Which one of these CPU coolers would you recommend?

[Extelleron]

I'm going to be buying a motherboard + CPU combo at Monarch, with a DFI Ultra-D and an Opteron 144 which I plan to overclock to 2.4 GHz+, though I wont be increasing voltages. I'd rather not install the HSF by myself since this is my first build, so I'll have to stick with Monarch's HSF's which I'm pretty sure are overpriced.

Here are the options:

Thermaltake A1772: $49.00
Thermaltake AMD K8 Venus 7+ - $12.65
Thermaltake CL-P0075 K450- $40.69
Thermaltake TR2TT A4014- $20.73
Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCu- $46.74
// with this HSF it says some Corsair Pro/Xpert series RAM wont work and to use "standard RAM", I'm assuming my Patriot 2GB will be fine.

So which CPU cooler would you recommend?

 

[coolpurplefan]

Duh, there must be something wrong with that price for the Zalman 7000 alcu LED. I got one from ncix (in Canada) and used price match to get a price of $36.95 CDN (the link I submitted I think was from shoprbc). Anyway, I use pricegrabber.ca (you can use .com for US) and pricenetwork.ca

In any case, I like the Zalman 7000 because it`s silent and adequate for someone who doesn`t want to do any overclocking. Plus, if you remove that black thing around the CPU socket on the motherboard, you can see you can easilly twist the heatsink to safely remove the heatsink (avoiding the air vaccum that causes the CPU sticking to the heatsink resulting in broken pins). You also have to remove the stock backplate and use the one supplied by Zalman so you don`t have a space between the CPU and heatsink resulting in higher temperatures.

I took off the backplate on my Asus K8N4-E Deluxe and I found out there was a plastic film covering the glue on it. So, I didn`t have to use any rubbing alcohol like someone suggested.

EDIT: You want to overclock to 2.4 GHz? LOL, there are socket 754 CPUs you can get for $148 that push 2.4 GHz at stock at newegg if that`s what you want. OK, it`s single core but still a lot of power for most applications.

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: coolpurplefan
Duh, there must be something wrong with that price for the Zalman 7000 alcu LED. I got one from ncix (in Canada) and used price match to get a price of $36.95 CDN (the link I submitted I think was from shoprbc). Anyway, I use pricegrabber.ca (you can use .com for US) and pricenetwork.ca

In any case, I like the Zalman 7000 because it`s silent and adequate for someone who doesn`t want to do any overclocking. Plus, if you remove that black thing around the CPU socket on the motherboard, you can see you can easilly twist the heatsink to safely remove the heatsink (avoiding the air vaccum that causes the CPU sticking to the heatsink resulting in broken pins). You also have to remove the stock backplate and use the one supplied by Zalman so you don`t have a space between the CPU and heatsink resulting in higher temperatures.

I took off the backplate on my Asus K8N4-E Deluxe and I found out there was a plastic film covering the glue on it. So, I didn`t have to use any rubbing alcohol like someone suggested.

I plan on overclocking, so you dont think it's a good idea to go with the 7000?

 

[coolpurplefan]

Well, check out silentpcreview.com
It`s acceptable, but a lot of people prefer the Thermalright XP-90. You might be better off putting on the CPU yourself. I`ll try to find the links for videos for you.

EDIT: Here`s your link...
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/Tec...ources/0,,30_182_869_9460^6678,00.html

Just make sure you put the thermal grease in the middle so it spreads by itself when you put on the heatsink. That way, it won`t introduce air bubbles. You put about the equivalent of 1 and 3 quarters grain of rice. You can use Arctice Silver Ceramique because it`s non-conductive although many people prefer Arctic Silver 5. Some people say there`s more suction though when you remove a heatshink with AS5. (Some people have broken pins because of that).

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: coolpurplefan
Well, check out silentpcreview.com
It`s acceptable, but a lot of people prefer the Thermalright XP-90. You might be better off putting on the CPU yourself. I`ll try to find the links for videos for you.

EDIT: Here`s your link...
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/Tec...ources/0,,30_182_869_9460^6678,00.html

Just make sure you put the thermal grease in the middle so it spreads by itself when you put on the heatsink. That way, it won`t introduce air bubbles. You put about the equivalent of 1 and 3 quarters grain of rice. You can use Arctice Silver Ceramique because it`s non-conductive although many people prefer Arctic Silver 5. Some people say there`s more suction though when you remove a heatshink with AS5. (Some people have broken pins because of that).

Doesnt the heatsink come with thermal grease pre-installed? That's what I thought, and the video says it does as well. Looking at the video, I might try installing it myself, it doesnt look quite as hard as I thought it would be. Looks more like something that you just take your time to do, and do slowly, but isnt actually a difficult task.

 

[coolpurplefan]

Uh, well, sometimes yes, and sometimes no.
I just remembered that in the case of monarch, they will choose heatsinks that won`t weigh too much to avoid breaking the motherboard.
Note that the Zalman 7000 alcu is a lot lighter than the cu model.

Many people don`t use the thermal pads.

EDIT: Don`t forget to touch the metal part of the case for 30 seconds in case of static electricity or wear an anti-static wrist strap.

 

[bigpow]

Those are expensive yet lame
Just get a retail CPU and buy a decent HSF somewhere else

 

[Jhhnn]

Of the options listed, you definitely want the Zalman. It's definitely a high performance piece of equipment, if not quite the equal of some of the newest heatpipe coolers. Not the very best, still damned good...

 

[Extelleron]

I'm looking at the XP-90 and the CNPS9500........ which one is better, are there any reviews where they go head to head?

 

[RallyMaster]

I think the results between the XP-90 and CNPS9500 are dependent on how much you want to pay for it and what your own airflow will be. XP-90 is cheaper but from what I heard, would require a 55 cfm 92 mm fan (loud) for full results. However, the CNPS9500 should be fine by itself at 5V.

 

[essasin]

The harder part is overclocking your cpu and installing the heatsink is the easier of the two. Heatsinks are very easy to install if you take your time. Thermalright xp120, xp90, Scythe Ninja are all good coolers. Just remmeber you have to buy a seperate fan.

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: essasin
The harder part is overclocking your cpu and installing the heatsink is the easier of the two. Heatsinks are very easy to install if you take your time. Thermalright xp120, xp90, Scythe Ninja are all good coolers. Just remmeber you have to buy a seperate fan.

I think I'll get an XP90, IDK, installing a heatsink looks easy on the AMD video but when I read the XP-90 directions it sounds hard....

 

[Madwand1]

Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro is popular here; very cheap for the performance and pretty easy to install. E.g. $30 in computer stores -- you might be able to do better.

Only thing is that unless you run Cool & Quiet or have some other means for reducing the fan speed, assuming you care about silence and reducing noise when you can without sacrificing much in price / performance, you might have to spend another $6 or so on a Fanmate or some other tool to slow down the fan.

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1895&page=1

That said, the Opty 144 can probably hit 2.4 easily on stock cooling or at least something simpler. Come to think of it: Does this Opty come with a heatpipe cooler stock? If so, then getting an aftermarket one would only be for greater silence at best, not greater cooling.

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: Madwand1
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro is popular here; very cheap for the performance and pretty easy to install. E.g. $30 in computer stores -- you might be able to do better.

Only thing is that unless you run Cool & Quiet or have some other means for reducing the fan speed, assuming you care about silence and reducing noise when you can without sacrificing much in price / performance, you might have to spend another $6 or so on a Fanmate or some other tool to slow down the fan.

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1895&page=1

That said, the Opty 144 can probably hit 2.4 easily on stock cooling or at least something simpler. Come to think of it: Does this Opty come with a heatpipe cooler stock? If so, then getting an aftermarket one would only be for greater silence at best, not greater cooling.

The Opteron 144 I'm looking at is the OEM which is $129 @ Monarch, so it doesnt come with any HSF at all. Looking at the "Arctic Cooling Freezer" 64 Pro, it seems to be very good performance for the price since it's only $34.99. I'm still a little bit concerned about my ability to put in the processor and HSF, it looks easy but in reality it may be hard, IDK. Would the 64 Pro be a "screw type heatsink" or "clip heatsink" as shown in the video?

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

It's a clip type, a cake walk really. You could take it to Best Buy or CompUSA
and have one of the"techs?" do it for you.

Clean off the retail pad and install it with Ceramique or CoolerMaster Premium.

There is a thread at the top of this page with links in it about TIM=thermal interface material.

Use the search function to do your homework as most of us have. MMmmKay


...Galvanized

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
It's a clip type, a cake walk really. You could take it to Best Buy or CompUSA
and have one of the"techs?" do it for you.

Clean off the retail pad and install it with Ceramique or CoolerMaster Premium.

There is a thread at the top of this page with links in it about TIM=thermal interface material.

Use the search function to do your homework as most of us have. MMmmKay


...Galvanized

If I want to, I can just use the pad that comes with it and not get thermal grease, right? One less step to mess up on.............Anyway thanks for the help guys, I think I'll be much happy with an Arctic Cooling Freezer than a Zalmon CNPS7000.

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: Extelleron
If I want to, I can just use the pad that comes with it and not get thermal grease, right? One less step to mess up on.............Anyway thanks for the help guys, I think I'll be much happy with an Arctic Cooling Freezer than a Zalmon CNPS7000.

Certainly. I debated taking if off at start myself, and decided that I should install it with the pad, so that I could have a point of reference for subsequent comparison... I have yet to replace the stock thermal material. I will do it eventually, but there's no rush. You should be fine.