Advice for AMD "Stock cooler"

[BobHolmes]

I am gathering parts for my last (I'm 70) PC rebuild, and I have a cpu cooler question for you folks. My new cpu is a Fx-6300 AMD one, and of course it came with a fan and heat sink in the package. I have a fan/heatsink that shipped with a Phenom II 965BE (I used it in a PC I built for one of my sons some time ago). Which of those should I use? Either of them? The one that comes with the new cpu is a pretty small one, and the other is much larger. But are they interchangeable with one another? Would the older one work with the new cpu? I am always reading that the stock AMD fans and heatsinks are noisy, but that isn't such a big deal when your ears are 70 yrs old like the rest of my body is. I never overclock anything. Have never known how. Thank you for any advice.

 

[Jovec]

They are interchangeable. Given your criteria - no OC and no concern for noise - either HSF will be fine. The one that came with the 965 is better so may as well use that if you don't want to sell it on CL or Ebay for a couple bucks.

 

[BobHolmes]

Thank you. Glad to hear it. I was concerned because one said 95w and the other 125w or something, but I just wasn't sure what it meant, and whether it was relevant to my question. I will use the "largest" one. I know how to install those stock ones, but the aftermarket ones they sell that require some sort of backplate or some such, well, I'm not so sure. Sounds much too hard for me. Thanks again.

 

[lehtv]

Just FYI, some aftermarket coolers are installed with an easy push-pin mechanism so no backplate required, e.g. Hyper TX3