Best cooling solution for my Phenom II x4 965 setup?

[zack_of_steel]

So I was bought this computer a little under a year ago for a graduation present and I upgraded it a month or so after. Here is my build:

OS: Windows 7
Motherboard: M2N68-LA (Narra6)
Chipset: GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition
CPU Heatsink: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2
GPU: Raedon HD5750
PSU: Corsair CMPSU-400CX 400W
HD: 500 GB SATA 3G (3.0 Gb/sec) 7200 rpm

This is the link to the original computer:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&docname=c01982717&product=4124974#N1002


When I first bought my Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2, I was getting 34 C idle and around 50 C load. Now I'm getting around 45 C idle and sometimes it gets pushed up to the low 70's under load. I know I need to re-apply my thermal paste, but I was wondering if I could get some advice as to what I should do to make my computer run cool. Money's not a problem, but I'm pretty inexperienced with computers (this computer was my first and is the first I've ever upgraded).

I tried undervolting my computer a long time ago, but the BIOS for the crappy motherboard doesn't support the feature. So I have a few options, and I need suggestions on what to do in addition to reapplying the thermal paste.

Do I:
-Buy a new heatsink
-Buy fans to place in the case
-Buy a new motherboard and lower the voltage
-Buy a new case

-Any combination of the four

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[davcon]

COOLER MASTER HAF 912 = 2x120mm fans
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233
Antec Three Hundred Illusion = 3x120mm / 140mm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-Sleeve-RR-B10-212P-G1/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1301837226&sr=1-1
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0315397
The 300 Illusion features excellent cooling and quality for the price.
Combined with the 212+ temps will be very good.
This would address your temp issues at a reasonable cost.
Ideally you may want to purchase an AMD3+ mobo in the future which will accept your 965BE and next gen AMD cpu's.
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/list.aspx?s=42&jid=10&p=2&v=26
Current MSI and a few Asus boards will either upgrade thru bios update or many will simply ship AMD3+ ready very shortly.

 

[zack_of_steel]

COOLER MASTER HAF 912 = 2x120mm fans
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233
Antec Three Hundred Illusion = 3x120mm / 140mm
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-Sleeve-RR-B10-212P-G1/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1301837226&sr=1-1
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0315397
The 300 Illusion features excellent cooling and quality for the price.
Combined with the 212+ temps will be very good.
This would address your temp issues at a reasonable cost.
Ideally you may want to purchase an AMD3+ mobo in the future which will accept your 965BE and next gen AMD cpu's.
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/list.aspx?s=42&jid=10&p=2&v=26
Current MSI and a few Asus boards will either upgrade thru bios update or many will simply ship AMD3+ ready very shortly.

Awesome information. If I got the case and the heatsink, would I also need to buy other airflow fans to put in the case?

Also, for some reason I can't get the link to the mobo to work, but, seeing as my mobo is a piece of crap, I'll probably want to upgrade that at the same time I get the case and the heatsink.

Would you suggest I go ahead and do that, despite the fact that I've never changed out a mobo before? I figured out CPUs, power supplies, heat sinks, and graphics cards last year. The motherboard shouldn't be too hard, should it?

Thanks again.

 

[davcon]

Awesome information. If I got the case and the heatsink, would I also need to buy other airflow fans to put in the case?

Also, for some reason I can't get the link to the mobo to work, but, seeing as my mobo is a piece of crap, I'll probably want to upgrade that at the same time I get the case and the heatsink.

Would you suggest I go ahead and do that, despite the fact that I've never changed out a mobo before? I figured out CPUs, power supplies, heat sinks, and graphics cards last year. The motherboard shouldn't be too hard, should it?

Thanks again.

If you bought the Antec case there would be no need to improve the fans.
If you bought the HAF 912 you might want to buy another fan a 200mm would be ideal.
You could remove the included 120mm front intake and put it in the top as an exhaust.
The front intake will accept one 200mm fan in place of 2x120mm.
http://cmstore.coolermaster-usa.com/product_info.php?cPath=18_25&products_id=553
Led are also available.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007998&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=573%7C35-103-073%5E35-103-073-TS%2C35-103-072%5E35-103-072-TS
Personally i would go with the Antec since it already has 4 high quality fans.
All your parts you've listed are good quality and should integrate seamlessly onto a new mobo.
Anything in the 800 series chipsets from Asus,Gigabyte,or MSI would be fine.
I would advise you to choose a mobo that features the AMD3+ socket.
Just checkout the above makers websites for info on the boards and features each offer.
870 and 880 boards are affordable and have the newest 333 tech and ideal for one gpu.
890 boards are the high end and feature crossfire and sli capabilities for two gpu's.

 

[zack_of_steel]

If you bought the Antec case there would be no need to improve the fans.
If you bought the HAF 912 you might want to buy another fan a 200mm would be ideal.
You could remove the included 120mm front intake and put it in the top as an exhaust.
The front intake will accept one 200mm fan in place of 2x120mm.
http://cmstore.coolermaster-usa.com/product_info.php?cPath=18_25&products_id=553
Led are also available.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007998&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=573%7C35-103-073%5E35-103-073-TS%2C35-103-072%5E35-103-072-TS
Personally i would go with the Antec since it already has 4 high quality fans.
All your parts you've listed are good quality and should integrate seamlessly onto a new mobo.
Anything in the 800 series chipsets from Asus,Gigabyte,or MSI would be fine.
I would advise you to choose a mobo that features the AMD3+ socket.
Just checkout the above makers websites for info on the boards and features each offer.
870 and 880 boards are affordable and have the newest 333 tech and ideal for one gpu.
890 boards are the high end and feature crossfire and sli capabilities for two gpu's.

So I think I'll definitely buy the Antec case and the Hyper 212 Plus along with this Asus board.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131644

This will set me up with a great board, case, and heatsink while also allowing for CPU and GPU upgrades in the future if I so choose. Sound right?

 

[davcon]

So I think I'll definitely buy the Antec case and the Hyper 212 Plus along with this Asus board.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131644

This will set me up with a great board, case, and heatsink while also allowing for CPU and GPU upgrades in the future if I so choose. Sound right?

As far as i know the Asus 890 boards have a beta bios for the AMD3+ cpu's.
For testing only and not to be used with AMD 2/3 cpu's.
http://event.asus.com/2011/mb/AM3_PLUS_Ready/
Gigabyte will be shipping Black socket AMD3+ ready mobo's.Known as Rev 3.1.
GA-880GA-UD3H
GA-870A-USB3
GA-870-UD3P
GA-870A-UD3
GA-890GPA-UD3H
GA-890FXA-UD5
And MSI is slowly adding AMD3+ bios updates to their AMD3 800 mobo's.
http://us.msi.com/index.php?func=newsdesc&news_no=939
Why are you going for such a high-end board?
ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3 or GA-890GPA-UD3H rev 3.1 is probably more then you'll ever need.

 

[zack_of_steel]

As far as i know the Asus 890 boards have a beta bios for the AMD3+ cpu's.
For testing only and not to be used with AMD 2/3 cpu's.
http://event.asus.com/2011/mb/AM3_PLUS_Ready/
Gigabyte will be shipping Black socket AMD3+ ready mobo's.Known as Rev 3.1.
GA-880GA-UD3H
GA-870A-USB3
GA-870-UD3P
GA-870A-UD3
GA-890GPA-UD3H
GA-890FXA-UD5
And MSI is slowly adding AMD3+ bios updates to their AMD3 800 mobo's.
http://us.msi.com/index.php?func=newsdesc&news_no=939
Why are you going for such a high-end board?
ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3 or GA-890GPA-UD3H rev 3.1 is probably more then you'll ever need.

Well, originally I was looking at the ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3, but I have noticed in reviews for it that it has limited memory support. I can't seem to figure out if the memory sticks I have will be compatible or not.

Original PC's specifications:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&docname=c01982717&product=4124974#N254

Board's Qualified Vendors List (QVL):
http://support.asus.com/QVL.aspx?SLanguage=en&p=1&s=24&m=M4A89TD%20PRO/USB3&os=&hashedid=fLIjRELzxMxkH2UQ


Not sure what I'm looking at in either of those links, to be honest. I have no idea what brand my RAM sticks are.

Also, would you suggest springing the extra money for either of these versions of the case you suggested?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129097

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=11-129-100&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo


I don't mind at all spending the extra money on more fans and features.

 

[greenrider02]

You seem to have a pretty good idea of what is going on.

I can bet for you that your RAM will be compatible, it's standard speed DDR3, not fancy or anything, but there's no problem with that, and if not, 8GB(2x4GB) DDR3 RAM is easily available for $80.

It's definitely a good idea to replace your motherboard, but I think rather than springing for a fancier case than the Antec 300 Illusion, you might consider spending your money upgrading graphics (and subsequently power) or setting up a SSD as a boot drive. A friend of mine has the Illusion and enjoys it's simplicity and cooling prowess.

Just my two cents, I'm too broke to build my own computers, but I help my friends build and upgrade all the time

 

[davcon]

Well, originally I was looking at the ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3, but I have noticed in reviews for it that it has limited memory support. I can't seem to figure out if the memory sticks I have will be compatible or not.

Original PC's specifications:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&docname=c01982717&product=4124974#N254

Board's Qualified Vendors List (QVL):
http://support.asus.com/QVL.aspx?SLanguage=en&p=1&s=24&m=M4A89TD%20PRO/USB3&os=&hashedid=fLIjRELzxMxkH2UQ


Not sure what I'm looking at in either of those links, to be honest. I have no idea what brand my RAM sticks are.

Also, would you suggest springing the extra money for either of these versions of the case you suggested?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129097

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=11-129-100&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=2#scrollFullInfo


I don't mind at all spending the extra money on more fans and features.

QVL listings are for reference only and by no means are definitive.
They represent kits that have been tested by the manufacturer on the mobo and are guaranteed to work.
It's impossible and unrealistic to expect them to test every stick of ram available in the marketplace.
I'm sure your kit will work.
The Illusion is on sale right now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066
Instead of trying to order all at once i suggest you buy components when they're on sale.
The other day the 902V3 was on sale for $89.99 at Newegg.Ya missed out on that one.
I've built rigs in 2009,2010,and 2 this year and i buy when the stuff i want is on sale piece by piece.
Just like this deal which is excellent regarding ram.
http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellShocker.aspx?cm_sp=ShellShocker-_-20-231-445-_-04062011

 

[zack_of_steel]

Best answer selected by zack_of_steel.

 

[zack_of_steel]

Thanks for all your help, guys. I ended up ordering the ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3, Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus, and the Antec Twelve Hundred V3 Black Steel (full tower model).

I am looking into graphics cards and maybe a SSD, thanks for the suggestion, greenrider.