Question Recommend a budget heatpipe cooler sufficient for a non-K i7-6700 with the original Intel TIM

[BonzaiDuck]

That's as straightforward as I can make it. Perhaps I'd want to exceed the performance of any cooler that left the processor at 50+C degrees for ordinarily business software and loads, mild or minimal gaming.

We're going to recycle some old Sandy and Ivy machines in the house, so I've got a new Z170 motherboard (new by its usage!) and a new processor as described. I'll probably use Trident-Z's or most likely alternative products by G.SKILL. I'm not "purchasing" this five-year-old stuff; they are brand new spares acquired. So -- why not? And if it can't be overclocked, then cooling isn't as big a priority, as long as the processor temperature only exceeds 70C for some nasty loads.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Check out the 'Ventroo' coolers, at Newegg and Amazon. A decent amount of cooler for the money. (Note that they have several different configurations for different prices, with different heat-pipe counts and sizes. Get whatever TDP is appropriate for your CPU.)

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'll give Larry's advice a spin. I have the parts to build two Skylake systems: one with the 6700K I replaced with a Kaby 7700K last spring, and an i7-6700 locked processor I got in a motherboard bundle (which looks to be brand new). The K processor already has a Grand Macho cooler fitted to it.

I'm going to recycle an old Sandy Bridge and an Ivy Bridge -- still working great, but I don't need seven desktops in the house. I'll harvest the usable parts from those -- storage, dGPU graphics and so forth.

I suppose I could put stuff up for sale at the appropriate forum here, but it seems just as troublesome as recycling old SB and IB bundles. And I could always store away one of those in a mobo box in case I need something in a pinch.

I've got other problems with "surplus" anyway. I have a potted Eureka lemon tree on the patio that has more than 100 decent-sized fruits now turning yellow. More lemonade than I can use in the near term, but I can freeze the juice.

We're doing pretty well here, while the world seems to be ending. As long as we have a place to put things . . .

Come to think if it, the cooler in one of the recycle machines is more than adequate for a Skylake @ spec Ghz. I don't know why I didn't think of that . . . . old age, maybe . . .

Thanks, Larry.