Air cooling £50 Budget?

Maacck

Maacck

Maacck

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I need a CPU Cooler and thermal paste for around £50-55 max

I've been looking/asking around and have been pointed at these:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-010-TI
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-002-AR

Or should I save a little more money and go for H50/H70 WC?

(i7 930 2.80GHz (Bloomfield)(Socket LGA1366)

I don't intend on over-clocking any-time soon, but I do intend to be doing some video rendering at at least 720p, and gaming ^_^.

Also how do I go about removing the old thermal paste from the cpu?
 
If you don't plan on overclocking - then the stock cooler will handle your CPU fine. Even if you are video rendering or running Prime95 all the time.

However, an aftermarket cooler will keep things quieter.

If you are fixed on getting an aftermarket cooler (maybe for overclocking in the future) then this cooler and this fan would be my choice. Its an excellent cooler and is designed to work with low rpm (ie low noise) fans like that one. You can use the tube of thermal paste that comes with this cooler - it is actually pretty good.
 
Noise isn't really a deciding factor as I always wear headphone when im at the comp anyway.

What's the fan for? Push/Pull configuration thing I'm guessing? I have antec 1200, so would that second fan go over one of the fans at the back?
 
Ah, if noise isn't a concern and you won't be overclocking then you may as well save your money on CPU cooling. However, please bear in mind that overclocking does dramatically increase the speed of rendering/video editing as they are very CPU heavy applications.

Also, if you are buying a new system (CPU, RAM and motherboard) you may want to have a look into Intel "Sandy Bridge" which is being released in early January. This is when the next generation "mainstream" platform using the new micro-architecture is relased. Next generation i3/i5 and i7 are being released for this platform and they perform better clock-for-clock than current i7s in CPU heavy applications. You may want to have a read of this preview article which includes benchmarks.
 
Thermalright Silver Arrow (comes with its own fans)

Nocdua DH-14 (plus 2x Akasa Viper fans)

Prolimatech Megahalems (plus 2x Akasa Viper fans)

But as said above, if you're not looking to overclock the system then it's really pointless spending that kind of silly money on a cooler.

As for getting the thermal paste off, use isopropyl alcohol or something similar.
 
Prolimatech Megahalems. IF you are not overclocking then this should be fine without any fines at all making it completely silent (assuming you have good case airflow). If you do decide to overclock in the future then just add some fans to it. WIN/WIN scenario.
 
w3bbo said:
Prolimatech Megahalems. IF you are not overclocking then this should be fine without any fines at all making it completely silent (assuming you have good case airflow). If you do decide to overclock in the future then just add some fans to it. WIN/WIN scenario.
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Ofcouse - Passive, good call man. :)

I think I remember that the i7 920 passed a bench test at stock speeds, but you would want decent airflow in the case.

If the OP was going to go down the passive route then I would instead suggest looking at the Thermalright HR-02 (costs ~£52). This cooler looks like it was designed to passively cool i7 chips - even when overclocked, its a really sweet cooler (I want one).
 
+1 for akasa nero. if you're not overclocking it's very quiet.

If I were you i'd jus keep stock cooler and get custom fan profile to make stock cooler dead silent unless in heavy use.
 
I tried rendering video at 480 and even 360p and almost instantly the red motherboard light comes on and temperatures hit 80c+ within seconds. I could never get the stock cooler to sit properly. Until recently when I tried to re-sit and failed again this time making the situation worse, the idle temps have doubled to about 55-60c. Then a few days later, I cant even boot up the pc without an array of warning lights. ( Im not using my PC at the moment, to make sure not to damage it )

I suppose I just want some sort of future proofing also, as I don't want to have to spend any more money until it needs a MAJOR upgrade.
 
cmndr_andi said:
Ofcouse - Passive, good call man. :)

I think I remember that the i7 920 passed a bench test at stock speeds, but you would want decent airflow in the case.

If the OP was going to go down the passive route then I would instead suggest looking at the Thermalright HR-02 (costs ~£52). This cooler looks like it was designed to passively cool i7 chips - even when overclocked, its a really sweet cooler (I want one).
Click to expand...

There's one in MM if you search for it ;)

My own recommendation would be the Silver Arrow or the Noctua NH-D14, the former being slightly more efficient and much cheaper. If size is a concern, then the Thermalright VX or Ultra Extreme over the Prolimatech.
 
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