Hey guys. It's time for me to buy a new HSF and TIM, and although i wanted a Xigmatek s1283 or True, i wasn't able to find any at the local pc stores. The only other hsf i found were the Sunbeam Tuniq Tower 120, the Apack Zerotherm Nirvana (old + new one), the Zalman CNPS9700LED, and Schyte Ninja 2 and Schythe Mugen. Also couldn't find the AS-5 TIM, just the AS-MX2 one :| . I'm wondering which one would be a better solution from what i've found. I should probably mention i need my q9450@3.2ghz, and although i know all mentioned coolers are pretty capable of that, i would probably want the best one .
Also i'd like to know if on quad the tim should be applied in the form of a cross, or just 1 line in the middle. I don't know how the cores are positioned under the heatspreader of the cpu.

Thank you in advance for your advice & help

Sunbeam Tuniq Tower 120?

whoa, never heard of that one...

if you meant the Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer, that should suit you well, although i haven't seen benchies on the new scythe, or the old mugen...

as for the tim, MY advice is to put scotch tape, about 1-2mm on the 4 sides of your cpu, put like a pea size drop in the middle, and use like a credit card to spread it evenly... than remove the scotch tape, and you'll have an even spread over the cpu, and no dribble off the sides

and if your using the sunbeam i suggested, look up on how to fill the gaps between the heatpipe and the aluminum

Heya, ty for the tips .
No the Tuniq Tower 120 is an older type cooler (~2 years old i think), and i found it in many places also as Suneamtech Tuniq Tower 120. The core contact freezer is another type of cooler which of course is very good, but no one imports it here where i live.
Yep i usually use scotch tape, i just heard that for dual cores it's better to put a line in the middle. So i thought that maybe for quads insted of a line there should be a cross or something (by my own weird logic), since the cores are positioned somehow on the four sides of the cpu. Also i heard it's better to let the HSF spread it, since manually doing it can be imperfect, leaving some spots with more tim then others.

actually yeah some people do apply their TIM in a cross, but i find that wasteful, and when i remove my heatsink, i usually discover that it's leaked over the sides...which is why i spread it now

and sometime when you let the heatsink spread it, it doesn;t spread evenly... either way, if you twist your heatsink at least 45degrees both ways, you should have a decent spread

Thanks again for the info ...much apreciated. Anyone else has some thoughts on any of the coolers i mentioned ? I was going to go with the Tuniq Tower 120, but i've read some reviews and they all seem to be different. Sometimes the Tuniq is flawless, sometimes it fails, just don't know what to believe anymore , maybe someone owns this model and could tell me some "real-life" pros and cons.

I'd go with either the Tuniq, or the Zalman (tried and true). then invest in some good thermal paste.
I prefer http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835100009
AS Ceramique. (the shipping is more than the TIM tho) It's still less than $20 for enough to last 4 or 5 applications

Thank you IH8U. I was thinking almost the same, had another option flying by yesterday with the Xigmatek Red Scorpion S1283, the new S1283 to replace the HDT model. Difference is that is all back (covered in nickel), but i've read some benchmarks around and it seems to be alot less effective then his older brother, the HDT-s1283. Don't know why though, they say it's exactly the same construction, same heatsink fins, same cooler, but it has less cooling power. I'm guessing it's the nickel that's rather ineficient. So i also think it's somehow between the Tuniq Tower 120 and the Zalman. Still gathering advices though xD