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tired of searching. What is the best AMD cooler??

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  • AMD
  • Overclocking
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March 28, 2003 9:56:39 PM

another guy was wondering about p4 HSF, and I want to know about AMD HSF. I have a few restrictions though

-noise I don't care about...maybe a little
-has to fit A7N8X DLX, and I'm not willing to bend anything
-I don't want a huge 2lb headsink crushing my core
-I want to use a CPU shim (non elec. conductive) for the added weight of the HSF

thanks

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by fo_sho on 03/28/03 07:37 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

More about : tired searching amd cooler

March 28, 2003 11:52:55 PM

you willing to spend as much as the P4 guy? because your answer is his answer's cousin.
that is to say: the swiftech MCX462+
match it with whatever 80mm fan suits your tastes
it's the best, and i wouldn't recommend using a shim unless you're going to be moving your computer around. they tend to hurt thermal performance

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March 29, 2003 12:05:41 AM

so the MCX462 will fit the A7N8x (will I have to *screw* this in??) How does the Thermalright SK7 compare to this. I don't think I can fit the SLK800....

Why does the shim affect thermal performance. I would think it helps performance cause it sits the HSF FLAT on the CPU die.
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March 29, 2003 4:06:57 AM

yes. its the screw in variety... a bit time consuming to begin with, but a very secure method.
you can get the sk7 or 800 if you wish though.

I wouldnt use a shim. if you follow the instructions you should have no problems.
Shims are for people who cant put heatsinks on straight

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March 29, 2003 4:48:17 AM

I don't want to diss you or anything, but ALLLLLLLLL the reviews I've read about shims said it *might* lower temps and would be great insurance either way. Why would you NOT recommend it?? Even if you are a pro, why not take the extra precaution???
March 29, 2003 5:16:57 AM

well you have to be certain that the shim height is lower than the core, for me its just added cost as i have no problems mounting my MCX-462.

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Anonymous
a b K Overclocking
March 29, 2003 1:47:05 PM

Could you post a link to some/one sites claiming a shim can reduce temps? I am be interested in condidering the theories they might have on this subject.
a c 249 K Overclocking
March 29, 2003 4:18:30 PM

Prove me wrong, but I don't see how a shim could lower temps at all, seeing as how it closes in the CPU DIE, if AMD thought they were necessary they would ship them with the retail box. And speaking of the heatsink that comes with the boxed AMD, its a lot more stressful and intense getting it clipped in place than a lot of the premium coolers are. One last point for the record, for the higher end XPs, I've actually gotten cooler temps from the Copper Core/ Aluminum Fin Heatsink design, to be fair with hours and hours involved testing myself, all using Artic Silver III, I've got a Volcano 6 with a 38CFM fan outperforming a Swiftech and a Coolermaster with the heatpipes, using the same fan, by about 6c, thats a solid fact, you can believe it or not, both the Swiftech and Coolermaster are solid copper. I've seriously looked into the Volcano 9 and the Vantec Aeroflow, and will give the Aeroflow its shot, because I like the fan design, with no motor blocking the center.

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March 31, 2003 12:55:15 AM

thanks for your suggestions, I think I might go with the SLK800 with the RPM adjustable Vantec Tornado fan. The MCX was good but the SLK 800 was cheaper and seemed to perform better looking at the reviews.

as far as the shim, well, if you look at the reviews, there are website that say it did lower temp cause it let the HSF sit flat, and there were ones that said it didn't do anything, and the thermaltake website says that the shim actually ups the temps... go figure. I'm just gonna buy it for *insurance* cause I'm not the most experienced PC user and I dont' want to take any chances. Most reviews did recommend it for insurance against crushing the core. BUT every reviewer said don't get COPPER shims!
March 31, 2003 4:36:06 AM

oh really??? I was gonna use the Q-fan function on the a7n8x mobo..... hmm.... maybe I should use a TT Smart Fan II???
March 31, 2003 5:22:22 AM

You will NOT be able to run such a powerful fan off any 3 pin motherboard connector... it simply draws too much power. ths the reason why most powerful fans use molex connectors.

and yes, the smart fan is a good choice. im using one on my mcx-462. and it speed depends on the temp of the heatsink.

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March 31, 2003 3:04:22 PM

yeah I know. that's why the vantec tornado comes with a 3-pin for the mobo(rpm variable) and a separate 4 pin for the power supply.

but the TT does not have this and I think that little blue dial is ghetto and I would have to do a mod (splice wires) to maybe get another knob with an extra PCI blanking plate.
March 31, 2003 11:33:43 PM

if you use the 4 pin connector the TT DOES have a seperate monitoring wire. thats what im using.

and if your going to mod it why not get a proper bay bus?

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April 1, 2003 1:53:47 AM

They weren't necessarily performing better, but were virtually identical (within 1/2 a degree either way, could easily be attributed to change in ambient temps). I'm going for the SLK-800 because 1. it's cheaper 2. it's available to me where I live and 3. it's one of the highest rated sinks out there. For the cooling it provides, it's the same as the swiftech.

Also, the SLK-800 gives temps between 7-9 degrees cooler than the Volcano 9 with the same fan. If you want cooling, you gotta have copper.

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April 1, 2003 4:11:18 AM

yeah just what he said.

I was gonna go Volcano 7+ or even 11, but looking at the price/performance, the SLK800 looks better to me.

the SLK is only $38 @ newegg w/ like a $15 tornado fan and you can't go wrong.

the MCX was like $46 @ newegg.

http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/ThermalRight_SLK...
April 1, 2003 4:22:34 AM

As far as a shim? Never used one.Its just something else to cool down.Unless you drop your PC,,you wont mess the core up.I mix and match my heatsinks.Right now im useing a Global Win CAK38.I dumped the fan that was on it,Cut the guts out of a cheap 60mm fan,Mounted it on top of the Heatsink as a shim,then on that i put a Delta 60mm Double Ballbearing screamer.My Athlon 1.2 at 1.36,runs at 40c under a full load.My case is a factor too,,But its the best Mod ive done as far as a heatsink.Its loud and Performes Better than the best of them.And i use Regular Themal Paste.


Ok .You Can Bash Me now
April 1, 2003 2:59:41 PM

that's fair, but i contend that with a lower cfm fan an MCX-462+ will still outperform it

price/performance is in favor of the slk-800 though
hey whoever was thinkin they needed a shim, the slk-800 has a new retention mechanism, and it's now called the slk-800U
it's reviewed <A HREF="http://www.overclockers.com/articles726/" target="_new">at overclockers</A>

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April 5, 2003 7:12:45 PM

Not necessarily. I think it won by about 0.5 to 1 degree. Practically nothing, really. I've looked at a lot of reviews, and they all say the SLK-800 is the best sink out there.

I attached mine to a Thermaltake Smartfan II, and the noise doesn't go over the noise given off by the other eight fans in my case, so it's just fine for me.

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April 5, 2003 11:29:44 PM

yeah i understand that, but here's a quote from the article:
Quote:
To make things even, both sinks will have the mighty Delta EHE 80x80x38 fan strapped on that moves 80.2 CFM @ 5700 RPM while making 52.5 dBA of racket. Break out the earplugs!


i'm sayin with a low noise/low cfm fan, the mcx-462+ would do better, therefore making it the best in my eyes. the slk-800 is still a better deal in terms of price/performance

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April 6, 2003 9:55:24 AM

These tests were with three different fans, at at various speeds for the fans as well. The mcx just doesn't perform like the SLK-800. I'm saying that at low noise, low cfm, both will perform the same.

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April 6, 2003 7:03:40 PM

Okay, where are you're tests. We can compare results then, just for the benefit of the crowd, not to see who is right or wrong. Advancement of knowledge is a good thing that at times can be lacking in these forums. I'll reply again when I find the sites.

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April 6, 2003 10:21:02 PM

i looked at what someone had posted earlier, i figured we were both looking at that
<A HREF="http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/ThermalRight_SLK..." target="_new">this is it</A>
but it only tests with one fan speed, and the slk-800 wins by .7C or something

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April 7, 2003 3:21:46 AM

yeah, see, virtually identical. These pages aren't biased, they are just the ones that compare the swiftech to the slk-800.

<A HREF="http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MzE3LDI=" target="_new">http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MzE3LDI=&lt;/A>
<A HREF="http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/ThermalRight_SLK..." target="_new">http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/ThermalRight_SLK...;/A>

The SLK-800 beats it out each time, and the fact that it's cheaper makes it a clear winner.

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April 7, 2003 2:12:01 PM

How many steps is their program? If it takes any longer and low-level formatting my hard drive, is it really worth the bother?

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April 7, 2003 2:24:57 PM

That second link you provided installed a bunch of crap in MS Office without asking or even letting me abort!

Now I gotta figure out what it did and will probably have to uninstall and reinstall the whole package.

Please check links before posting them!



--->It ain't better if it don't work<---
April 7, 2003 2:36:02 PM

I have no idea what you're talking about Teq. I did. That's how I found the links. In fact, I went to the pages and read the reviews and posted the links that point directly to the comparison. It wasn't the links I provided that installed anything.

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April 7, 2003 2:47:05 PM

Yeah it was. The link launched my Office installer and put in a bunch of stuff I never use, changed my system configuration and put new icons on my start bar as well.



--->It ain't better if it don't work<---
April 7, 2003 2:57:30 PM

Then it was something you did or chose to do. I went there with no problems. I've been to that site before from other computers, with no problems.

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April 7, 2003 3:05:21 PM

No I didn't choose to add web integration to my Office installation.

The installer came up, put in several components and then exited ... without warning, without asking and without any chance to stop it.

Probably the only reason it didn't come up on your system is that you either A) already have those components installed or B) don't have office installed in the first place.




--->It ain't better if it don't work<---
April 7, 2003 3:11:09 PM

I have office XP installed. Like I said, never had a problem before, no matter where I viewed the site from. From work, from home (either computer), from my friend's computer, from a public computer at an airport, not a thing.

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April 7, 2003 4:13:02 PM

From the source code for that page:

<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o ="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:o ffice:o ffice" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">

The damned thing uses office to display it's graphics.


--->It ain't better if it don't work<---
April 7, 2003 5:19:23 PM

The page looks like it was generated from a template using MS Word. That could be why it had to install that stuff. Who do you think is more to blame? The creator for not noticing that, or Microsoft, for making Word include that script installer? Sorry about getting your Office fubar.

Whodathunkit?

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April 7, 2003 6:42:27 PM

Oh it's really not that big a problem and it's not your fault... I really just wanted to let you know that page does stuff to people's systems.

If you look further down the page you will find a number of scripts that call in Office components to display dynamic linked images and such.

I just ran the Add/Remove in Office Installer and got things back the way I want them ... I only use the word processor and don't want it getting tangled up with the web...

That said, I'll be a lot more reluctant to open product links in future...


--->It ain't better if it don't work<---
April 8, 2003 9:03:43 PM

Yeah, as I said, it just looks like the guys who made the page are too lazy to use notepad like us vets and purists ;-)

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