bad on me a long time ago and just stayed away. That being said, they probably would be fine, although I do remember hearing that some of the Zalman's have weird clearance issues with the ram on certain board layouts, so definitely check that and save yourself the pain.

You could definitely throw on AP-15's - they're great little fans, but its not necessarily a needed addition.
 
The CNPS9700 has a smaller, louder fan which also can't be replaced and it cost more....Pretty easy choice, those type of Zalman coolers have been out of the loop for a while.
 
As much as I loved my old flower Zalman back in the day, the Hyper 212 is just such a great cooler for its price. I don't think you'll need another fan.
 
I'm leaning heavily towards the Hyper 212. That being said, should I have two fans on it, or just one? If it's just one, should I have it pushing air through, or pulling?

I honestly just don't like the Zalmans, with their little noisy fans.
 
One fan is enough, if you feel the need the option is there for two if you like, you would be better off with a single better fan though if you are going to buy another. It should also be pushing, HS's do best with a push set up while Rads tend to do better with a pull.
 
I ordered the Hyper 212 off of Amazon (thanks for the link Tiporaro). I also got Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Paste, since there's nothing wrong with a little Noctua in your rig ;)

I'm planning on putting my last AP-15 on this heatsink and maybe just setting the stock fan aside. Having two 120mm fans so close might be overkill? Either way, this heatsink will have the rear exhaust fan and two top exhaust fans right next to it, so I'm not worried. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks again guys! :)
 
Best would be to use the GT fan on the HS, two mismatched fans on a HS is not a good idea and the GT is a far better fan. If your case has rear and top fans, for best CPU temps you should face the HS so the fan blows up through the fins and out the TOP of the case, and turn the REAR exhaust fan to an intake, so you get fresh air right by the HS, this seems to be the best for CPU temps in my testing and doesn't seem to hurt any other system temp.
 
Best would be to use the GT fan on the HS, two mismatched fans on a HS is not a good idea and the GT is a far better fan. If your case has rear and top fans, for best CPU temps you should face the HS so the fan blows up through the fins and out the TOP of the case, and turn the REAR exhaust fan to an intake, so you get fresh air right by the HS, this seems to be the best for CPU temps in my testing and doesn't seem to hurt any other system temp.

Link to the fan setup in my rig: Link

So, I'll have 6 120mm case fans and 1 120mm CPU heatsink fan. Two front = intake, one side = intake (blows onto GPU), two top = exhaust, one rear = intake (blows onto CPU), and now one on the CPU Heatsink blowing up, through the CPU heatsink towards the top exhaust fans. Sound good? I'm excited about finding a use for my last AP-15 ;)

Thanks for that advice, it's very helpful!
 
I just put in a 212 last night (was using a stock cooler for 5 years before hand) on an LGA 775 cpu and am really happy with it. I was forced to change because my stock heatsink lost proper contact (the plastic grippers broke).

It's very quiet for the size and as long as you watch the install videos which CM supplies it shouldn't be too hard to install. I'm running it with 1x 120mm fan (the one it comes with). The fan is currently facing towards my RAM which is what it looked like in the video.

To my understanding with that setup it would blow air through the heatsink vents towards a back case fan which should in theory help it exhaust more air out the back fan?
 
To my understanding with that setup it would blow air through the heatsink vents towards a back case fan which should in theory help it exhaust more air out the back fan?

Not so much that it will push more air out the exhaust fan, so much that you are pushing the hot air from the HS to the exhaust so it can be removed from the case, rather than heat up other components. You want to remove hot air from the case as fast as you can, if you don't do that it will raise the ambient case temp, and with it everything else, as the cooler the air the more heat that can be dumped into it.
 
Best price/performance hsf I'd say is the Hyper 212's at $20-30. Potentially quieter, but with space requirements, is the Corsair H60 which you could probably find on sale for close to $50-60.

links for ease

Hyper 212+
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1333041569&sr=1-1

H60 on sale at amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Cooli...&tag=slickdeals&ie=UTF8&qid=1332955727&sr=8-1

edit: just saw your requirement of air cooled only, sorry for the H60 recommendation.

Actually the bottom two Corsair CL water-cooling systems take up less (not more) space (in terms of over-CPU airspace) than a tower-type air-cooler, or even Intel's standard HSF.

(Theoretically, you could even include the Corsair H80 in this, as it shares the mounting option for the radiator/fan system of the H40/50/60 - the 120mm fan opening.)

The amount of space a tower-type aftermarket HSF (this applies to all of the popular models, including the CM Hyper212 series) eats between the top of the CPU and the side (usually the left of an mATX or ATX case, or the top of an HTPC/SFF case) can even preclude their usage in some situations. Even the H60 can take up no more space than a standard combination of Intel HSF and 120mm rear case fan, and *less* than the Hyper212+ or Hyper212 EVO, provide better cooling, and be (naturally) quieter, for not much more than quality tower-type air-cooling (again, the Hyper212+ or Hyper212 EVO).

The Hyper212 EVO is $34.29 at Amazon ($2.70 less than MicroCenter).
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master...ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1334930617&sr=1-4
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0373900

The Corsair H60 is $62.20 at Amazon (surprisingly, $2.21 more than MicroCenter).
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Cooli...ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1334930617&sr=1-5
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0355594

The new Corsair H40 (which replaces the venerable H50 as the least-expensive CL water-cooling system from Corsair) is not available form Amazon - MicroCenter, however, has it for $10 less than the H60.
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0375158
 
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