Et Another “Best CPU Heatsink” :)

[Zer0Cool]

I know this question been ask lots of time, but I hope you guys don’t mind giving your feedback one more time.

From the reading that I did, and correct me if I’m wrong are this the 3 leading contenders for the most effecttive CPU Cooler?

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Heatsink - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835109140

XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003

Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler – Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154001

Now I will most definitely change the stock fan on the one that I decide to go with & I don’t care how much each costs. Can someone plz tell what is the best heatsink for my Q9450 (don’t have it et). Case is COSMOS 1100 S case.

Thanks.

 

[coret]

According to frostytech.com ... the xigmatek is the best of the three. I have one in my case at the moment ... It's a really nice cooler. Keeps my 6000+ at 35-38 full load.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Well they are all pretty nice looking. Although I wounder how with the Thermalright Ultra 120 could cool better than a pure 100% copper cooler since copper conducts the heat away faster.

Its a tough decision. I highly suggest a fan if you go with the Ultra 120. Thats the one though that gets the best from here. Although thats really opinion as I prefer my Zalman CPNS9700. People say its not meant for quad cores but it keeps my Q6600 OC'ed to 3GHz nice and cool.

 

[coret]

Copper conducts heat away faster, but it also retains heat more than aluminium ... thus you have copper heatpipes etc transferring heat to aluminium fins ... best of both worlds.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Copper conducts heat away faster, but it also retains heat more than aluminium ... thus you have copper heatpipes etc transferring heat to aluminium fins ... best of both worlds.

Hmmm.... the Ultra 120 states its all Aluminum. And the Zalman CPNS9700NT I think is copper base/heatpipes with aluminum heatsink but doesn't perform as well as the regular CPNS9700.

Well I for one am waiting for more on this new direct touching heatpipe thing? Looks interesting.

 

[syrold]

Cooler Master Hyper TX2 is the best both in the pocket and in performance

 

[RetiredChief]

Here is a alternative evaluation of coolers.
www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=22842

Jimmy, I think the Al fins are used to save cost. Could be wrong, but I think Cu would be more effective, Ie Auto radiators use Cu fins ( at least all my "old" cars did. Al is considerably less costly than Cu and for CPU's prabably not a big difference.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Here is a alternative evaluation of coolers.
www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=22842

Jimmy, I think the Al fins are used to save cost. Could be wrong, but I think Cu would be more effective, Ie Auto radiators use Cu fins ( at least all my "old" cars did. Al is considerably less costly than Cu and for CPU's prabably not a big difference.

I think so too. Most cars now use aluminum radiators unless you get an expensive all copper one. In fact copper is getting so expensive the US Treasury/Government is thinking of phasing out the penny since it cost about 2 censt to make a 1 cent piece.

But all I can say is that even though its not stated to keep quads cool the Zalman CPNS 9700 performs very well even with a nice 25% OC for me and a lot of others too.

I would love to see an all copper HSF with a peltier cooling device just for kicks. I think I saw one with a water cooler. Basically peltiers were attached to the radiator to cool the water below ambient. Seems interesting but takes a lot of power too.

 

[IH8U]

I just ordered a Noctua NH-U12P
reviews here: http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3268
I'll let you know how it does on my 5000+ OC'ed

 

[Zer0Cool]

I just thought of something very scary! Will the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme or any other major heatsink for that matter (most of them are very close in height to each other) fit in this case? This case has a huge 200mm fan on the side door would this be a problem? I can’t find much on the web, maybe because this is fairly a new case. Can someone help me find the answer plz?

I was able to find this review, where it sad it cannot!!! O no! The line is just on top where is sad "Finished Looks"

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/Cosmos_S/5.html

Thanks

 

[jimmysmitty]

I just thought of something very scary! Will the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme or any other major heatsink for that matter (most of them are very close in height to each other) fit in this case? This case has a huge 200mm fan on the side door would this be a problem? I can’t find much on the web, maybe because this is fairly a new case. Can someone help me find the answer plz?

I was able to find this review, where it sad it cannot!!! O no! The line is just on top where is sad "Finished Looks"

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolerMaster/Cosmos_S/5.html

Thanks

The case you referenced is 26.5cm wide which equals 265mm wide. Minus the mobo, mobo tray and a few more mm just for saftey it should leav you with about 200mm to work with. The Ultra 120 is 160.5mm high. So with all this data yes it should fit fine. Might have a little less room with that 200mm side fan but not enough to cut 100mm off as the 200mm is the width of the fan.

 

[coret]

And for information's sake, the xigmatek cooler is also approx 160mm tall ... and *just* barely fits inside the coolermaster elite 330

 

[KyleSTL]

The Thermalright 120 Ultra (and Extreme) are both copper bases with nickel plating (supposedly for oxidation reasons - nickel metal does not oxidize easily, whereas copper does and oxidation greatly reduces thermal conductivity).

Now, about the "retaining heat" agrument:

Thermal Conductivities (higher the better): Copper - 401 W/m-K, Aluminum - 237 W/m-K
Specific Heat: Copper - 0.385 J/g-K, Aluminum - 0.897 J/g-K

For reference water has the highest specific heat of any known naturally occuring substance at 4.181 J/g-K

So, the comment about copper "retaining" heat more than aluminum is invalid. The fact that a copper requires less energy per mass to increase it's temperature is actually a good thing, since it will elevate the temperature of the copper higher than aluminum creating a greater temperature gradient over the ambient air (i.e. better heat transfer).

 

[Zer0Cool]

Guys thank you for all the info.

If I can get a little more feed back from people about the computability issue with Ultra-120/xigmatek in COSMOS S case that would be sweet! I’m getting mixed information from other forums about this, not sure what to believe...Will it fit or not...?

 

[Jake_Barnes]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU-Components to section Overclocking by Jake_Barnes