I ordered up and installed a AMD Athlon 6400+ 3.21GHz Black Edition CPU. I had the option of getting a recommended fan included in the deal from Newegg. I bit. Well as it turns out the HSF would not fit unless I removed two sticks of my DDR2. Ouch. I went from 4GB to 2GB. I have Windows Vista Basic 32 bit, so in reality I have only lost 1.5GB of ram but still, I want all the ram I can cram in my box...know what I mean? So my rig is running great with the new CPU and only 2GB of ram. For principals sake, I want all that ram back so...

Can anyone recommend a great HSF that will fit? &

Has anyone experienced the same?

I have the DIMMS on one side and then some transistors on the other so I am restricted to the stock HSF dementions which is very similar to this Rosewell RCX-Z1. Currently I have the Rosewill RCX-Z2-EX installed. As you can tell from the specs and the picture, it is a very nice looking and well performing HSF. I have been running the processor now with it installed for about three hours and its been clocking at under spec temperatures 60c - around 48c lazy. Nice HSF huh? I wish that I could keep it, but it simply does not fit. I am thinking the Rosewill RCX-Z1 (pictures showing the general shape and size I need to make this work) will do just fine, but I could use some expert advice just to be sure before I return it and get one that fits between the DDR2 and te transistors on the other side of the ram.

Thanks in advance for your assistance...

This one has worked for me in the past:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] man%2b9700

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835154002 is mine and I've have it cooling an overclocked AMD Phenom 9600 @ 2.9GHz. Well not right now becuase I've decied to go back to stock sence my PSU would hardlock the system at 2.8GHz but was able to reach 2.9GHz. Strange though that in Windows Vista I've recieved "A secondary processor clock interval was not recived with in alocated time" Windows XP just Froz with no BSOD.

the big typhoon ,..by thermal take,....it kicks and kicks more!!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835887011

This is what I'm using on my Phenom here, works good even while OCing. just make sure they include the fan controller in your package.

Any Zalman 9000 should work. They almost never hit the ram slots.

[/end immature juvenile post]

ROFL... You got suckered

^^ ok fanboy.

6400+ is a great cpu. Im using a coolermaster 212 and I idle at 26C/27C. check it out. you might be impressed.

Thanks for all the help. As it turns out I am just going to keep it. Today I bought a case, mobo, and another DVD burner. I'm just going to build a whole new machine. Why not, I have all the parts, and then some. I'll sell the Dell Inspiron as stock and call it good.

I have the same CPU.

AMD 6400+ Black Box Edition, zalman 9700 HS (can be upgraded to quad core)
ASUS Crosshair MB
4 Gig's ( 2 gig each) xms2 dhx matched pair 800 Corsair mem
( will take 8 gigs)
2 seagate sata's 320 & 500 Gig
HP 20x dvd burner
nv 8800gts512oc ddr3 vid
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series sound card
antec 650 watt ps
antec 900 case, 4 fans (can add 2 more)
vista ulta 64

5.6 WEI Determined by lowest subscore
Processor AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6400+ 5.6
Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB 5.9
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT 5.9
Gaming graphics 5.9
Primary hard disk 234GB Free (298GB Total) 5.6
MB temp 31 deg C
CPU temp 39 deg C

number 8 built to date

CPU type AuthenticAMD
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6400+ [AMD64 Family 15 Model 67 Stepping 3] Number of CPUs 2 Operating System Microsoft Windows Vista , (06.00.6000.00) Memory 4093.69 MB Measured floating point speed 2873.9 million ops/sec
Measured integer speed 7403.29 million ops/sec

AMD processors do not need defending, fantastic performance for the price at any speed and any number of cores. The Zalman is an excellent choice. Have it on both my 5000+ and 9600 BE's and works a treat on both.

Thanks for the link...

It's not so much about the CPU being cooled as it is the size of the HSF. Cooling is a must obviously, but I need to make sure the new fan does not hit the Dimms or the transistors on the other side. It's the opposite sides of the clips/HSF mounts that are concerning.

It appears that my new mobo (for my spontaniuos build, slated for Wednesday evening after successfull on time delivery from Newegg) is also going to be a tight fit and therefore need the width to be the same as the Processor mount. I need to go up and not out with the dimension. I like the suggestion for the Zalman 9000's. Yes they will do the trick.

Thanks everyone for your help. I am quite the noob, but learning quickly!

I've had a Thremalright Ultra 120-Extreme on my cpu (3.1 Ghz 5200x2) and have had NO problems with temps.

Very easy installation and quiet as can be.

I didnt have a x2 6400, but i had a x2 5600 than ran at the same speed, i used the arctic 64 pro, kept temps about 32C idle and never higher than 45C load