New, looking for cooler

iviv

iviv

iviv

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I'm a bit of a newb to the whole overclocking thing. I have overclocked my PC, though I only changed the FSB, nothing else. I got my E6600 to 2.8Ghz, and left it at that.
Then, about half a year ago, I was taking it to a lan party, and accidently put the PC in my car upsidedown. Arrived to find the heatsink sitting in the case. Nothing damaged, though I had to reduce the overclock as it was understandably running hotter than before.
And now I'm getting annoyed at not being able to play massive Supreme Commander battles without my PC crying, so I'm thinking of overclocking some more. And rather than just buying some more thermal paste to get a few more Mhz from reseating the stock heatsink, I'm guessing its going to be easier and more efficient to get something a bit meatier.

Now, is 2.8Ghz on stock cooler, without fiddling with voltage or anything like that, a good overclock? Currently its idling at 34C @ 2.52Ghz. Hitting 65C under stress (Prime 95), but I wouldn't want to be buying an awsome cooler, just for it to go on a bad chip.

So, please reccomend me a good cooler, and an average cooler. Thanks :)

Specs:
E6600 @ 2.52Ghz
Asus P5b
X1950XT 512Mb
Antec 900 case
 
Thanks.

Do either of those coolers come with thermal paste of any sort? I hear that some come without any, some have rubbish stuf that you should replace, and some have awsome stuff?

What about lapping? I assume this would remove any thermal paste pre-applied to the heatsink, is it really needed? Would it make much of a difference?
 
I've been reading Toms Hardware, as they've recently been doing reviews of several CPU coolers, and the two that stood out the most were the Thermalright IFX-14 and the coolermaster Hyper TX2.
While the IFX is on the expensive side, the TX2 seemed to do very well in their test and was one of their reccomended ones, along with the TX2. And since its under £10, I'm wondering how it compares to the freezer 7 you have been reccomending.

Noise level isn't of much consequence to me, my Antec900 will easily drown anything out with little difficulty.
Also, do the freezer 7 or TX2 need any form of thermal paste to be applied? And its going to be best to just get a tube of AS5, since 1 tube would last a while, right?
I'm looking to get this sorted now while there is free shipping (I'll probably be splashing out for a new hard drive too, so the £40 limit will be hit :( )
 
iviv said:
Thanks.

Do either of those coolers come with thermal paste of any sort? I hear that some come without any, some have rubbish stuf that you should replace, and some have awsome stuff?
Click to expand...
AC 7 comes with it's own MX2 already applied that's worked great for me.
 
iviv said:
Thanks.

Do either of those coolers come with thermal paste of any sort? I hear that some come without any, some have rubbish stuf that you should replace, and some have awsome stuff?

What about lapping? I assume this would remove any thermal paste pre-applied to the heatsink, is it really needed? Would it make much of a difference?
Click to expand...

They normally come with a tiny amount of the bottom of the heatsink, but if your overclocking etc I'd invest another £7 and get a tube of AS7.
 
Tuniq Tower 120-LFB is on this weeks offer again, very good cooler if your budget will stretch to that, also comes with a tube of thermal paste.

Just be sure to check the flatness of the cpu cooler you get before installing it. as lots of these after market cooler are not very flat and need lapping to get the best performance from them. I managed to lose 20 degrees after lapping mine. but mine was very badly rounded so the contact was pretty poor.

This was on a E2200 clocked to 3.3GHz. So i'm sure your E6600 would easily get to that.
 
Do either of those coolers come with thermal paste of any sort? I hear that some come without any, some have rubbish stuf that you should replace, and some have awsome stuff?
Click to expand...
The tuniq 120 comes with a small injection style tube of there own thermal compound. Can't comment on its performance comparatively, but keeps my system cool. Most the tuniq's seem pretty flat so should be ok 95% if the time.

I wouldnt say its worth buying different thermal paste anyway, it would probably only make 1-2c difference.
 
Akasa AK-965 CPU Cooler , is as good as the Freezer 7. Fan noise maybe an issue at full pelt on either, but it cooled my E8500 as good as the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 Heatpipe Direct Touch Cooler i got to replace it (noise levels)
 
Hmm, with £10 off the Tuniq Tower 120, I'm certainly very tempted by that. But its still £10 more than the Freezer 7. What sort of increase in cooling performance would I see between these two?
Because I'm thinking that a CPU cooler will be able to be carried on after CPU upgrades, so its worth getting a good one now.
Plus, from whats been said, I wouldn't need the AS5 for the TT120, putting them at pretty much the same price overall.
 
Can recommend the thermalright 120ultra, i have the non extreme edition and i get idling temps of 25-27 on my overclocked e2140.
 
If your looking for a CPU cooler to last you through upgrades your better off with a Thermalrite or Tuniq Tower. The push pins on the Freezer Pro and Akasa AK-965 have a limited life span.
 
Well, it probably wouldn't be more than one upgrade. My current E6600, then probably a quad core either later in the year or next year.
And by then they'll probably be on a new socket or something, so this wouldn't be much use.

That said, the Tuniq was the one I was looking for. So, go with that?

Also, I have an Antec 900 case, would I have to remove the mobo to fit it? I'm guessing so, but I'd like conformation if possible. Finally, the paste thats pre-applied to the Tuniq Tower 120 will be fine, right? Going from what DavidB said.

Thanks for all the input so far :)
 
The thermal paste with the tuniq comes in a tube that you need to apply yourself. I see no reason why this paste would make anymore than 1-2 degrees difference at most.
 
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