Heat Sink Fan performance

[DaedalCipher]

Hello all-

So, soon I will be overclocking in order to better enjoy games like Supreme Commander and Command and Conquer 3. Here is my current configuration:

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard
EVGA 512-P2-N635-AR GeForce 7950GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply
Thermaltake SOPRANO VB1000BWS Black 0.8 mm SECC Chassis
Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
LITE-ON Black DVDRW

Here is my question- everything I've read says the tuniq tower 120 is the best bet for overclocking performance. Is there something out there that would be a better bet? I just read AT's article on the dual scythe infinity push-pull config, and it seemed to do the job, but I'd rather have one in there than two and have to screw with any fancy setup. What do you guys and gals think?

Side note- what's the highest performance other with similar setups have gotten out of this? Everything I've read says a bit higher than the e6600 at stock. Is this true?

 

[Slugbait]

The Tuniq is certainly one of the best for overclocking...it equals or bests the rest for medium and high overclocks. However, if you want to push your CPU over the top, I understand that the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme gains the edge by a few degrees.

Personally, I went with the Tuniq for the asthetics (you can't see the fan) as well as the uncompromising ability to O/C the living snot out of my CPU...

 

[DaedalCipher]

But you have to buy a fan for that one, right? How does that work exaclty?

 

[Slugbait]

For the Thermalright, correct...you supply the fan.

The Tuniq includes a variable-speed 120mm fan in the box (min 1000 rpm, max 2000 rpm).

For maximum O/C, you will need 2000 rpm speed, regardless of which tower you choose...so it's gonna be a little loud. Personally, I am replacing my Tuniq fan with a Yate Loon LED that spins fixed 1300 rpm...I won't get the maximum overclock from my EE proc, but it will be almost silent, and the blue light cutting thru the radiator fins should look pretty cool...

 

[DaedalCipher]

How loud are we talking here, in relation to stock hsf with the Tuniq? 50% louder? twice as loud? I guess noise doesn't bother me all that much- ability to overclock with stability is more important. Unless, of course, you're talking small plane noise.

I don't know that I'm willing to pay the extra 25 bucks or whatever it would be for the Thermalright with a great 120mm fan, especially with the performance you get from the tuniq.

Which processor are you running, and what's the max overclock you have been able to get?