Thinking of upgrading my cooling

[Sagekilla]

I have an Opteron 170 with the stock HSF, and it gets temps of 45-47 Celsius idle, and about 51-52 under load. I'm not sure if this normal or anything, but I'm feeling really paranoid about my proc (I did overclock it a tad bit, it's at a 218 FSB, I plan on upping it later)

So, I'm looking to upgrade the cooling a bit, but I have two questions.. Is it worth it and what suggestions do you have for a HSF? I wanted to see if I could get a silent one too so I could lower the overall noise a bit.

Anyone think they can help me with my dilemna?

Oh.. I should probably mention, it's 84 degrees out right now (with my CPU idling at 47) and it's ganna get colder apparently.. I have my computer sitting next to this radiator (Like an inch away from it) hugging the wall through the northeast portion of my room, I don't really have too many options for where to move it because this is the only place with power... Not sure if that'll help or anything

 

[phreejak]

Well, if your budget will allow it, you might consider water cooling...

 

[armeniandave]

I have the Opteron 170 also and I am using water cooling. Temp right now is 84F in my room and the comp is idling at 34C and at load 41C. This is with it overclocked to 2.53Ghz. So watercooling is probably your best bet. You could also try the zalman 9500 that worked well for me before the water cooling, but nothing beats water.

 

[Sagekilla]

Thanks for the suggestion, but as I said I'd like to get a HSF instead. I got some money yesterday (About $500) But I don't wanna spend a lot on cooling. I just want to upgrade the cooling to allow for (If possible) more silent and better cooling. I don't know when I'll be upgrading, but I'm within the range of $80 tops for a HSF setup (If they make them that expensive) I really don't want to spend an extra $200 or more to get water cooling, if that were the case I would've just laid down the extra for the more powerful processor and peace of mind that I wouldn't have to worry about overheating or instability.

 

[Anoobis]

Best solution at the best price, Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro. The fan is very quiet and the heatsink does an excellent job. It's tall, so check the dimensions to see if it will fit in your case. It's also adds a minimal amount of cooling for the motherboard's VRM. A feature most "tower" style CPU heatsinks lack. Expect to pay about $25.00.

Best silent solution, Scythe Ninja can be used without a fan but I believe it has been discontinued. I'm not sure, but I believe the Sythe Infinity (which is available) can be used without a fan as well. These are very tall, so check your tolerances to make sure it will fit. Expect to pay about $50.00+.

My advice is to use the AC Freezer 64 Pro, but I tend to be practical.

Any moment now, somebody's going to pop in here and suggest a Zalman CPU heatsink. Ignore them. Until Zalman can match their price/performance ratio with the units listed above, they're not worth the price you pay for them.

 

[Sagekilla]

Thanks, I'll go check the AC64 cooler. I have a full tower case (Kandalf) so I think it should fit. I have a Asus A8N32 for a mobo, and I think I read in Maximum PC that the Ninja doesn't install properly on it. I'm not sure if it was the ninja or some other one, I'll have to check.

How good is the ninja in comparison to the AC64?

 

[Anoobis]

The Infinity is definately the better cooler. It comes down to size and number of pipes used. The Infinity's 120MM, 5 pipe setup while the AC's a 90MM, 3 pipe setup. However, the Infinity costs twice as much but you're not getting twice the performance. I would recommend the Infinity for those wishing to push the limits of overclocking on air but you've not mentioned overclocking. Even if you are interested, you'll be able to achieve very decent results with the AC Freezer 64 Pro. Just Google them for some reviews. My guess is that you'll get 85-90% (possibley higher) of the performance of the Ninja, with the AC Freezer 64 yet it cost about half as much.

I hate to sound fanboyish, but the AC Freezer 64 Pro is just an outstanding value compared to the competition. If the Infinity ran about $30.00, then I'd be all for it but currently it's selling for $58.00 on Newegg (U.S.).