HSF to OC Q6600 to (at least) 3.2GHz - £50-60

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Hi guys,

I currently have Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler but my CPU temp at full load is already 60-65C without any OC. So either I have completely wrong fan speed settings (see the BIOS settings below) or I need a better HSF?!

I'm looking into a few HSF here on overclockers to get my CPU OC-ed to 3.2 GHz (or even 3.4GHz). I would like to spend in the region of £50-60.

Options I've looked at, any comments / suggestions are appreciated:

Gelid GX7 High Performance (£40)

Noctua NH-U12P SE2 Dual Fan (£58)

Prolimatech Panther CPU Cooler (£38)

Prolimatech Super Mega CPU Cooler (£60)

Thermaltake Contac 29 CPU Cooler (£27)

Zero Infinity Shiva CPU Cooler (£45)

Zalman CNPS11X Extreme (£46)

I've read that one cannot go wrong with Prolimatech but I'd need to add ~£20 for fans and clips with the Super Mega option, right?

mobo: Asus P5KC (BIOS 1203)
cpu: Q6600 Kentsfield (6-F-B) @ 2.4 GHz (1.25V)
ram: 4xCM2X6400 (8GB) 800MHz 5-5-5-18 (1.8V)
gpu: nVIDIA GTX280
psu: Arctic 700 (+3.3v = 30A / +5v = 38A / +12v1 = 22A / +12v2 = 22A / -12v = 0.6A / +5Vsb = 3A)
case: Thermaltake Armor+

BIOS Settings:

 

[scibuff]

Thanks, I've cleaned the heat sink and the fan completely of dust and I'm seeing the same temp ... I'll have a look at the seating ...

So, you guys are saying that the HSF I have should handle OC up to 3.2GHz without too much problem?

I wouldn't mind paying some money to get the temp a bit lower anyways, any of those I've listed that should be better than AC freezer 7 pro?

 

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Thanks, I'll have a look at the IHS as well

 

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Thank you smit, I'll google that - just ordered a set of sandpaper (320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, and 1200). I'm assuming I'll need a thermal compound so I'll get one of those shown here (e.g. Akasa AK-455 Thermal Compound)

 

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Thanks, Arctic Cooling MX-4 it is

 

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p.s. I tried to OC to 2.7GHz but the temp climbed past 70C after a few seconds of prime95 testing so I stopped and went back to 2.4 and will start with lapping and reseating once the materials come ... thanks for all comments