Water cooling necessary?

[Zaq005]

Hello, I am building a computer containing a AMD FX-60 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103608) and am going with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835106061 for cooling. The question is: will this be enough? I certainly don't plan to overclock (I'm scared of overheating even without it being OCed), or should I get water cooling? Thanks for your help!

 

[chuckshissle]

Unless if you're going to overclock it to more than 10% then you would need a water cooling. I have the Pentium D 840 EE on mine and I'm using the Big Typhoon and I overclock it to 10% and my idle is 45* at cool room temperature. The FX-60 runs cooler than the 840 so I would say the Big Typhoon is good enough, assuming you have a good case cooling and ventilation as well. I'm using the Kandalf case and it has a pretty cooling. But if want to spend a little more money, for $110, you can get the Kingwin Aquastar and just cool the cpu with it. It should be able to get the temps down to 30-35c at idle. I don't overclock my cpu unless for testing and benchmark and I don't have the need to do so. But like I said if you're not into extreme overclocking then the HSF should be good enough.

 

[Bluefinger]

Watercooling is recommended for big overclocks, since its much more efficient and quiet than aircooling. It isn't really necessary, but doesn't mean its useless. If you have a big budget, then watercooling is the way, just make sure you read the guides....

 

[someguyy]

Because you arent OCing just use the stock cooler.

 

[mdd1963]

If not OCing, agreed, the factory heatsink/fan is quite adequate....

(If not building this rig in the next month or two, I'd strongly suggest not spending $1000 on just the cpu, in light:

a. release of Conroe (posibly a full 20% faster than an FX60
b. release of AM2/DDR2 mainboards/cpus (the fx60 equivalent will cost only $550-$600 then)
c. if determined to build now, you can also build a current socket 939 utilizing an Opty 170/and 175 series offering roughly 95% of the performance for half the price

The FX60, although a darn nice cpu, is just too expensive for the 2% boost over an Opty 175 or even 180...; the money saved by opting for a lower clocked cpu could buy the mainboard, a 7900GT, and a DVD burner!

 

[sandmannight]

I would say not but why not get it your spending a grand on a CPU when you could but a opty 165 or higher and OC it to your over priced chip

 

[Zaq005]

Why am I getting such an expensive CPU? Mainly because my parents are paying for it so I might as well go for the best/most expensive

 

[horstmann]

Just so you know most expensive is not always best. Opterons are very good chips.

 

[rodney_ws]

One observation...

I had an Antec 630 Mid-tower case with an 80 mm intake and 80 mm exhaust fan... my CPU (X2-4400 OC'd to 2.6 GHz) had a ThermalTake XP120 and Artic 5 compound was used as the interface... even with that, my cooling was VERY inadequate and rather noisy. A large part of this problem came from my case and its inadequate airflow.

So it's my opinion that an FX-60 at stock speeds with an aftermarket cooler like you're sugguesting will be OK assuming you have a moderately decent/modern case with unrestricted airflow. Personally, if I had enough money to drop on an FX-60 processor I could find the money for water cooling (I've already got a BigWater 745 and LOVE IT!)

 

[tchiwam]

It is hard move your machine with water cooling, the weight by itself can be overwhelming. I have my external radiator(fanless) plugged with EJN connectors (low restriction) that allows me separation of the main case and radiator for moving it.

The silence of it makes it worth every penny.

 

[FITCamaro]

Why am I getting such an expensive CPU? Mainly because my parents are paying for it so I might as well go for the best/most expensive

Another spoiled kid with stupid parents. When I was younger even if my parents had the money, I wouldn't just waste it.