Do I really need a CPU cooler?

[darbius]

So here's the ultimate question. I'm looking at the Thermalright Ultima-90 as a cooling tower for my new core 2 duo build.

I guess my real question is, if I'm doing some minor overclocking, and maybe some moderate later on (never high-end overclocking), do I really need to drop $50-$60 on a CPU cooling tower? My previous comp was an AMD build and CPU temp hasn't been a problem, but Intel's tend to run hotter, so maybe I do need one this time around.

The build will be:
Mobo: Either the ABIT IP35-E or the GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L
CPU: E6550
Vid: 8800GT (assuming I can find one to buy)
PSU: SeaSonic S12 II 500W
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
OS: Probably Vista Home Premium or XP x64

 

[akhilles]

For minor overclocking, a def. no. The stock fan is ok. For moderate to extreme overclocking, a high-end hsf is recommended. That one you picked out ain't too bad, but I would go with one of the top coolers such as Typhoon, Noctua, GeminII, U120E, Ninja & Infinity. The GeminII could be had for just the shipping after rebate. You can always look for deals.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Well, Darbius, I just have a different attitude about it.

When I started building P4 machines early in the decade, I departed from my previous practice of using all stock components, and wouldn't think about using the stock Intel coolers anymore. Yet -- the newer C2D processors come with weighty coolers that are sufficient, and some people with C2D machines seem to get some modest over-clocks with them.

When Intel started producing the C2Ds in a 65nm process, the thermal-design power dropped to about 65W. But this increases more than a single-core design when you OC it. I was stunned that my E6600 ranged between 23C idle and 52C load with a ThermalRight cooler. I was able to get this down to 45C with ducting and the "Extreme" version of the Ultra-120.

The quads are even worse -- with stock TDP for the B3 stepping of around 105 to 110W, although I've seen people OC a quad with stock cooling by dropping the CPU multiplier while bumping up the FSB. Thus, a Q6600 could be OC'd to around 2.8Ghz with the stock cooler.

The G0 stepping of the Q6600 has a TDP of aroun 95W -- an improvement over the B3.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'll say this, though. You mentioned several coolers that have a range of performance potentials.

The Anandtech reviews focusing on the TR-Ultra-120-Ex and Ultima-90 coolers shows the performance differences -- check for reviews between April and September of this year.

I don't care what anyone says -- it all boils down to thermal resistance as a single index that encapsulates the factors of thermal power and idle-to-load temperature spreads.

I'll always find the cooler that has the lowest or next-lowest thermal resistance values for acceptable fan-speeds, and buy those, even if they're priced $10 or $20 more than the median cooler price.