How necessary is a CPU cooler?

Gromm

Gromm

Gromm

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Joined
5 Nov 2007
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Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
Corsair HX520 520 Watt PSU
Asus P5KC
BFG NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
Antec P182
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit

That's the basics of my spec above. I'm looking at getting a CPU cooler perhaps, mainly because I see lots of people including them in their specs in the hardware forum. Having said that, I don't know a whole lot about them. How are they attached to the motherboard? Are they easy to put on/take off? And the main thing, do I really need one? I'll be looking to get into overclocking, never done it before but want to start getting to grips with it. Haven't put my parts together yet, so I can't tell you any temps that they currently run at.

So yeah, if anyone could recommend me any that will fit on/in my motherboard/cpu/case, that'd be cool.

Also, what's everyone's opinions on RAM/graphics card coolers? Overkill? Don't see much mentioned of them. Also fan controllers, how easy are they to install, and would they go on a P182?

Apologies for my highly ignorant questions, first time I've built a machine. Cheers all!
 
Replacing the stock one. What I mean is, would I benefit from replacing the stock one, or do you really have to be overclocking lots to make it worth while?
 
It's usually only worth replacing the stock cooler if your looking to maximise your overclock or quieten your rig.

Jokester
 
I assume you mean how necessary are after market coolers, rather than having none at all...

It varies depending on your usage, if you want a very quiet system then it pays to upgrade them so you can use slower, larger and quieter fans (or run without a fan at all).

If you want to overclock a lot then again they will keep the temps down to reasonable levels giving you more headroom to overclock. However if noise isn't a huge concern and you only want to overclock a little bit then the stock coolers are generally ok.

I personally have a basic water cooling system which really isn't needed, I wanted to set one up just to have a go; as a bonus it keeps my CPU really cool and allows me to use very low speed fans. I have an Accelero S1 on my 8800gt because I found the stock cooling to be far too loud, it has also halved the temps.

As for recommendations, the Thermalright Ultra Extreme is about the best CPU air cooler available but it is also very expensive. The Arctic Freezer 7 pro offers decent levels of cooling and are pretty inexpensive. For the 8800GT you might find the stock cooling perfectly adequate but the Accelero S1 will lower the temperatures and sound levels.
 
For silence + performance (as this is overclockers after all): IFX-14 with 14cm yate loon fans
For performance (raw): Ultra120-extreme

Bang for buck: Arctic Freezer 7 Pro.
Silence for buck: Scythe Ninja w/ quiet fan.
 
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