Hi

This is the number that you want to beat.
Thermal Resistance: 0.17°C/Watt
Anything higher is a waste of your money.
If this number is not given, move along.

Oh by the way this is from the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, $32 retail.

Everyone yells Zalman Zalman Zalman, well guess what I don't find any Thermal Resistance information on thier
web site or in the coolerss manuals. They are over priced anyways.


XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
Thermal Resistance 0.16°C/Watt
$44 shipped

$10 for .01 Degrees C/W at best a cooling of 2 Degrees C, to me it's not worth the hassle of install and expense.

Scythe SCINF-1000 120mm CPU Cooler Thermal Resistance unknown price higher than prior units of know capability.

Tuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler
Thermal Resistance 0.16 - 0.21 °C / W from web site, $57.58 delivered.
Again over priced and a pain in the ass installation.

Bang for buck winner here, the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro.
Why bother with anything else?

A post script to the above:

XIGMATEK has a new unit out the Xigmatek Achilles S1284 for $45 before shipping.
Thermal Resistance 0.14°C/Watt
This may be the new big boy on the block.
$52 shipped from;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

With installation of the XIGMATEK' being so problematic and almost requiring the extra mounting bracket,
that costs an extra $10. I would still go for the Freezer 7 Pro.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Yes it will work, might not be the best but way better than the stock cooler. And imo, zalman makes the best looking heatsinks
@bobknight, there may be no therm resistance on the 9700, but there is on the 9500 which is 0.12-0.16C/watt, the 97 is a 95 with heatpipes

Whoops! Meant to say the 9700 is just a 9500 with thicker heatpipes and larger dissapation area

what other alternatives are there?

well as mentioned above, if you wanna go with air cooling

the Xigmatek S1283 and TRUE are the best.

i would go for the Xiggy myself, the 9700 is a very nice looking cooler (thats why i bought it  ) but the fan is noticeably loud when its on full blast. when i turn up the fan settings for the 9700, i hear it louder than all my other fans in my case combined. :T

or you could always go with a phase changing cooler for lower temps and no noise.

@bobbknight: You also have to consider fan CFM and other factors when choosing a HSF not just C/W.

I vote for the XIGMATEK S1283 or a TRUE 120 (lapped).

So true. In Frosty tech, the TRU beats the TRUE because the TRU had a notable more powerful fan.

I also vote for the Xiggy.