Future proofing of heatsinks...

[Enigmo]

I'm looking for a new quiet heatsink for my Thunderbird 800, but have noticed that many of them only support CPU speeds up to 1gig or 1.4 gig. If I'm going to spend £30 or £40 on a heatsink I want to be able to still use it when I eventually upgrade my CPU. Do manufacturers just expect you to throw these things away when you upgrade or will chips in the future need less cooling?

I never thought I'd find myself 'investing' in a heatsink 🙁

 

[MoFunk]

I kinda think we are going to see newer cpu's run cooler. The Athlon XP's run a bit cooler than the T-birds, so if that trend continues then your HSF rated for a 1.4 will be fine for some time. But I may be wrong.

 

[Mikewarrior2]

I think you're gonna want something with, at the very least, a very high quality copper or aluminum base...

if you're looking towards the future, the ~80sq mm surface area of a throroughbred makes cooling still a critical item despite hte reported wattage drop.



Mike

 

[Enigmo]

Thanks for the advice. That's somewhat reassuring then ...plus I saw over at Quietpc.com that the 1.33 gig radial fan cooler will work with AMDs up to speeds of XP 2000. Sounds like a theoretical after thought rather than a guarantee to me, but I suppose if it's up there on their web site in black and white and your CPU melts while you're using one of their fans you can always sue them, lol 😀

 

[CStroman]

The Alpha PAL8045 is in your price range. It uses an 80mm fan, and it provides excellent cooling.

 

[MoFunk]

<< The Alpha PAL8045 is in your price range. It uses an 80mm fan, and it provides excellent cooling. >>



I second that. I am using it right now and just love it. The best HSF I have ever owned!