heat sink fan

3hunna

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May 15, 2013
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Do I need a after market Hsf ? or the intel stock one is enough If I don't plan to oc my cpu & which one would yall perfer cooler master hsf or Alienware hsf?

& can somebody tell me the difference between a aftermarket hsf & the one that came with the processor
 
Solution
They do the same thing, but typically aftermarket CPU coolers are a) higher quality, b) quieter (due to using bigger fans), and c) keep CPU cooler (mostly this is true under decent stress). Obviously depends on what you get, but that's the benefit from most decent aftermarket coolers. You don't need one, but if you care about the above things, you'll want one. I have a Cooler Master 212 Plus (like almost everyone else, haha) and it works really well and stays really quiet.
If you're not going to overclock, the stock cooler will be sufficient for cooling. An aftermarket HSF may be quieter though, especially if your system will be kept busy (e.g. playing games or heavy number crunching).
Pretty much any 120mm tower-style cooler will do well. Smaller ones may whine under load, especially if they use PWM fans.
Personally, I use and recommend the Xigmatek Gaia over the more often parroted Hyper212 EVO. It is cheaper (typically by $5-$10), and Frostytech found it to be up to 6db quieter.
 

ACTechy

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They do the same thing, but typically aftermarket CPU coolers are a) higher quality, b) quieter (due to using bigger fans), and c) keep CPU cooler (mostly this is true under decent stress). Obviously depends on what you get, but that's the benefit from most decent aftermarket coolers. You don't need one, but if you care about the above things, you'll want one. I have a Cooler Master 212 Plus (like almost everyone else, haha) and it works really well and stays really quiet.
 
Solution