Why are heatsinks so expensive?

[sirspotticus]

So I'm looking at heatsinks today for my new 2500+ and it seems like almost all the decent ones are over half the price of the cpu itself! How can they be so expensive? And on top of that, a lot of people receive their heatsinks so poorly finished that they have to lap it themselves. Guess I'm gonna have to wait til one goes on sale or my cpu's fried, whichever comes first.

 

[sirspotticus]

btw, I would have never posted this if I weren't hard-up for money right now :wine:

 

[bjc112]

Half the price because the CPU's are so damn cheap...

And because it can allow you to reach much higher clock speeds...

If you want a great price/performance ratio go with the

Vantec AeroFlow for about $25...

 

[Jeff7]

What's your price range?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Because most people just use the free HSF that comes with retail boxed CPUs. Exotic super-coolers are a low-volume niche market.

 

[sirspotticus]

Don't really have a price range. Just don't see a reason for spending over $40 on a heatsink. Would the retail heatsink/fan hold up well overclocking a 2500+ to a 3200+ or so? Also, thanks BJC for the Vantec suggestion. Was wondering though if that combo was a little noisy, since most people use an 80 or 92mm fan.

 

[Robor]

I've got a Zalman (aluminum/copper combo - can't remember the model #) myself and I'm very happy with it. Simple to install and very quiet (adjustable fan speed even).

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Eh, just buy retail and use the bundled heatsink.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: sirspotticus
Don't really have a price range. Just don't see a reason for spending over $40 on a heatsink. Would the retail heatsink/fan hold up well overclocking a 2500+ to a 3200+ or so? Also, thanks BJC for the Vantec suggestion. Was wondering though if that combo was a little noisy, since most people use an 80 or 92mm fan.

Well the other thing to consider - you may change CPU's more often than heatsinks. My Alpha 8045 got me from an XP1500 up through to the XP2100 I've got now, doing XP2600 (2.2GHz).

If overclocking, you'll want a better thermal compound than the stuff that usually comes with the retail heatsink. Arctic Silver's stuff is generally easy to apply, and fairly cheap, though there are very slightly better products out there. You should also have good case ventilation. I've used the $3 80mm fans at Bestbyte.net in the past with no problems; looks like SVC might have other options cheaper still. Regular fan; cheap LED fan.

 

[PowerMacG5]

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
Eh, just buy retail and use the bundled heatsink.

I agree. If you plan on overclocking, I don't see why you are complaining. You are still saving money from a 2500+ to a 3200+.

 

[sirspotticus]

thanks for the advice. think i might be going for an alpha 8045 myself. either that or a thermalright sk-7. this way i won't have to pay for the overkill and will still get a nice quiet, cool hsf setup.

 

[sirspotticus]

sweet.. that was my 100th post. i would like to thank you all for sharing in this moment with me.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Originally posted by: sirspotticus
sweet.. that was my 100th post. i would like to thank you all for sharing in this moment with me.

Only 100, geez, get to work man

 

[InlineFive]

Well if you are budget look at some Speeze coolers at NewEgg. Otherwise is you can spend $15 and get the Thermalright AX-7 from a lot of vendors. My AX-7 works like a charm.

-Por

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: sirspotticus
thanks for the advice. think i might be going for an alpha 8045 myself. either that or a thermalright sk-7. this way i won't have to pay for the overkill and will still get a nice quiet, cool hsf setup.

i got an sk-7 and a panaflo (forget the model ) that does ~48cfm at ~37db and they cost me under 25 together

wanted a ys tech adjustable, would have been prolly just over 25 or so @svc

damn good cooling though, my 1700+ does 40/45C (idle/load) @ 2145mhz

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: sirspotticus
sweet.. that was my 100th post. i would like to thank you all for sharing in this moment with me.

you must not have noticed the people here with 25000+ ...several people have 100 posts in a couple of days
we'll have a party if you beat any of them to 50000 though, then we'll make you move out of your parents basement and find a job without access to forums and pr0n

 

[Sunner]

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: sirspotticus
sweet.. that was my 100th post. i would like to thank you all for sharing in this moment with me.

you must not have noticed the people here with 25000+ ...several people have 100 posts in a couple of days
we'll have a party if you beat any of them to 50000 though, then we'll make you move out of your parents basement and find a job without access to forums and pr0n

I don't think people with those kind of postcount/days have enough "off-AT time" for partying

 

[Jeff7]

There's a sale on the Thermalright SLK-900A's at SVC right now. You just need to use the coupon code for the Thermalright heatsinks to get them for $19.99.
Not a bad price actually; I'm tempted to buy one....but my Alpha 8045's do the job well enough for now.

 

[sirspotticus]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
There's a sale on the Thermalright SLK-900A's at SVC right now. You just need to use the coupon code for the Thermalright heatsinks to get them for $19.99.
Not a bad price actually; I'm tempted to buy one....but my Alpha 8045's do the job well enough for now.

Thanks, saw that this morning and picked one up right away. And then I saw the Dell deal.