HSF AM2 low profile best bang for buck?

filibusterman

Golden Member
Apr 2, 2005
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I searched for a bit but didn't find too much in the way of low profile HSFs. I just have a stock AMD hsf ( I think a CU core from an old opteron) on this BE-2400 (overclocked so when encoding temps can go aorund 55C) which fits fine but tight on my HTPC case. I would like some suggestions on a hsf that is no bigger than the combined ~60mm height of the stock cooler that would provide better performance.

I am also thinking of upgrading the cpu soon to a low grade quad at 65W to keep the heat down but a more efficient hsf would probably needed for that anyway. I did see a Scythe Big Shuriken SCBSK-1000 120mm CPU Cooler for about 34 bucks + shipping.

I could also just pour 35 bucks more into a new low power cpu and stick with the hsf and not overclock much...

Any thoughts?
 

formulav8

Diamond Member
Sep 18, 2000
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Well that cpu you have is already a low-consumption version. Its a 45watt CPU. Even oced, if you leave the voltage at stock should still consume little power. I've had a BE-2400 @2.8-2.9ghz on stock voltage and using a power meter shows that consumption didn't go up to much at all. When I kept trying to get alittle over 3ghz I raised the voltage more and more to try and get 3.1ghz stable and consumption shot up an extra 30-40 watts iirc. I may go ahead and run the test again to double check though...

About your hsf, there are a few various hsf's that should fit ok in your case. If you are really concerned over temps then get one with a copper core since the copper does a better job at absorbing the heat.

Anyways, check the link: http://www.frostytech.com/top5_lowprofile_heatsinks.cfm and scroll down the page tos ee the the top low-profile hsf's. There are a few for you to check out there.


Maybe something in this post will help you. :)


Jason
 

Stoneburner

Diamond Member
May 29, 2003
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the stock avc built heatsink that comes with higher end AMD chips is very highly rated (as the frostytech post will tell you).
 

filibusterman

Golden Member
Apr 2, 2005
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Great site I will check this stuff out!

I do have my cpu at ~2.8 currently which seems to be fine for most everything (lacking for encoding) I need the htpc to do. It is paried with a gigabyte ga-ma78gm-s2h so the onboard hd3200 help with the mkv's, I believe. I do have a blu ray drive on there but I use my ps3 for playing blu ray as this mobo only supports 2 channel LPCM. If my ps3 dies, however I wonder if the cpu will be enough to use the htpc as a blu ray player...I guess I will cross that bridge when it comes, as I hear ps3 optical drives have a limited life.
 

filibusterman

Golden Member
Apr 2, 2005
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the stock avc built heatsink that comes with higher end AMD chips is very highly rated (as the frostytech post will tell you).

The stock hsf may be avc but it only has a circular CU portion that is positioned above the cpu itself and the one pictured on frostytech appears to have the whole base of the hsf to be CU. Not sure if that matters if the fins are Al anyway.