Help me pick a good CPU HSF?

zCypher

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2002
6,115
171
116
Hello,

I have an E5200 right now. I've never been able to overclock it with my MSI G31M3-L V2 but I was always relatively happy with it nonetheless. Anyhow, I've often been running Prime95 and checking my temperatures with HWMonitor. Depending on the type of test run I get different results. Using the FPU torture test, I saw my CPU temp go as high as 68c. This is pretty high I think. The other test (mixed, lots of ram) did not exceed 58c for CPU.

So, were I able to, I'd probably play a bit with overclocking but it's really not a big concern for me. Mainly I want to make sure that my temps at the current stock 2.5GHz stay low. I was happy with 58c but 68 seems a bit much.

What do you recommend?

MOD EDIT: Moved to Cases & Cooling. - Zap
 
Last edited by a moderator:

zCypher

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2002
6,115
171
116
Oops, this thread may be better suited for the Cases & Cooling forum sorry about that
Please feel free to move it mods
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,587
10,225
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68C Prime95 small FFTs is a little bit warm for those chips at stock, I agree. But it's nothing to worry about. I let my quad-core Q9300 @ 3.0 get up to 80C, and that's with a CoolerMaster HyperTX2 heatsink, not stock.

You don't have all that much overclocking thermal headroom though.

You should be able to overclock just a little bit. Try increasing the FSB, until you hit 3.0Ghz. Most E5200 should be able to hit 3.0 at stock voltage.
 

IGemini

Platinum Member
Nov 5, 2010
2,472
2
81
G31 chipsets are miserable overclockers, you could try but the power system isn't really made for it. But for cooling, something like Arctic Freezer 7 or a Scythe Shuriken (depending on your case design) should bring your temps down.
 

fffblackmage

Platinum Member
Dec 28, 2007
2,548
0
76
You're not likely to hit that thermal ceiling under normal use, so I wouldn't worry about it.