Heya guys, I'm about to order my first pc and I wanted to know which heatsink would be the best for a Q6600. I'm planning on overclocking it to about 3.3 3.4. I was looking at the Scythe Ninja Plus REV.B but the reviews are not that good. I'm also considering the AC Freezer 7, i've seen pretty good reviews for it and its cheap. Do you guys think it will be able to handle the OC? I'm open to any other suggestion, however I would like to keep it under $50CAN. Thanks for the help.

Donco

Tuniq Tower if you have enough space, highly recommended

A.

Thermalright IFX-14
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme
Thermalright Ultra 120
Tuniq Tower
Zalman CNPS9700
Artic Cooler 7

There are too many choices to list. It's heatsink and fan, pretty low tech, so there are a lot of manufacturers. Heatsinks with side mounted/side venting fans are better than top down ones. You can aim it at a vent instead fo letting the hot air circulate all around the case. Make sure to check the specs of each one. Most important is airflow, in CFM. Then there is heatsink weight, more is better. People's recommendations can be useful, but don't take them at face value. Most people don't buy all those hundreds of fans and compare their performance. They're likely to say good things about hardware they've brought, because this makes them feel better about their choices that can no longer be changed. Hard specs > random opinions.

The XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 cooler is the boss out there right now...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835233003

I'll pick the Thermalright Ultra-120 extreme:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/c [...] 120ex.html

The Ninja is better than the Freezer 7, but it costs more and it's harder to install.

I think I'd pick the Xigmatek too. It's almost as good as the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme and it's much cheaper.

I hear good things about the Tuniq Tower 120...

I do not recommend the "push pin" models.
check out this thread. Scoot down to Sepremelaw and click on his link.
www.tomshardware.com/forum/248777-28-cooler-roundup

Here is a alternative review
www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/S [...] leId=22842

I also like to read the reviews at newegg - take with a grain of salt as case airflow (important) is an unknown, also most posters do not state ambient temp - can be a big differnce between winter/summar.

I also prefer all Copper construction. Al is lighter, cheaper, but not as effective (similar to cooking pans - Al works, but the better ones have Cu on the burner side (Plated).

This will give you a better insight.

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

The heatsink/fan tom's used in the latest system builders marathon seemed to hold up well, and it's nicely priced

Cooler master HyperTX 2

This link should give you the cooling status as of Feb 2008.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/0 [...] index.html

I've got a Q6600 and I've overclocked it to 3.5ghz. The Arctic Freezer Pro only got me to ~3.3ghz. It's a great value, but IMO it's not enough for "extreme" OCing (we're talking a ghz OC here). The Xigmatek S1283 got me to 3.5ghz +. Note that the S1283 that you buy from Newegg is not the same one that Frostytech reviewed. Look at the fan CFM and noise. Frostytech reviewed one with a more powerful fan. I replaced the stock S1283 fan with a Scyth Slipstream (110 cfm), and it lowered my temps by ~8C.

The Thermalright Ultra Extreme + powerful fan is probably the best cooling you can get on air. I've never tried one, but the "TRUE" comes out on top in most of the reviews/comparisons I've read. Also, all the top air overclockers I've read about seems to be using it.

Scythe if you have enough space, highly recommended.

1st choice-Scythe SCORC-1000 140mm CPU Cooler http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835185064

2nd choice-Scythe SCZP-1000 139mm CPU Cooler http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835185062

My neighbor has his Q6600 B3 running @ 3.2Ghz with the Freezer7. It's keep the temps under control and is also running fairly quiet. Can't be heard over the GPU cooling on his 8800GTS/640 (G80) when gaming.

I also have it and I approve this message!