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Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Cooler

inf|Nemean

inf|Nemean

inf|Nemean

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Joined
29 May 2009
Posts
49
Hello :)

It's my first post here, and my English may not be that quite good because I am Dutch, but I got some questions.

I own a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 which is not overclocked (Cause I can't find the settings in the Bios, and don't know what to change etc etc etc..)

My CPU seem to be a hot-head, it is idle on rather high tempatures in my eyes;

2s7w13m.jpg


Idle;
Core 0; 46
Core 1; 37
Core 2; 37
Core 3; 37

Stressed;
Core 0; 61
Core 1; 53
Core 2; 48
Core 3; 48

So I've been thinking to get rid of my Asus Silent Square evo and get a nice Water Cooling set (Dunno which one because I never did water cooling and don't know what set fits it), or I want a new cooler which cools great.

My question at you guys/girls, if you can help me out. (I won't ask about Overclocking, cause on many other forums they give me a random tutorial/guide and I still can't get out of it =P).

1. Should I go for Watercooling?
Which set should fit my XFX n780i Sli motherboard?
Or Should I go for air cooling, if yes what cooler?

I know this has nothing to do with CPU's but I am searching for a new headset, I currently have a Sennheiser PC150, but for my gaming I want a new one. Hope you can help me out :)

All my specs;

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450
Mobo: XFX nForce 780i 3-Way SLI Intel
Memory: Corsair Twin2X 4GB DDR2-800 CL5 EPP DHX kit
Video/Graphics card: MSI N280GTX-T2D1G-Super OC
Harddisk: Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB SATA2
Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB SATA2
PSU: Cooler Master Real Power M1000
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit

Thanks :)
 
I suppose each individual will have different views on what you should do, but with a good air cooler you will get a good overclock with your Q9450 (3.6-3.8GHz), good air coolers would be:

Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme with Scythe 120mm 1600rpm fan

Noctua NH-U12P

Titan TTC-NK85TZ Fenrir

I use a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme with my Q9550 and have it clocked @ 4.0GHz...

I will leave it too others (who know what they are talking about) to explain about H20/liquid cooling, as I know zilch about!

Welcome to OcUK forums.
 
thermaltake ultra or the titan fenrir are good on air, and nice and simple etc. DTek Fuzion V2 is the water block you want, thermochill rad (bigger = better) some yate loon fans, laing pump, a res of some form, tubes and hose clips and then some feser one, unless something better has recently come out. But if your not going to overclock water is pretty pointless for its cost, unless you jsut want it to look cool :)
 
Avoid everything Thermaltake. Especially their water-cooling range.




Don't confuse Thermaltake with Thermalright btw. The latter are worth buying.
 
What Cob says is very true.

If you are really dead set on watercooling, set a budget and you can be spec'd something half decent, though it will be separates you'll have to assemble; it's the best way. Expect to pay at least £150 for a decent setup.

However, for almost the same performance (certainly enough for a respectible OC), but with a little more noise (and a lot less expense), follow jbloggs' advice. The TRUE is widely regarded as the daddy of air cooling, just need to pair it with a fan that is suitable (e.g. noctua P12). The NH-U12P is also a very good cooler, and comes with a decent fan. The Titan Fenrir seems to outperform the previous two in a lot of scenarios, but it is markedly more noisy.

If I were you, i'd go with a TRUE and a decent fan for best cooling. Spend the money you would have spent on watercooling buying yourself some nice new games to play on your PC!

EDIT: Forgot to mention, make sure you get some good thermal compound and cleaner when getting a new cooler. I think the noctua cooler comes with some that is pretty good, though Arctic Silver 5 is highly regarded, and certainly has done a good job for me in the past. Some isopropyl alcohol (as pure as possible) would be suitable for cleaning the heatsink and CPU, though there are dedicated cleaning solutions available too that are probably even more effective.
 
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Another vote for the TRUE here, keeps my q6600 @ 3.6ghz at around 65oc fully stressed, so should cool your Q9450 nicely as (IIRC) they are cooler than the Q6600 due to being 45nm instead of 65nm
 
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