Spec me a CPU cooler for £30

[dave1983]

Hey Guys

Im a proud owner of an Intel Presler D 925 3.Ghz and im looking to overclock the thing, i tried a little test last nite got it to 3.45 Ghz, then the system shut down (fail safe if the cpu overheats). anyone spec me a good quality cooler, apparently you can overclock the CPU to 4.25ghz

 

[cmndr_andi]

Hi there, may I ask what your motherboard make and model number is?

 

[dave1983]

Hi there, may I ask what your motherboard make and model number is?

it's a Foxconn G41MXE, the bios does have a FIT (foxconn intelegent technology)

 

[cmndr_andi]

If you are planning to spend £30 anyway, I think you would do much better by spending it on a new CPU. You can get a E6600 core 2 duo (2.4GHz) for about this price on the members market (one is currently going for £35) - and even running at stock speeds it will handily beat an overclocked pentium D while being much cooler.

This benchmark compares a Pentium D @ 3.46Ghz against a Core 2 Duo with a slightly lower clockspeed than the E6600.

 

[dave1983]

that's interesting to see, i thought the Intel Pentium D and Core 2 Duo are exactly the same, what about quad core?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-269-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=567

 

[cmndr_andi]

Unfortunately not, Pentium D is basically two Pentium 4 chips sandwiched together, while core 2 duo is a newer, faster architecture than is generally much better.

This is confused somewhat by Intel's "Pentium Dual Core" range - these are core 2 based and nothing to do with pentium D.

Quad core is a good option if you feel you will make use of the power. However, something like the Q8300 would not be my first choice, even though it is a nice chip. Instead, a second-hand Q6600 will cost less (~£80) and will perform and overclock about as well.