Best i3 aftermarket heatsink/fan?

[blazing angel]

hello all, i've decided to get a i3 550, gigabyte ga h33 usb3, g skill eco, and antec 300.

i'd like to oc the cpu up to 3.7-4ghz, but i am not sure which cooler i should use. i was thinking of the cooler master hyper 212 plus, but i heard that since its not very smooth on the bottom, it doesnt hook up well. is the thermalatake mux 120 any good?

 

[davcon]

I have both those coolers but i couldn't tell you about the MUX-120's overclock potential since i haven't done that.Plus i've never seen a review of it at those speeds.
I run a CM Hyper 212+ on an i3 530 but same story no oc.
What i do know is that plenty of people have Hyper's on their cpu's at 4GHz.
I think you would be fine with the Hyper and some good fans in push/pull
Scythe s-flex,Thermalright,or Nexus would work and be alot quiter then the stock CM fan.
It's almost worth it to buy a Thermalright Venomous X-RT cuz i know it can handle the oc for sure.

 

[lowriderflow]

Definately the hyper 212 with some arctic silver 5 thermal grease.

 

[blazing angel]

ok i have a antec 300 illusion on its way. i guess that;s good :lol:
i might go with either the 212 or the Thermalright Venomous X-RT

heck, i might even go for the water route-
but is it worth it for the i3?

 

[davcon]

I think the 212+ with push/pull would be fine.

 

[cromedome]

I have an i3 530 and a hyper 212+ and run at 4.0ghz with 1.232 vcore and temps hover around in the 50's.