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Just one more question about CPU Heatsinks

CubicZirconia

CubicZirconia

Diamond Member
Ok, I realize that heatsinks are discussed a lot in these forums, but I seem to get mixed messages on nearly every heatsink out there. I'm building a new rig now and the heatsink is the last thing I need to decide on. I will be cooling an Athlon XP 1800+ on an Epox 8kha+ motherboard all in a lian li pc-65 case. I have been considering the following heatsinks:

Cooler Master HCC-001
ThermalRight AX-7
Alpha PAL8045
Volcano 7+
(anything else you guys think is good)

What do you guys think, I don't really mind a somewhat noisy cooler, as all the other fans in the case will already make that thing pretty loud. I'd prefer to spend less than 40 bucks on it too. Please give my any thoughts at all on what you think I should do, and I swear I'll never ask a question about heatsinks again. Thanks.

Edit: I plan on overclocking
 
The reviews i have read say that the AX-7 cools the best out of that group of heatsinks and is only beaten by the swiftech mcx-462. I'd lean towards that, especially considering the price.
 
I'm with snowpunk with this, get the Alpha. It keeps my chip nice and cool with a slow moving fan. It does wonders with a high mover!!!! I use an enermax adjustable on low and when I put it on high, i dropped 5-6c. Gotta love that Alpha!
 
The Alpha is the best, but it's $40 and with shipping it's $45-50. The Thermaltake Volcano 7 is great and it's only $20.
 
My vote is for the Alpha. The AX7 isnt even available yet, right?

But the Volcano 7 is made by Thermaltake... 😕Thermaltake!😕
 
Well, since they say that the Alpha PAL8045 comes into contact with one of the capacitors on the Epox 8kha+ mobo, I don't think I'm to thrilled about getting it.
 
But the Volcano 7 is made by Thermaltake... Thermaltake!

Thermaltake sucks.

Okay, there's nothing wrong with Thermaltake for one. Before the Volcano 7 I was using a generic all aluminum HSF. My temps were about 55ºC. After installing it my temps are now 46ºC. That's a 9ºC drop just with the heatsink (and Acrtic Silver II). Yeah, it sucks. That and after replacing the 80mm Smart Fan with a regular 80mm 2900RPM fan it still cools the same low temps and is dead quiet.

That link is also to a forum about the Alpha PAL8045, it has nothing to do with the Thermaltake Volcano 7. Sure, the Alpha is THE best but it's also twice as much as the Volcano 7. Every review I've seen on the Volcano 7 showed it as one of the top heatsinks out there. For owning it myself it is a real steal for the price.
 
alpha fits nicely on 8KHA+ ... butt....

swiftech MCX462 is the best


soli for the double post.. connection prob
 
About a year ago, Thermaltake was reportedly threatening a distinguished member of the AnandTech community with a lawsuit, because this person was publishing test results which showed the TT Orb family not performing very well compared to the competition. That's like when Consumer Reports reported that the Suzuki Samauri mini-SUV was dangerously prone to rolling over. Rather than try to correct the problem, Suzuki sued Consumer Reports for exposing the unpleasant truth about their cute-but-poorly-engineered product.
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Personally, I won't buy a TT product no matter how good a value it might be.
 
*da da da dum* You are correct sir!

Tt makes plenty of crappy products, and maybe their Volcano 7 is ok, but I still don't trust my personal computers with Tt products. That link was for Cubic, who asked about the installation of the PAL8045.

BTW, if the PAL8045 doesnt fit because of a capacitor, you can just dremel some of the heatsink off. Many people have done this to achieve some kick-ass cooling 😉
 
Get the AX-7, much more friendly design for fitting on your epox board, and costs 10 to 20$ less than the alpha8045. Performs as well or better too.
-mA
 
I personally like Thermaltake, and I'm just minutes away from ordering the Volcano 7+. It's almost the same price as the Alpha (~$45), but it has lots of thin copper fins and an adjustable (H, M, L) fan. It's gonna be awesome.
 
I've never been a big proponent of Tt. They may have improved their stuff, I'll let other guys find out if that's true.

This forum and others are littered with posts from peeps who say they don't care about noise- well, that is until they've lived with some screaming fan(s) for a few weeks or months, then the whimpering begins. And they often put it off on the wife or girlfriend, which may be true, but more often than not they just admit that they can't take it any more. Others seem to be tougher, or deaf, or masochistic or like living alone and seem to be able to endure....

Two coolers you haven't mentioned and are worth consideration are the 760092 Taisol from KDComputers and the GC68 from SVCompucycle. The stock Taisol is about as loud as most could find reasonable and can handle overclocking, louder fans would give more headroom. The GC68 is more for standard speeds, but reportedly works very well and is relatively quiet.
 
Hey, im setting up the same rig for myself. I was going to order the Alpha but i really dont feel comfortable taking a dremel to the heatsink. AND THEN....I saw the AX-7....takes an 80mm fan, better cooling than the alpha according to the tests i saw, and cheaper....how can u beat that? I fu havent decided in a week, lemme know and ill tell you how my ax-7 works out..i should have it installed by Tuesday or Wednesday depending on when the rest of my parts get here.
 
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