This is my ultimate CPU Cooling overview. I will start with the general info. and then move from the worst cooling to the best, which generally goes from cheapest to most expensive, just because that's pretty much the way this world works. 
General Info
First of all you want need to decide what type of cooling you are going to get before you start, and estimate cost, performance, and what you want this cooling for.
NONE
Just a bad idea. Don't try it unless you don't want that processor you just bought.
Some say it is a good idea to feel the temp on your processor when just starting up for a few seconds to see if it is getting any power, but you can't run a processor without any cooling.
Pros: hmm. good question, free :roll:
Cons: everything about it.
Recomendations: don't do it.
AIR
Air cooling is the cheapest, and most common real cooling solution there is. It ranges from free (stock heatsink) to about $70. The general concept is that the heatsink absorbs the heat and then the fan cools the heatsink, if you have a fan. The larger the heatsink the more heat is absorbed, which equals a cooler CPU. The more air a fan blows the cooler the heatsink remains, which equals a cooler cpu, but that is general knowledge.
You can either buy just a heatsink or a heatsink and a fan although buying just a heatsink is generally inadaquate.
PASSIVE COOLING
Passive cooling is where no fans are used, only heatsinks. This is what you want to get if you don't have money for a water cooling setup and want a silent computer. Thermalright and Thermaltake rule the market for heatsinks. Some good ones are the XP-90,120, SI 120, and the thermaltake towers.
These cost from $30 to $60 if I remember right. (retail price of course)
Temps: +or- 25c
Pros: silent
Cons: They tend to get hot after long use under full load. You might want to get a Quiet fan to go with it.
ACTIVE COOLING
Stock cooling is the most common because it is included in prebuilt systems, but for the overclocking comunity, third party coolers are very common. It is a good idea if you are not planning to overclock because it doesn't void your waranty, but this is an OC forum so you'll want to replace that stock cooler of yours.
Recenty (somewhat) heatpipes have been introduced into the Air cooling market. these heatpipes take the heat off of the CPU and onto the fins where the heat is cooled by fans/fins. This is the same idea as water cooling except the heatpipes take away the heat instead of water.Please take note that these are on par with lower end watercooling and MUCH cheaper.
A third party cooler is highly recommended, and alot of good ones are out there for quite cheap ($25-$70) This way you can get a really good one that keeps your CPU really cold or one that is silent, or one that is both (most Zalmans) A 3rd party cooler can decrease temps up to 20c but generally about 10c with a good HSF.
Fins take the heat from one spot and spread it through the fin. Most Heatsinks are a lot of fins joined at one spot. The fins take the heat away and distribute it evenly among the entire fin. heatpipes are better, but fins are used at the end of heatpipes and in Water cooling in the radiator to cool. In other words all coolers use them, but incobination with other things.
Some HSF now have heatpipes and can compete quite equally with water cooling systems, so if you are looking at water cooling, maybe a good HSF would be better suited for you.
Average Price: b$40
Average Temps: 20c-30c (idle)
Pros: Cheap, Price/performance ratio, easy to install, small, quiet (can be)
Cons: temps, OC and heat scale linearly, you're not gonna set a record OC
Recomendation: this is a good, cheap type of cooling, and I highly recomend this to an average user/ Overclocker.
recomended coolers: Artic cooling, Scythe, Zalman,Thermaltake, and Thermalright all have some good ones. Look around till you find the one that fits you. There are just too many good ones to recommend only a few.
WATER
Water cooling is what some people preffer, as a step up to air. What happens is the heat is absorbed by the water, taken to a radiator where it sits a while, is cooled, and then goes around again to pick up more heat. pretty srtaight forward.
You can get all-in-one solutions, or just build it yourself if you know what you are doing. If you are going to build it yourself, and aren't really sure about it, that's what your fellow ATer's are here for. Take note that cheap watercooling setups aren't any better than Air cooling with heatpipes. In other words, don't get them. Older Watercooling setups like the old Koolance and TT systems are crap. Don't bother with them. If that's what you are looking at get a good air cooler. Another good reason to get WC is if you want to cool your Northbridge, GPU, and CPU all in one.
Average Price: $150-$200
Average Temps: 10c-20c
Pros: quiet(silent), fun to set up/use, temps stay when you OC, better than air, 24/7 use
Cons: expensive price/perfomance wise, still not setting any records
Recomendation: Water cooling is a good idea if you are looking to get just a bit higher OC, and keep the same temps, or you just like the idea of a silent system that will keep your temps down.
Before you spring on water cooling you want to decide if you would rather have someone else who knows what they are doing put it together or if you'de rather do it all yourself. Don't get cheap watercooling. Heatpipe with air cooling is better and cheaper. Newer systems, are quite good. If you want to cool your GPU, CPU, and northbridge WC is a good idea.
Recomended companies: Danger Den, Swiftech, and Koolance all make good high end parts/ systems, but all in one systems/ prebuilt systems by Zalman, Thermaltake, and some others are decent as well.
CHILLED LIQUID
Chilled liquid is pretty much just what it sounds like. You need a water cooling setup, and then you just use some other type of liquid, or you can use water with antifreeze. What basicly happens is the water goes through an A/C unit which cools the water to negative temps, and then just runs through the same loop as a water setup only alot cooler. Xtremesystems has some good info and would help anyone out that needed some help w/ setting it up and all.
Average temps: -40c, but around -5c-5c on load
Pros: subzero temps, high OC's, fun
Cons: expensive, lots of work, slight chance of records.
Recomendation: This isn't a walk in a park to set up, but subzero temps and superhigh OC's might just be worth it. If you are an avid overclocker, and mechanically intelligent this could be for you. If you don't want to bother with building anything, or aren't interested in overclocking don't look twice.
Recommended options: buy a good water cooling setup and then ad an A/C unit when you have enough money/ knowledge.
T.E.C.
This stands for Thermal Electric Cooling. I read a bit about it and didn't quite understand it. I know it's a bit better than chilled cooling but not quite as good as DICE or Phase change. Expect negative temps, and ALOT of math.
THANKS TO ALGOMARIA FOR THIS INFO ON TEC's
TEC = all one needs to know is these things are based on wattage. The average system will employ a 226W system. The whole concept of this system is, there is a ceramic plate which, when charge is run though it, one side will pull heat and the other side will collect the heat pulled. TEC must be used in conjucation with a water cooling setup, this is due to the nature of the hot side, if not cooled properly, the hot side will heat up the cool side and defeat your TEC. Anyhow, most TEC setups will be placed on top of the CPU with the IHS removed, and the coolside will draw the heat away from the cpu. The hot side then will be attached to the waterblock and the water will cool the hot side on the TEC.
Like most sub degree system's TEC's need to be insulated because they too can reach sub temperatures. The average 226W TEC can pull somewhere from 50-60C off the CPU. Do the math on how hot your CPU runs, and average temperature ranges from ~ -10 - -20.
There is a new setup by CoolIT. This company uses a different setup on using TEC to chill the water. This system however costs rediculously way too much and wont give you record breaking overclocks, but the system is small that it will fit in most cases that has a 90mm rear exhaust fan.
Dry ICE (DICE)
Dry Ice is Pretty much only for overclocking and then benchmarking, and can't be used 24/7. The idea of DICE is to have the DICE right next to your CPU which is really cold and freeze the hell out of your processor. First of all you need tomake a container to hold your DICE in. Copper conducts more heat than alumminum and so copper is generally the container material of choice. Pellets of DICE rather than blocks are recommended so as to provide more surface area. You need to put your DICE + alcohol in your container to really keep it cool. Some types of alcohol are better than others. Be sure to insulate your board, the container, and everything else if you want to use your cp again! Since DICE evaporates it is only used for about 3 days at a time, so it's just for setting a new high PR in benchmarks/OC. Not to be used by beginers. oh yea, I forgot to mention that the evaporated gas is CO2 which is toxic so... keep the windows open for this one.
Average Price: Look online for a retailer/ friend near you. Not sure personally
Extra Price: You need to add in insulation, and containers/ tools
Average temps: -70c to -80c
Pros: subzero temps, high OC's, record setting, bragging rights
Cons: temporary, dangerous, hard to get
Recomendation: This is good if you want to set a PR or brag online, or keep up with your buds at extremesystems, but not for everyone.
Liquid Nitrogen (LN2)
Pretty much the same as DICE in terms of cooling. It's not THAT expensive, but you have to buy a container to move it wich is THAT expensive. This is hard to find, and harder to transport. Be warned.
Average Price: Look online for a retailer/ friend near you. Hospitals have some supposedly. I think a connection is the best way to get some. I've heard prices from $.30 per Liter to $15 per Liter.
Extra Price: You need to add in insulation, and containers/ tools
Average temps: -80c to -90c
Pros: subzero temps, high OC's, record setting, bragging rights
Cons: temporary, dangerous, hard to get
Recomendation: This is good if you want to set a PR or brag online, or keep up with your buds at extremesystems, but not for everyone.
(Like I said, it's almost the same as DICE)
PHASE CHANGE
Phase change is where 2 gasses are used together and "compliment" each other, lowering the temps. (actually I think that's like the opposite of complimenting, but in cooling it's a good thing) There are single stage systems, cascade systems, and then there are autocascade systems. Single stage systems only go through one major altering change, which lowers temps. The more stages the cooler, for the most part. I think 4 stages is the most anyone has ever done. If you want more than a single stage, you can set World Records, but that's only if you get lucky, and generally you need to make your own system to do that. Single stage systems are the norm for these, and i won't go into cascade and autocascade systems becaus if you are going to make one you should have already made single stage system, and have friends who can help you. you can buy single stage systems like vapochill, mach 2, and prometia, but they are really expensive. ($900 and above) So most people build their own. These can cost from $50 to thousands depending on how good you want to make it and what tools/ materials you already have. If you want to make one Lardarse from xtremesystems has some nice guides here">http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=713&s=1</a>, here">http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=714&s=1</a>, and here">http://wwww.vr-zone.com/?i=230&s=1</a>. The first one is the tools. the second is actually building one and the third one is on insulation. VERY IMPORTANT if you like your commputer. OCZ is coming out with a prebuilt Phase change system, and it is supposed to be in the $300-$400 range at first and then down to maybe $250, so that's definitely worth considering.
Average temps: -20c to -150c How much money do you want to spend?
Pros: subzero temps, high OC's, record setting, bragging rights, Fun
Cons: Cost, time, large, and good ones aren't easily attained
Recomendation: If you love to OC, are addicted, and like building things make one. This is for you. i wouldn't recomend any of the prebuilt ones, because of the cost/ performance. You can get some prebuilt by one person for a decent price, and those are good, but the OCZ will be great. It is supposed to be cheaper, than these, but not as good.
Not for everyone, but phase change is THE cooling solution. IMO.
I hope this sets you in the right direction for cooling, and that you have a starting place for all of your cooling needs. If you want more info, just search the net, and read bit. Then ask your online buds.
If you have more info. on anything or questions just post them here. And if anyone wants to show off their cooling setup post pics here. (as long as it's worth looking at)
General Info
First of all you want need to decide what type of cooling you are going to get before you start, and estimate cost, performance, and what you want this cooling for.
NONE
Just a bad idea. Don't try it unless you don't want that processor you just bought.
Some say it is a good idea to feel the temp on your processor when just starting up for a few seconds to see if it is getting any power, but you can't run a processor without any cooling.
Pros: hmm. good question, free :roll:
Cons: everything about it.
Recomendations: don't do it.
AIR
Air cooling is the cheapest, and most common real cooling solution there is. It ranges from free (stock heatsink) to about $70. The general concept is that the heatsink absorbs the heat and then the fan cools the heatsink, if you have a fan. The larger the heatsink the more heat is absorbed, which equals a cooler CPU. The more air a fan blows the cooler the heatsink remains, which equals a cooler cpu, but that is general knowledge.
You can either buy just a heatsink or a heatsink and a fan although buying just a heatsink is generally inadaquate.
PASSIVE COOLING
Passive cooling is where no fans are used, only heatsinks. This is what you want to get if you don't have money for a water cooling setup and want a silent computer. Thermalright and Thermaltake rule the market for heatsinks. Some good ones are the XP-90,120, SI 120, and the thermaltake towers.
These cost from $30 to $60 if I remember right. (retail price of course)
Temps: +or- 25c
Pros: silent
Cons: They tend to get hot after long use under full load. You might want to get a Quiet fan to go with it.
ACTIVE COOLING
Stock cooling is the most common because it is included in prebuilt systems, but for the overclocking comunity, third party coolers are very common. It is a good idea if you are not planning to overclock because it doesn't void your waranty, but this is an OC forum so you'll want to replace that stock cooler of yours.
Recenty (somewhat) heatpipes have been introduced into the Air cooling market. these heatpipes take the heat off of the CPU and onto the fins where the heat is cooled by fans/fins. This is the same idea as water cooling except the heatpipes take away the heat instead of water.Please take note that these are on par with lower end watercooling and MUCH cheaper.
A third party cooler is highly recommended, and alot of good ones are out there for quite cheap ($25-$70) This way you can get a really good one that keeps your CPU really cold or one that is silent, or one that is both (most Zalmans) A 3rd party cooler can decrease temps up to 20c but generally about 10c with a good HSF.
Fins take the heat from one spot and spread it through the fin. Most Heatsinks are a lot of fins joined at one spot. The fins take the heat away and distribute it evenly among the entire fin. heatpipes are better, but fins are used at the end of heatpipes and in Water cooling in the radiator to cool. In other words all coolers use them, but incobination with other things.
Some HSF now have heatpipes and can compete quite equally with water cooling systems, so if you are looking at water cooling, maybe a good HSF would be better suited for you.
Average Price: b$40
Average Temps: 20c-30c (idle)
Pros: Cheap, Price/performance ratio, easy to install, small, quiet (can be)
Cons: temps, OC and heat scale linearly, you're not gonna set a record OC
Recomendation: this is a good, cheap type of cooling, and I highly recomend this to an average user/ Overclocker.
recomended coolers: Artic cooling, Scythe, Zalman,Thermaltake, and Thermalright all have some good ones. Look around till you find the one that fits you. There are just too many good ones to recommend only a few.
WATER
Water cooling is what some people preffer, as a step up to air. What happens is the heat is absorbed by the water, taken to a radiator where it sits a while, is cooled, and then goes around again to pick up more heat. pretty srtaight forward.
You can get all-in-one solutions, or just build it yourself if you know what you are doing. If you are going to build it yourself, and aren't really sure about it, that's what your fellow ATer's are here for.
Take note that cheap watercooling setups aren't any better than Air cooling with heatpipes. In other words, don't get them. Older Watercooling setups like the old Koolance and TT systems are crap. Don't bother with them. If that's what you are looking at get a good air cooler. Another good reason to get WC is if you want to cool your Northbridge, GPU, and CPU all in one.Average Price: $150-$200
Average Temps: 10c-20c
Pros: quiet(silent), fun to set up/use, temps stay when you OC, better than air, 24/7 use
Cons: expensive price/perfomance wise, still not setting any records
Recomendation: Water cooling is a good idea if you are looking to get just a bit higher OC, and keep the same temps, or you just like the idea of a silent system that will keep your temps down.
Before you spring on water cooling you want to decide if you would rather have someone else who knows what they are doing put it together or if you'de rather do it all yourself. Don't get cheap watercooling. Heatpipe with air cooling is better and cheaper. Newer systems, are quite good. If you want to cool your GPU, CPU, and northbridge WC is a good idea.
Recomended companies: Danger Den, Swiftech, and Koolance all make good high end parts/ systems, but all in one systems/ prebuilt systems by Zalman, Thermaltake, and some others are decent as well.
CHILLED LIQUID
Chilled liquid is pretty much just what it sounds like. You need a water cooling setup, and then you just use some other type of liquid, or you can use water with antifreeze. What basicly happens is the water goes through an A/C unit which cools the water to negative temps, and then just runs through the same loop as a water setup only alot cooler.
Xtremesystems has some good info and would help anyone out that needed some help w/ setting it up and all.Average temps: -40c, but around -5c-5c on load
Pros: subzero temps, high OC's, fun
Cons: expensive, lots of work, slight chance of records.
Recomendation: This isn't a walk in a park to set up, but subzero temps and superhigh OC's might just be worth it. If you are an avid overclocker, and mechanically intelligent this could be for you. If you don't want to bother with building anything, or aren't interested in overclocking don't look twice.
Recommended options: buy a good water cooling setup and then ad an A/C unit when you have enough money/ knowledge.
T.E.C.
This stands for Thermal Electric Cooling. I read a bit about it and didn't quite understand it. I know it's a bit better than chilled cooling but not quite as good as DICE or Phase change. Expect negative temps, and ALOT of math.
THANKS TO ALGOMARIA FOR THIS INFO ON TEC's
TEC = all one needs to know is these things are based on wattage. The average system will employ a 226W system. The whole concept of this system is, there is a ceramic plate which, when charge is run though it, one side will pull heat and the other side will collect the heat pulled. TEC must be used in conjucation with a water cooling setup, this is due to the nature of the hot side, if not cooled properly, the hot side will heat up the cool side and defeat your TEC. Anyhow, most TEC setups will be placed on top of the CPU with the IHS removed, and the coolside will draw the heat away from the cpu. The hot side then will be attached to the waterblock and the water will cool the hot side on the TEC.
Like most sub degree system's TEC's need to be insulated because they too can reach sub temperatures. The average 226W TEC can pull somewhere from 50-60C off the CPU. Do the math on how hot your CPU runs, and average temperature ranges from ~ -10 - -20.
There is a new setup by CoolIT. This company uses a different setup on using TEC to chill the water. This system however costs rediculously way too much and wont give you record breaking overclocks, but the system is small that it will fit in most cases that has a 90mm rear exhaust fan.
Dry ICE (DICE)
Dry Ice is Pretty much only for overclocking and then benchmarking, and can't be used 24/7. The idea of DICE is to have the DICE right next to your CPU which is really cold and freeze the hell out of your processor. First of all you need tomake a container to hold your DICE in. Copper conducts more heat than alumminum and so copper is generally the container material of choice. Pellets of DICE rather than blocks are recommended so as to provide more surface area. You need to put your DICE + alcohol in your container to really keep it cool. Some types of alcohol are better than others. Be sure to insulate your board, the container, and everything else if you want to use your cp again! Since DICE evaporates it is only used for about 3 days at a time, so it's just for setting a new high PR in benchmarks/OC. Not to be used by beginers. oh yea, I forgot to mention that the evaporated gas is CO2 which is toxic so... keep the windows open for this one.
Average Price: Look online for a retailer/ friend near you. Not sure personally
Extra Price: You need to add in insulation, and containers/ tools
Average temps: -70c to -80c
Pros: subzero temps, high OC's, record setting, bragging rights
Cons: temporary, dangerous, hard to get
Recomendation: This is good if you want to set a PR or brag online, or keep up with your buds at extremesystems, but not for everyone.
Liquid Nitrogen (LN2)
Pretty much the same as DICE in terms of cooling. It's not THAT expensive, but you have to buy a container to move it wich is THAT expensive. This is hard to find, and harder to transport. Be warned.
Average Price: Look online for a retailer/ friend near you. Hospitals have some supposedly. I think a connection is the best way to get some. I've heard prices from $.30 per Liter to $15 per Liter.
Extra Price: You need to add in insulation, and containers/ tools
Average temps: -80c to -90c
Pros: subzero temps, high OC's, record setting, bragging rights
Cons: temporary, dangerous, hard to get
Recomendation: This is good if you want to set a PR or brag online, or keep up with your buds at extremesystems, but not for everyone.
(Like I said, it's almost the same as DICE)
PHASE CHANGE
Phase change is where 2 gasses are used together and "compliment" each other, lowering the temps. (actually I think that's like the opposite of complimenting, but in cooling it's a good thing) There are single stage systems, cascade systems, and then there are autocascade systems. Single stage systems only go through one major altering change, which lowers temps. The more stages the cooler, for the most part. I think 4 stages is the most anyone has ever done. If you want more than a single stage, you can set World Records, but that's only if you get lucky, and generally you need to make your own system to do that. Single stage systems are the norm for these, and i won't go into cascade and autocascade systems becaus if you are going to make one you should have already made single stage system, and have friends who can help you. you can buy single stage systems like vapochill, mach 2, and prometia, but they are really expensive. ($900 and above) So most people build their own. These can cost from $50 to thousands depending on how good you want to make it and what tools/ materials you already have. If you want to make one Lardarse from xtremesystems has some nice guides here">http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=713&s=1</a>, here">http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=714&s=1</a>, and here">http://wwww.vr-zone.com/?i=230&s=1</a>. The first one is the tools. the second is actually building one and the third one is on insulation. VERY IMPORTANT if you like your commputer. OCZ is coming out with a prebuilt Phase change system, and it is supposed to be in the $300-$400 range at first and then down to maybe $250, so that's definitely worth considering.
Average temps: -20c to -150c How much money do you want to spend?
Pros: subzero temps, high OC's, record setting, bragging rights, Fun
Cons: Cost, time, large, and good ones aren't easily attained
Recomendation: If you love to OC, are addicted, and like building things make one. This is for you. i wouldn't recomend any of the prebuilt ones, because of the cost/ performance. You can get some prebuilt by one person for a decent price, and those are good, but the OCZ will be great. It is supposed to be cheaper, than these, but not as good.
Not for everyone, but phase change is THE cooling solution. IMO.
I hope this sets you in the right direction for cooling, and that you have a starting place for all of your cooling needs. If you want more info, just search the net, and read bit. Then ask your online buds.
If you have more info. on anything or questions just post them here. And if anyone wants to show off their cooling setup post pics here. (as long as it's worth looking at)
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