AM3 heat sink that doesn't require a mounting bracket

Odd, I just built a machine with the Athlon II X4 640, and for the first time in a long time used the stock cooler in a build. Personally I find the fan to be silent, especially compared to those copper heat pipe fans that come with the Black Edition processors.

I've also got an Athlon II X4 630 running the Hyper TX3 already linked above, great little heatsink, only noisy under full load running 3.5Ghz.

I second the cooler master tx-3.... dead quiet most of the time... fan does not get annoyingly noisy until its over 70% which will never happen unless you are stress testing the machine.

Here is a great Zalman HSF that hooks directly to the stock bracket. Costs a little more than the Cooler Master previously discussed, but I have always been very happy with Zalman HSFs. They are both quiet and effective.

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

Well my case is a NZXT M59 which is pretty open.

My problem isn't that stock is so loud but I often just use my computer for surfing so I don't have any headphones on and when i turn off my computer the difference is really obvious.

Looking at some of the reviews and pics it seems that it does need a backplate though or is the backplate just for intel?

That is for the Intel CPUs. For AMD AM3 use, there is a bar and clip that goes through the base of the HSF that is used to attach to the two mounting points on the stock bracket. Pretty simple and yet effective. I have several Zalman HSFs that you the same mounting mechanism and they get the job done well.

Best answer selected by jwin742.

i think i'll go with the cooler master tx3 mainly because of the price.
spending 30$ dollars on performance I don't need, seems a waste.