New CPU Cooler?

[Nightmare]

hey guys, i was wondering what would the best CPU cooler for a Quad-Core Processor. willing to spend about $50. :)
really need a new one, still using the stock one :/

[||§§||Dr.H]

The good ones are just above $50:

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme One of the classic best (The IFX-14 is slightly better and the one I have but it doesn't fit well in cases and costs $20 more.)(Actually they updated the Utra-120 to the TRUE-120)

Coolmaster V8 (V10 is better but massive and twice the price.)

Xigmatek HDT-S1283 is suppose to be good and only costs $35

Prolimatech Megahalems this is a huge fav by many.

It's tough to say what is best right now because tons of companies are coming out with new great designs lately and they all pretty much copy each other in some way. There are a lot of top 10 reviews out there to check out.

Picking any of them will work great for you. The most important thing is to have the bottom of the heatsink lapped(sanded perfectly flat) you can do this yourself with different grades of automotive sandpaper and a thick glass base but some companies that sell the heatsinks do it for only $19.

The next most important thing is a good thermal paste. Make sure the CPU is cleaned of all old paste and apply a thin but even layer of paste on the top of the cpu. Make sure there are no bare spots but also that it isn't to thick or it will have negative effects.

I've been using these guys for my heatsinks and fans for the last few years and they are great with customer support. Just email them if you have any questions. They will lap the heatsink for you though I've always done it myself.

http://www.crazypc.com/products/cooling/cpumain.htm

[||§§||Hand_O_Death]

H, do you need a new CPU or is that one of the few things that actually still works on your rig?

[||§§|| Sven The Slayer]

What's all this about sanding and coating heat sinks... only the processor die needs the grease and sanding? :eek:

[||§§||Dr.H]

H, do you need a new CPU or is that one of the few things that actually still works on your rig?It's my motherboard that actually died and I was going to just upgrade to I7 but now I'm thinking about just getting another 775 motherboard just to get running again since I think my cpu is fine.



What's all this about sanding and coating heat sinks... only the processor die needs the grease and sanding?Lol I just noticed I said bottom of heatsink for the grease but that's not right, the grease goes on the top of the cpu not the bottom of the heatsink, that's what I get for not checking what I wrote.

As far as lapping the cpu, some people do lap the top of the cpu since they tend to be a bit concave but I've never recommended it since you take a chance of killing your cpu if you don't do it just right. You might get around a 4 degree drop or so from lapping the cpu but I'd rather loose that 4 degrees by using a better cooler and good thermal paste or more fans or ever a water system. Then again most people who are going to lap the cpu are planing on pushing overclocking as much as possible and want every degree they can get, this doesn't apply to most people. Plus you can kiss its warranty goodbye.

It is safe and a good idea to lap the heatsink though because most are made in China and many are not perfectly flat on the bottom, you can order two identical models and one could be pretty good and the other not. So if you want to drop a couple degrees safely lapping it will help.

[||§§||Hand_O_Death]

What I7? I looked and couldnt find what you were talking about.

as for lapping, I would totally screw that up LOL

[||§§||Buzzard]

I got Coolmaster V8 I like it .i have a few frends that have hade one or two problem with it one is the size and 2ed is it's not the fun to install .but i never had a problem on mine the coolmaster V12 is cool too it s go a ram cooler

[||§§|| Sven The Slayer]

I have some giant blue orb cooler. It takes up a lot of room in my case and even needed it's own specific mounts on the motherboard. It hangs out over the ram so they get at least a little air movement from the fan.

[||§§||Scorpion]

I have an I7 Extreme chip cooled by the Thermalright 120 extreme.

The last pic I have since added another 120mm fan that attached to clips that I ordered from Thermalright. The I7 runs from 50C to 90C which is a normal temp. The three drives in bottom right in second pic have another 120mm fan on top of them.

Chip: Intel 3.2g I7-965 Extreme
Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe v2
Ram: 6gb Corsair Dominator DDR3/1600
CPU Heatsink: Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme
Video: 2 Ati Radeon 4870 x2 in Crossfire
PSU: Coolmax 1350w
HDD (2) 300 gb Western Digital Velociraptor in RAID mode with
1 TB Western Digital Caviar Black
LG Blu-ray drive, DVD burner
OS Vista Ultimate 64 bit

[||§§||Hand_O_Death]

Still loving that case and the story behind it.

[||§§||po1s3n]

liquid nitrogen!

[||§§|| Sven The Slayer]

liquid nitrogen!

That stuffs kind of hard to keep...

[||§§||Hand_O_Death]

Yes my spherical orb Nirto cooled CPU is quiet expensive.

[||§§||Dr.H]

I don't feel like getting the new mounting plate so my IFX-14 can hook up to an i7 board, the new IFX-14 BP comes with one but it no longer has the back cooler.

I'll sell you my IFX-14 for $30(sells for $79) if you think it will fit in your case?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-cooler-charts-2008,1779-8.html

[Nightmare]

turns out i'm getting a ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 for xmas. had some really good reviews plus the price can't be beat :)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

[Nightmare]

yup i hooked this up last monday and it's working like a champ! i notice when i play MW2 it doesn't skip around as usual cuz my cpu used get hot. its running 32C on idle and about 60C max/100% load. :) way better than the stock which was like 40C on idle and 70C max/100% load lol.

[||§§||Dr.H]

Yeah stock coolers are crap on a stick lol.