Urgent! CPU running idle at 66 degrees! CPU cooler choices

[villos]

Hi there guys and gals. I've been looking at the zalman 9700 to sort out my cooling issues.i was just wondering whether anyone knows if it would fit in my case with the combination of components i have...essentially, its a

>thermaltake tsunami with side window and small fan
>asus p5w dh
>intel c2d e6600 (not overclocked)

i'm currently using the stock cooler, which doesnt appear to be doing its job properly. from what i have read, idle temps should not be higher than 55 degs or so.

i'm assuming that if i were to go ahead with the 9700, i would have to remove the MB, which would give me a chance to re-wire everything, cause its such a mess in there . does anyone have any tips regarding ideal wire routing techniques? e.g. ive seen some people put the wires underneath the MB. is this possible with my set up? (i cant remember cause i wasnt building the system at the time). also, ohw about thermal compound? the 9700 comes with some kind of liquid...will this suffice?

if there are any other recomendations for similar coolers, please let us know...the maximum im looking to spend is £50, and i would like a balance of quietness and low temps (if its not too much to ask)

any help on the matter would be much appreaciated.

 

[villos]

Before you buy anything, make sure 100% that your heatsink is seated properly and you have the right amount of thermal paste applied. After getting my system I tried my first heatsink upgrade and missed one of the mounts. Straight away the temps rose up to like 70+ so I turned it off. Try this. Go into BIOS and see the temperatures, apply pressure to see if it makes a difference if you push the heatsink in towards the CPU.

well, i thought i'd best give the 'cheapo' solution a go firstly....and now, i feel like such a boob! the 4 leg mounts on the stock cooler were not pushed down AT ALL! i guessthey must have been dislodged when i was moving my setup to my new room. i decided to make the most of this opportunity and dismantled the entire system and rebuilt it from stratch. in the process, i removed a couple of useless usb expansion cards and that stupidly placed headphone/mic/usb bundle at the top of my case. i have to say thast the inside of my case has never looked so damn good before!

I'm now getting idle cpu temps of around 35 degrees...alright, nothing to write home about but pretty good with stock cooler and a couple of chassis fans!

as for getting a replacement cpu fan/heatsink...i might hold out for the zalman 9900, currently £50 odd. is this reasonable?

 

[villos]

Wouldn't touch it mate. Better to get one where you can change the fan when need be. Frostytech have some great reviews. Worth a look as they have tested quite a few Heatsinks.

when you say change the fan, are you refering to the fan 'speed', or buying a passive heat sink with a fan stuck on top? if the latter, why is this a better solution? surely the zalmans do the same thing but in a tidier package?