What is a good CPU cooler for P4 2.8C?

[ilikesushi]

Something that is better than the stock HSF.

 

[Mucker]

This will do very well for you, unless you plan very aggressive overclocking: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de...806306?v=glance&s=electronics&n=507846
The all copper version is $3 more there, but they perform nearly the same. You don't need a backplate either, it will easily mount to the existing mb 478 retention bracket. On my board, I did replace the plastic pins of the 478 retention bracket with metal bolts just for insurance. Use some Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste and you're good to go.

I have the all Cu version of this on my 2.8c @ 3.2 and my temps are 42C idle and 53C load on an Abit IC7 board. If you have an Asus board your temps will report about 10C lower than Abit. I could get the temps a little bit lower, but at the expense of cooling fan noise. I am quite happy with the performance/noise ratio of this HSF.

The Zalman will be all the cooling I ever need for this particular CPU, it is a very good match for a mildly overclocked Northwood CPU.

m 🙂

 

[MisterChief]

Either a Zalman or a late model Thermaltake Volcano works well.

 

[ilikesushi]

Thanks for the recs.

Also Mucker, are you saying that the Asus utility does not report the correct temperatures? I indeed have an Asus motherboard. Should I add about 10C to the reading that I see?

 

[Mucker]

No, I was just trying to give you a relative comparison between my temps and what yours may be. There has always been some debate about who's (Abit or Asus) CPU temp calculation is correct. Please read this article, it kind of sorts out the facts: http://www.bleedinedge.com/reviews/abit_asus_temps/abit_asus_temps_01.html

I had an Asus P4P800 and saw nearly identicle results as the reviewer in that article did.

m

 

[wisdomtooth]

Overclockers.com rates the Thermalright XP90 as the top performing P4 heatsink with the lowest thermal resistance.

I've used one.. Good heatsink. I did switch to a Zalman CNPS7000AlCu though, even though the Zalman is not quite as good as the XP90, it runs quieter and I love quiet.