Q6600 OC cooling Questions

[pous]

Greetings.

I've been thinking for a while now of OC'ing my rig (as seen in my sig).

Only problems I have is that right now my idle temps are 55/51/51/55 and load are 65/60/60/65 (roughly +/- 1 or 2 degrees on each)

I know that's pretty high from everything I've read... so I was wondering about what kinds of cooling I could get to help. I'm using the stock cooler at the moment and no OC at all, the Centurion 534 only has one fan on the side (intake) and one fan on the back (exhaust)... I was wondering if mounting another fan on the front for intake and one on top (making a custom hole) would help.

I'm also thinking of replacing all the fans with scythe s-flex. Would a 3.0ghz OC be possible with the stock HSF? I'm not sure how comfortable I am with removing the factory thermal stuff & applying new stuff. Touching the CPU makes me nervous.

Also was wondering, if I don't go with the stock HSF could I use an Arctic Freezer 7 and have reasonable temps at a 3.0 OC? I know a lot of people recommend the tuniq or the thermalright or the zalman... but I've read a few cases where the AF7 was good... and for 1/3 the price of some of those... I don't want to sacrifice too much efficiency though.

My other thought was to just get a whole new case, but I'd be interested to know if you guys think that plan with the fans will work.

Thanks in advance for help, I hope it was understandable... if I didn't make sense just ask and I'll try to better explain things.

 

[Evilonigiri]

Going with the Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7 is a good idea. It is a little dangerous hitting 3GHz on stock cooling.

If you don't mind sacrificing low noise operation, you can try the Zerotherm Nirvana. It's one of the best air-cooling solution out there.

 

[pous]

I'm glad to hear someone thinks the AF7 is good cooler, a lot of other people say no I should get zalman or tunique or various others.

Is that nirvana cooler very expensive? and if so is the cooling it provides worth the extra cost?

 

[Evilonigiri]

I'm glad to hear someone thinks the AF7 is good cooler, a lot of other people say no I should get zalman or tunique or various others.

Is that nirvana cooler very expensive? and if so is the cooling it provides worth the extra cost?

That depends on how far you are going to OC. If you're want to OC to 3.6GHz, the Zerotherm Nirvana is a great cooler, it can be had for ~$45. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887011 You can get it for $36 with MIR, free shipping.

I read many reviews stating that the Zerotherm Nirvana, relatively new, beats both the expensive Tuniq Tower 120 and Zalman 9700NT. In some reviews, it beats the best cooler, the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, but that's probably because they outfitted it with a slow fan.

If you're shooting for just 3.2GHz or so, the AF7 is great. However, if you don't min the noise, I strongly recommend the Nirvana, just make sure it'll fit in your case.

 

[pous]

I'm really only shooting for 3.0 actually... I like nice even numbers that way. I think for now I'll stick with the AF7 and if I decide I want to push things further I can look at a Nirvana and use the AF on my E2160 OC.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Evilonigiri]

No problem.