Best CPU cooler for C2Q Q9550

Max Orb sucks donkey ****. Get a TRUE(thermalright ultra extreme), Noctua NH-U12P or a Xigmatech HDT-S1283 with the optional mounting kit.

well, the xigmatek whilst good, i ain't too sure how pretty it would be considered.

Looking at your config, and that your mobo is C2Q ready, i would say that you should perhaps consider overclocking as you would not need to push your mobo or ram over it's rated speeds. They both are capable of a base clock of 400mhz.

If you run your ram and fsb at 400 your cpu would go to 3.4ghz with a slight voltage adjustment and a good cpu cooler will keep the temps well within reason.

Oh and ignore any of that bottlenecking nonsenseat 3.2, he's confused with cpu limits if anything at all, not the same thing.

Still, with 3.4 so within reach, why not try it, i have, no problems here.

Well, what would you call it? I replaced an E6600 with a Q6600. Using my 8800 GTS and 3DMark for benchmarking, I get a linear increase in frame rates from 2.4 GHz to 3.2 GHz. I get a small increase at 3.3 GHz. After that, frame rates are pretty much level to 3.6 GHz. This would seem to indicate that below about 3.3 GHz, the CPU is the limiting factor. Above 3.3 GHz, the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

I suspect, but haven't tested, that new cards will the same or higher frequency as a limiting factor.

Now, please tell me where my confusion is.

Yes, but a cpu limit is not a bottleneck. I ain't going into this for the hundredth time. All i will say is that when you fill a glass full, are you bottlenecked by the rim of the glass?

Oh and lee gamer, your fsb is rated to 1600 i believe, you would not need to overclock the fsb at all, just a thought, can't help anymore with the coolers as usually i am a stock cooler person and apart from case fans, don't really go in for led's or aesthetics, functionality first for me.

I just noticed the "no overclock" remark. That will widen your choices a lot, including some of the LED versions if that's what you want.
ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 blue led
ZEROtherm BTF90 92mm Silent UFO red led
ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler blue
ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler blue

In my area all these are not sold.
I buy all what I need on Ebay.

The Zalman CNPS9700 is interesting but a bit too pricy
The Zerotherm is much interesting.

The case I'm suing is an XPider II.
It's the best I found here since I can't ordered one online.
The case is a bit tight as thee are just about 2mm between the 4870 power cable and the hard disc. It was just.
The problem came form the 4870 power cable which are laid at the end of the card if it was side ways it will be better..

Well I'm gonna search for these coolers by now.
Hope they are available on Ebay for worldwide shipping.
Thanks guys these really help out.

dude how you get to be a master?

lol!

he read my post months ago! i am such a joker when i have not slept - o boy buidling systems all night gets me all post-y


bottle neck?

zig is pretty! photo time!
http://s329.photobucket.com/albums [...] mgm-26.jpg

oops zero therm

double opps no photo - here we go

I still like the AC Freezer 7 Pro (and Cooler Master Hyper TX2) a lot as a good performing, reasonably priced replacement for the stock intel HSF.
They maybe missing the aesthetic appeal and LED the OP seems to be want.

Chenbro Xpider II review Just looking at your case I'd guess that a 92mm sized cooler is probably the best bet.

cut a hole next to the psu on the top then take all the wires out the back and back in side to make it look pretty if you got a window

cut a hole at the bottom and you brint in usb and front panel wires if you got them and if the usb are the bottom of the mobo they usually are

stock cooler is fine if

1) it is a copper core the heavy ones with early cpu's new ones have usesless lite aluminum

2) dual core is under 3.4ghz it can be higher under 1.45v

3) quad is under 2.8ghz

artic freezer is cheap and it is crap but it is better then stock

zerotherm and xigmek with fans and rebates are under $30 and the best value

thermalright will set you back $80+ when factor in a good fan





well if you want to practice and cut the holes with dremel or hole saw make sure you do not let any metal savings into the system box!!!!!

you can do this by taping around the hole area to be cut and flipping up side down so the shavings fall down

you really should cut the holes with case empty, sometimes we do it with the psu alread in but we vacuum out the case really well to get the dust too - remember the dust has metal and cutting tool fragments and they are metal which can short the system

or just bundle them up with some zips and call it day!

happy new year!

Based on what you're saying - take a look at the Akasa Blue Aurora

Ahhhhhhhhhhh so we're back at the Thermaltake MaxOrb Ex again.
Well this thread has gone from "Best CPU cooler for C2Q Q9550" to "Cooler that will look Best in my Case"
Which is OK if that is what you want.
Thermaltake MaxOrb Ex review @ FrostyTech
Also in the same style Zalman CNPS8700 LED review @ FrostyTech

You can see those cooler fall into the middle of the pack in cooling performance. Thats not an issue if you're not interested in being able to get near a near Overclock on your Q9550.
Thermaltake MaxOrb Ex and CNPS8700 LED will let you OC - just not as high as some of the others mentioned before.

Have you thought about buying your CPU cooler for performance.....and then adding Case Mods (like Cold Cathode, LED or Meteor lights) to enhance the look of the case? Case Lighting mods and more Case Lighting mods

Among all these the Noctua NH-U12P seemed to be the best....
I have to search for it to know how it looks like.

The Zalman 9700 LED seemed very interesting too as well.

But since all the latter has been tested on an overclock CPU then the result will be totally different for the Q9550 because I'll be using it at stock level and also it will run cooler because of the 45nm fabrication.....

So maybe a drop of at least 5 C can be expected o even more on all these results....

As I already mention I'm searching for a performance product but with eye-candy.

The SpinQ is indeed very impressive for both as I don't want to overclock my Q9550 for the time being.
Maybe when my rig will be somewhat outdated as I'm not planning to upgrade the CPU for at least 2 years.

Then Maybe I'll got for an Intel i7 which will probably be a lot cheaper by then....

Thanks guys!!!

happy New Year 2009.
All the best.....

So at least the CPU will run cooler with the 45nm.
The Zalman is indeed interesting but priced about $10 more.
Well if it has support for i7 then it's a good deal for the future.

My other favourite is the Thermaltake Max Orb Ex which I think run cooler than the Spin Q.

+1 for TRUE. I think it looks great, like an imposing skyscraper coming off your mobo. I run mine with an oversized 140mm 1200rpm fan and it cools my Q9550 @ 3.4Ghz beautifully and quietly! 4core Orthos and core temps are always <55c. Its still one of the top 5 and if you read Frostytech's analysis they say they used a different lower cfm fan when testing the TRUE - that's how the plain ultra 120 managed to beat the extreme version (and loose to the other top end coolers?)