SunBeam Core Contact 29.99 @ Newegg

[ahenkel]

Excellent deal

10.00 off promo code EMCLPPM52

Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler W/TX-2 - Retail

 

[konakona]

nice, this time without the rebate hassle! I forgot the livecash bit, but thats only another dollar or so, meh

 

[msi1337]

Originally posted by: konakona
nice, this time without the rebate hassle! I forgot the livecash bit, but thats only another dollar or so, meh

newegg no longer participates in live cashback

 

[beergeek]

How would people compare this vs the ZEROtherm ZEN FZ120 vs the XIGMATEK HDT-S1283, all of which are currently discounted at Newegg to about $30 (though not all with FS)? For that matter, also vs the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro (which NE also has about that price, but which I already have on hand). Doing 2 builds (one will use the F7P) on Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L and Gigabyte EP45-UD3P, and have seen comments that some of these have problems mounting on one or the other of these MBs...

Thanks for any comments!

 

[CrazyGamer]

Thanks!

Review

 

[Bozo Galora]

Er, here we go again

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=40&threadid=2270346

 

[Elfear]

Excellent heatsink. Dropped temps by 10-12C over my Gemini II with two Sanyo Denkis. From the reviews I've read it's among the top five heatsinks available.

 

[ahenkel]

I have this on my rig keeps it at 37c idle, 58c load

 

[gucio69]

Support heatware and use referral link from their site .

 

[bigsnyder]

Almost bit, but the mounting nightmare stories kept me away. Will certainly change my mind if I can be convinced otherwise.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: bigsnyder
Almost bit, but the mounting nightmare stories kept me away. Will certainly change my mind if I can be convinced otherwise.

The mounting is a pain in the rear, but if you you mount the heatsink with the mobo outside the case, it's not so bad. A case with lots of room between the top of the mobo (near cpu) and the top of the case would also ease mounting.

 

[Mloot]

On my Phenom 9650, i switched from an Arctic Freezer Pro to the Sunbeam cooler. Under full load with the AF Pro, my temps were 52-53C, but full load temps with the Sunbeam were 40-41C.

 

[ericlp]

Pros: None. I couldn't use it.

Cons: Does not fit motherboard! If you have an EP45-UD3P mobo the clips on this cooler will bump up against the big blue "Ultra Durable" cooling system making it impossible to secure it.

Other Thoughts: I'd prefer not to rate it, since I can't really say how it performs.

Originally posted by: allies
Word of caution: I heard that these have trouble fitting on UD3P/R series of Gigabyte mobos. I passed, but Jumped on the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 at Microcenter for $30+tax


It fits on the UD3P, you just have to orient it so the fan is blowing vertically.


Maybe an option... I got temps stock cooler of 80C full load with OC Q9550 to 3.5 Mhz.

Only 60C full load with out OC'ing on the stock cooler.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: beergeek
How would people compare this vs the ZEROtherm ZEN FZ120 vs the XIGMATEK HDT-S1283, all of which are currently discounted at Newegg to about $30 (though not all with FS)? For that matter, also vs the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro (which NE also has about that price, but which I already have on hand).

For pure cooling, the Sunbeam and ZEROtherm would be the best due to four heatpipes. The XIGMATEK and Arctic Cooling have three, but the Arctic Cooling uses a smaller fan and less fin surface area so it is at a disadvantage there.

The Arctic Cooling would, IMO, be the easiest to install due to the pre-attached push pins. Yes, I know push pin installs are nearly universally villified, but IMO the people having problems with them just don't have enough experience to install them quickly and successfully.

The SunBeam would, IMO, be the worst to install due to requiring that ring and then clipping it on.

The BEST for mounting method would be... the ZEROtherm. It uses a spring-loaded bolt-through setup similar to the popular Thermalright Bolt-Thru Kit. Also, the AMD mount uses three lugs on each side. I know that AMD got rid of that requirement, but just in case someone tosses this on an older socket 754/939 setup, it will be that much more secure. Also, it looks as if the AMD mount can be rotated in 90º increments so you can orient the heatsink so that the fan blows wherever you want.

The SunBeam also has only a 3 pin fan + controller. These days motherboards are getting so darn good at controlling 4 pin PWM fans that it is a shame to not use that feature. All the other units have 4 pin PWM fans. The Arctic Cooling, of course, doesn't use a standard fan so you can't just swap it out. So, IMO for fans, the ZEROtherm and XIGMATEK are the best.

IMO the ZEROtherm is the best due to using a standard fan, including a PWM fan, using a 120mm sized fan, having four heatpipes,having the most secure mounting mechanisms and having the most flexible mounting mechanisms.

BTW I'd like to once again point out a stupid (IMO) Newegg "review." This one was posted on 2/13/2009 titled "A sheep in wolf's clothing."

Cons: doesn't live up to the name
frostytech reccomended this as the best heatsink for intel processors

idle 39
normal 43
full load 49

as you can see , this is very subpar performance
I even tried to reseat it and it didnt help

So let me see, the CPU idled at 2º higher than body temperature and this guy felt it was subpar performance? :roll: Soon I expect to see someone complaining that their air-cooled CPU cooler is unable to cool their CPU below room temperature.

Oh wait, I think I've already read complaints like that.

 

[konakona]

I have always mounted my HS before putting the mobo into the case, maybe with the exception of intel's stock HSF. The hard part of doing it this way is putting that 4pin ATX connector in. According to the OCCT under full load, my Phenom II x3 710 (3.2@ 1.525v) stayed under 42C at all times, though I had both the CPU and the heatsink lapped.

 

[killster1]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: beergeek
How would people compare this vs the ZEROtherm ZEN FZ120 vs the XIGMATEK HDT-S1283, all of which are currently discounted at Newegg to about $30 (though not all with FS)? For that matter, also vs the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro (which NE also has about that price, but which I already have on hand).

For pure cooling, the Sunbeam and ZEROtherm would be the best due to four heatpipes. The XIGMATEK and Arctic Cooling have three, but the Arctic Cooling uses a smaller fan and less fin surface area so it is at a disadvantage there.

The Arctic Cooling would, IMO, be the easiest to install due to the pre-attached push pins. Yes, I know push pin installs are nearly universally villified, but IMO the people having problems with them just don't have enough experience to install them quickly and successfully.

The SunBeam would, IMO, be the worst to install due to requiring that ring and then clipping it on.

The BEST for mounting method would be... the ZEROtherm. It uses a spring-loaded bolt-through setup similar to the popular Thermalright Bolt-Thru Kit. Also, the AMD mount uses three lugs on each side. I know that AMD got rid of that requirement, but just in case someone tosses this on an older socket 754/939 setup, it will be that much more secure. Also, it looks as if the AMD mount can be rotated in 90º increments so you can orient the heatsink so that the fan blows wherever you want.

The SunBeam also has only a 3 pin fan + controller. These days motherboards are getting so darn good at controlling 4 pin PWM fans that it is a shame to not use that feature. All the other units have 4 pin PWM fans. The Arctic Cooling, of course, doesn't use a standard fan so you can't just swap it out. So, IMO for fans, the ZEROtherm and XIGMATEK are the best.

IMO the ZEROtherm is the best due to using a standard fan, including a PWM fan, using a 120mm sized fan, having four heatpipes,having the most secure mounting mechanisms and having the most flexible mounting mechanisms.

BTW I'd like to once again point out a stupid (IMO) Newegg "review." This one was posted on 2/13/2009 titled "A sheep in wolf's clothing."

Cons: doesn't live up to the name
frostytech reccomended this as the best heatsink for intel processors

idle 39
normal 43
full load 49

as you can see , this is very subpar performance
I even tried to reseat it and it didnt help

So let me see, the CPU idled at 2º higher than body temperature and this guy felt it was subpar performance? :roll: Soon I expect to see someone complaining that their air-cooled CPU cooler is unable to cool their CPU below room temperature.

Oh wait, I think I've already read complaints like that.

are fan leads that important to people? you know you can use what ever fan / fan leads you want on any heatsink?> i use a zalman controller on the backside of the case to lower my xigimatics speed down since it makes terrible whining noise near full speed..


hehe i love teh sunbeam corecontact freezer and own 5 of them.. i also own xigimatic (since my p45 dfi mobo has heatpipes and refused to work with the sunbeam..)

the one and only reason not to get this heatsink is if you have big heatpipes around your cpu area..

this thing cools better than xigimatic but doesnt look as cool as the xigimatic with orange fan


and for the record i think only a penny pincher would choose the arctic freezer since its not the best at anything

 

[cubeless]

this thing is a monster... i had to mount it with the fan pulling through the hsf blowing straight into the bottom of my psu on a gigabyte 650sli since it has the big copperr cooler ron the nb... cools ok, but is certainly not optimal...

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: killster1
are fan leads that important to people? you know you can use what ever fan / fan leads you want on any heatsink?> i use a zalman controller on the backside of the case to lower my xigimatics speed down since it makes terrible whining noise near full speed..

By "fan leads" you mean the 3 pin versus 4 pin PWM? Yes it is important. Why pay extra for a Zalman fan controller when your motherboard can control a 4 pin fan? Ohhh, yeah, the SunBeam doesn't come with a 4 pin fan. Too bad, so sad.

Originally posted by: killster1
this thing cools better than xigimatic but doesnt look as cool as the xigimatic with orange fan

It cools better because it has 33% more heatpipes, just like the ZEROtherm.

Originally posted by: killster1
and for the record i think only a penny pincher would choose the arctic freezer since its not the best at anything

Penny pinchers used to choose the Freezer, back when it sold for $20 or less and there were not many alternative choices. At the current pricing and with tower heatpipe heatsinks all over the place, it isn't that great a value.

 

[killster1]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: killster1
are fan leads that important to people? you know you can use what ever fan / fan leads you want on any heatsink?> i use a zalman controller on the backside of the case to lower my xigimatics speed down since it makes terrible whining noise near full speed..

By "fan leads" you mean the 3 pin versus 4 pin PWM? Yes it is important. Why pay extra for a Zalman fan controller when your motherboard can control a 4 pin fan? Ohhh, yeah, the SunBeam doesn't come with a 4 pin fan. Too bad, so sad.

Originally posted by: killster1
this thing cools better than xigimatic but doesnt look as cool as the xigimatic with orange fan

It cools better because it has 33% more heatpipes, just like the ZEROtherm.

Originally posted by: killster1
and for the record i think only a penny pincher would choose the arctic freezer since its not the best at anything

Penny pinchers used to choose the Freezer, back when it sold for $20 or less and there were not many alternative choices. At the current pricing and with tower heatpipe heatsinks all over the place, it isn't that great a value.

hehe fan leads are only important if the fan is worth a %$($%... and ive really never seen a decent fan to come with a heatsink (let alone a cheap heatsink)

anyone know where i can buy another bracket for the core contact freezer? if you ask sunbeam for the bracket they cant even sell you one..(very lame!!)

ok and we can all agree only foolish penny pinchers would buy the freezer pro!

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: killster1
anyone know where i can buy another bracket for the core contact freezer?

You're talking about that black round thing with the socket 775 push pins? I may have a spare one... will have to look.

 

[beergeek]

Well, I let real life intrude too much and didn't manage to buy any of them until they all went up $10, so now they're roughly $40 instead of $30... I don't know that that changes anything, but the sound you may be hearing is me kicking myself...

 

[killster1]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: killster1
anyone know where i can buy another bracket for the core contact freezer?

You're talking about that black round thing with the socket 775 push pins? I may have a spare one... will have to look.

no the metal bracket that screws onto the heatsink.. ( i sawed it down to fit on a heatpipe motherboard but it was still to tight of fit for my liking) ..