Looking for thoughts about CPU cooling...

Did you read the 40+ page recent CPU Cooling Roundup on TH site ?

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/20/cpu_cooler_chart...
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/26/cpu_cooler_chart...
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/03/cpu_cooler_chart...

^ That's useless. Not very good in quality. For good quality CPU cooler review look at:
http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm#INTELHEATSI...

Xigmatek hdt-s1283, beats both of your mentioned choices, and is cheaper ($35).
The cpu cooler articles are garbage, don't use them

I did read that, and it looked like the 9700 came out close to the top, but i don't see anything there about the Tuniq tower, or about this fan, so it doesn't help me. thnx though  

Thats what i was thinking, they seem a bit lacking. I will check out that one now. Also idk if my case's airflow will matter that much but i have the
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... , with all fans going.

I just took a look at that heatsink, looks similiar to the tuniq tower, but i think i would still replace the fan on that as well, any idea as to how well the fan would work?

the best air cpu cooler atm is the thermalright ultra 120-extreme. just be sure to get a good fan sythe s-flex and up

i would go the tuniq and if noise is not a concern i would up the cfm on a new fan like this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185054
in the end both of those coolers will do pretty good and get you to 3ghz.

Of those two I would go with whichever is the cheaper solution but i can attest to the fantastic cooling power of the 9700. Also Zerotherm BTF90 is a great solution if you don't have a case window(gay looking butterfly design).

The articles I referenced are geared towards Quad CPU's....and I have never been let down by articles on referenced sites. If the people are competent, it's hard to argue with real, measured numbers and when

It does say that the Thermalright IFX-14 wiped the floor with everybody else. The Zalman 8700 failed and wasn't ranked......especially when all the better sites say the same thing. One of the things ya might find out for example from reading the articles is that Zalman doesn't list the 9700 as being supported for Quads. I'd wanna find out if this was an oversight by the webmaster or whether they have a reason for not listing as an approved application.

http://www.zalman.co.kr/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?id...

Pentium 4, Celeron D, Pentium D, Core 2 Duo, Sempron, Athlon 64, Athlon 64 X2, Athlon 64 FX, Opteron, Dual-Core Opteron

The 8700 is

http://www.zalman.co.kr/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?id...

Pentium 4, Celeron D, Pentium D, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, Sempron, Athlon 64, Athlon 64 X2, Athlon 64 FX, Opteron, Dual-Core Opteron

You can compare the IFX-14 with the Ultra 20 here:

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=485&type=expert&pi...

As indicated in the article above,the IFX-14 has the "largest surface area of any cooler on the market ".

My 9700 keeps my Q6600 G0 Oc'ed to 3.0Ghz idling at about ambient 17C-23C Tcase, ~33C Tjunc depending on the ambient and load at up to 40C Tcase, 55C Tjunc and i will be attempting a 3.6-4.0 GHz OC once I get MoBo with an X38 chipset. These temps are in a case with great airflow.
Maverick7 is right about the Thermaltake ultra 120 being the best.

Comming from personal experience... the zlamans stock fan sucks.

My solution:

Giant copper mushroom (copy of the old Zalmans)
Take off case side
8 inch desk fan

Works great for my hot FX-60

The best air cooler atm, is, i believe, the Noctua NH-U12P.
While there is not much between the two, and u wont get any more OC, the Noctua DOES come with its own fan and will get ~2c lowwer than ANYTHING in a push-pull config.

The thermalrights are all awesome, but while ur upgrading, u may as well get the best (price permitting of course)

Only thing taking a side panel off a case does is diagnose that you need to improve the air flow in and more importantly out of your case. Good coolers become insufficient if you dont actually help move the heat out of the case with a good couple of fans.

Well, 250W GPUs don't help either  

The "P" version is slightly different from the "F" version. The F got a 9/10 and 8/10 on noise and installation but only a 5/10 on cooling in Tom's test on Quads with a temp of 71 degrees.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/20/cpu_cooler_chart...

Didn't seem to be much difference between the Noctua and Thermalright 120 here:

http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2008/01/noctu...
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/01/20/noctua_nh-u...

But both didn't do as well as the Thermalright.

Nor here:

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=219...

However in this test, the two ran neck and neck but when they added a 2nd fan to the Noctua it pulled ahead.

http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i... (Good head to head comparison here)

Tho, I'm going strictly on cooling....the noise level on the Noctua is among the very best.

The only review where I saw BOTH the IFX-14 and the Noctua in the same reviews was Tom's. The other reviews tell us that the P versus F doesn't change much. The Anadtech article says that we can pick up about 6 degrees with a second fan on the Noctua. That would take Tom's 71 down to about 65 which nearly hits the IFX-14's 63.

The IFX-14 though is a bear to install with it's extra MoBo socket cooler. But it is also a tiny bit quieter than the Noctua but only by 0.6 dB. Based upon what I ahve seen, I'd have to rate them extremely close but when it all comes down to it....

Thermalright IFX-14 has small advantage over Thermalright 120 and Noctua in Noise.
Thermalright IFX-14 has small but significant advantage over Thermalright 120 and Noctua in Cooling.
Thermalright has a disadvantage in installation......none of them is easy but the socket cooler on the IFX-14, while no doubt helping to lower CPU temps, could be a real PITA especially when you don't have removable MoBo tray.

Whats is your budget? What case are you using?

I have the same CPU and motherboard. I am using the Ultra Chill TEC. I havent gotten around to OCing my chip yet but it runs consistently around 85*F (checked in BIOS). The display for the TEC cooler says 77-79*F and I expected it to be off anyway. I gave 111.99 for my cooler at Frys Electronics.


http://www.ultraproducts.com/product_details.php?cPath=...

This is my setup using the Coolermaster CM830 case:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c170/nwozephyr/a625e5...

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c170/nwozephyr/171bce...

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c170/nwozephyr/4a9a48...

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c170/nwozephyr/cfde5d...

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c170/nwozephyr/6e0b27...

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c170/nwozephyr/53d20b...

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c170/nwozephyr/1322a6...



I had to remove 1 of the 120mm fans to allow room for the cpu cooler. The ambient temp inside the case seems very low so I didnt mind.

I have a second EVGA 8800GTX ANS3 card sitting on my shelf waiting to be SLI'd but my power supply is inadequate. This is something you need to think about using that motherboard and depending on the video cards you use you will need a 1000 watt or greater PSU. I'm waiting for the release of Corsairs 1000 watt SLI certified PSU. It actually has 6 pci-e power plugs for 3 gtx cards so you dont have to make a rats nest out of your wiring.

Food for thought!

I've heard good things about the 9700. I use the TT V1 and it seems to work pretty well. It's a little on the big side so if you have a case that is not too narrow it will work fine.

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

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=641

I have a budget of around 80$ and i have a Thermaltake Armor case with the 25cm side window. My PSU is tier 5 : / which i found out after buying it, i have no probs with it, but its a Rosewill 950w. Is TEC worth it? I was looking into that.

It works well and thats about all I can say. I still have to test it with overclocking. There are other cheaper solutions you can use if you have to. This is just something extra if you like to have something that your buds dont have and make them go "wow".

The only thing I can say that may be a neusence to anyone would be the ramping up and down of the fan rpms. The TEC doesnt run constantly so it seems to fluctuate the rpms on the fan when it shuts off and on. To me, its barely noticeable but I have seen some people post saying it drives them crazy...

It shouldnt be a problem tho.