E6420 to 3.2GHz help decide which cooler pls.. sorry

I would get a Tuniq Tower if you think the Ultra 120 is too big. It weights more the the Ultra, but it's shorter. I can fit one in a Lian-Li PC-7B, which is an average size mid tower case. Unless you get something considerably smaller you shouldnt have a probably with it's size.

The best inexpensive cooler is the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro for 28 bucks at Ebay.

Any other cooler is pointless unless you go to extreme overclocking. Sure, others might perform a bit better, but for the money, it's the best bang for your buck.

It's the one I use and I get my E6400 to 3.2GHz with it.

I would get the TT 120 as it's design is the best allowing the fan to be placed in the center of HSF giving a push pull effect. Also it won't interfer with the ram either.

Antec 900 case and Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme cooler. That should cool your components good enough for the overclocking.

To answer your RAM question. Get the Corsair XMS2 with CAS latency of 4-4-4-12. It currently has a $50 MIR making it around 94 bucks.

Or the OCZ Xfire sticks will work well with the DS3 board. This is what I have (including the mobo) and it also has a MIR making it under $100 as well.

Try $22 @ Directron.com

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
$18.95 @ Game Giants
$20.09 @ eWiz
$21.99 @ directron
$24.99 @ Xoxide
$24.99 @ SVC
$26.99 @ Heatsink Factory

Cooler Master Hyper Tx
$24.91 @ MWave
$26.99 @ directron
$27.95 @ Game Giants

Tuniq Tower 120
$49.99 @ Heatsink Factory (LED version)
$49.99 @ Petras (sale)
$50.99 @ epowerhousepc
$51.99 @ SVC
$52.50 @ Performance PCs

...you'll have to check on shipping/taxes prices etc. I listed multiple sources, in case you plan to buy other things at the same time - a bit higher price may end up less overall, depending on what all you buy.

For $25 I'd ship you my AC Freezer Pro7 that I used for a few months before upgrading to a Thermalright Ultra-120....

Also there is another cooler that is good.. Just the Ultra-120 instead of the Extreme.. THe Extremes are going for like $15 more than the regular version. It still performs VERY well.

get the cheapest DDR2-800 and then follow this guide;
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=606&p=2

I've set up several machines running generic DDR2-800 at over 1000mhz at the latencies mentioned in that guide

Hi,
Thanks for all the great input! I really appreciate it. I like all the ideas, but I'm a bit concerned with weight =( I dont want to be picky, but both the TT 120 and the Thermalright U-120 is like 700g+ and added with a fan its, gonna be close to 1kg! I'm going to lugging my pc off to uni, so weight might be an issue (plus moving houses etc). I dont want to to wreck my motherboard either for being so heavy. The AC7 is nice, but i think its quite ugly.

How about the older coolers, like the Thermalright XP-120 or XP-90? or the SI series. I remember they used to be top dog a while ago. and the XP-120 is 370g!! I also like the idea of cooling ram and stuff around the cpu.

What you guys think? If not i'm gonna go with the TT120 cuz I like the push/pull design plus its miles cheaper them U-120. And the AC7 is nice but i dont like the design.

Thanks everyone, oh also I'm getting the new P35 chipset, GA-P35C-DS3R woot woot!

The XP-120 was the first 120mm fan heatsink on the market... it was improved upon by the SI-120 and later the SI-128. If you look at this roundup (he only tested these on an AMD platform, but he used the same fans on each to remove the fan from the equation), you'll see that the Tuniq comes up 10C cooler in the same configuration.

Of course the Tuniq weighs ~800g too. Here's their latest heatsink roundup.

If you like the push/pull design, then you might also want to have a look at the Scythe Mine (it's also included in that first link in my previous post). It only weighs ~560g.

Scythe Mine
$28.99 @ Directron (wow)
$32.99 @ Newegg
$37.95 @ SVC
$37.99 @ Petras
$37.99 @ Nexfan
$40.00 @ EastLuna
$44.99 @ PC eXtreme

I stand by the Tuniq and Ultra 120. Motherboards are alot more resilient then most people realize, and the load plate does it's job well. Unless you're planning on strapping this pc on the back of an ATV and driving through the forest to get to your destination it'll be fine. And, if worst comes to worst, it'll take 5 minutes to take the hsf off for the drive, then another 5 to put it back on.

...he's not looking for "the best air cooler on the market today, regardless of noise, size or weight". He wants to cool a (relatively) moderate overclock.



...looks like he's also not interested in spending more than he has to. He's also expressed that he doesn't want 'massive' or 'heavy'. The Tuniq is extremely 'massive' in size (ok, maybe it's not as tall as the Ultra, but look how much room it takes). It's also ~800g or so - that's a lot of weight.

If you look at any review where the Tuniq (and TR Ultra / UltraX) come out as 'top dog' coolers, it's in highly overclocked, loud-ass-fan-pushing-lots-o-air tests. When you look at the tests where an 'every day use' fan is used (reasonable noise levels), they are not as impressive - and are beaten, time and time again by smaller, cheaper, lighter HSFs.

If the Scythe Mine (for example) cools within 2C of the Tuniq, using the same (reasonable noise level) fan, but it weights several hundred grams less, doesn't take up as much space and costs considerably less, then it's worthwhile looking into it.

If the question had been "what's the best possible air cooling solution I can get without regard to weight, size, noise or price?" then the Tuniq is among the top 3-4 obvious choices. When there are other considerations, other HSFs may be more appropriate. The answer to every "which HSF should I get?" is not "Get a Tuniq - I got one and they rock"... it depends on what thier needs are  .

The TT 120 has a metal back plate the go's under the mainboard, and it's very very stable. Trust me your mainboard is designed to handle much more pressure. Remember that mainboards can take a lot of heat to. I mounted mine two days ago and it won't budge. I just purchased a SilenX fan 120mm 14db 1400rpm to replace the stock TT 120 fan. Just for even more silence.

The 28 bucks includes shipping. Directron was 29.12 after shipping.

I recommend the Coolermaster HyperTx. it's relatively small, light, inexpensive, very quiet and provides very good performance. It has the push pins so you can mount it with the mobo installed in the case. It has a 4-pin power connector for EIST in case u want to use that. i'm running an e6400 @ 3.2 with it.

i have heard from many people ad websites that the best air cooler is thermaltake big typhon vx quiet cpu cooler cl-p0310. what do u say about this.

All the reviews I've seen of it put it in the top tier of air coolers. The latest roundup at HEXUS even has it at the very top, beating the Tuniq Tower by 1C (well within the margin of error for these tests). Of course the Tuniq is very loud at full speed (as is the Zalman 9700), so I assume the Typhoon VX is as well, in order to produce those results.

If it's design, size, weight, noise, price all fit what you're looking for, then it looks like a great cooler.

Check out http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=10&a... .
Temps and dba for 13 coolers at several speeds each. The Coolermaster Hyper TX seems like the pick according to this. Cheap, relatively quiet, and efficient.

in that case the op must get this cooler as many people are advising him to get a cooler which is around this one in price.this one will cost aroun $50.

Actually, there's just about as many people suggesting less expensive, smaller, lighter alternatives, but just for completeness...

Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX
$44.99 @ Directron
$44.99 @ Heatsink Factory
$45.32 @ eWiz
$45.60 @ MWave
$47.38 @ TheNerds.net
$47.99 @ SVC (sale)
$48.99 @ Newegg (** free shipping, currently)
$49.95 @ Performance PCs
$49.99 @ Crazy PC
$52.95 @ FrozenCPU
$54.99 @ Xoxide