Advice needed! What HSF should I get?!

[aznwings]

Hey everyone. I just recently ordered parts for my new build and I am extremely anxious to build it, but the parts have not arrived. I got to thinking and I was wondering what HSF I should get if I wanted to overclock my Phenom II 955 to around 4.0 GHz (If possible... pretty sure it is.). The case I am getting is a Rosewill Challenger. It has three fans in the case so it should benefit the most from air cooling right? Will the Hyper 212+ be enough with good temps? (I'm thinking at least ~40C idle and ~60C load. I don't want temperatures to go above 70C.)

My budget is around $80. I don't want to spend more than I need to achieve my goal.

Thank you.

EDIT: [strike]Looking @ the Thermaltake SpinQ and I'm liking the design. Is this any good?[/strike] Not as good as it looks (Looks badass though).

 

[WaywardX]

Hyper 212 is a great cooler, especially for its price. if you don't mind a little noise(read: a lot of noise) Thermaltake's Frio is a great cooler as well, i have a Phenom II 945 at 3.6ghz and my Frio keeps it around 42 degrees under load, and its not even turned up all the way.

 

[aznwings]

Which is better? The Hyper 212+ or Thermaltake's Frio?

I do not mind noise because, most of the time, I'll have sound coming from speakers or headphones to drain out the noise. Plus, I feel like people over exaggerate how noisy some HSFs are.

I would also pick performance over noise anyday.

 

[bigkid]

you might also want to check out noctua nd-d14 and nh-c14 ---i have the c-14 and it performs well , isn't noisey --- many reviews rank it as the best air cooler you can get -- dont know why more dont recomment it .....maybe a little too pricey? but arguably one of the best

 

[aznwings]

The noctua nd-d14 doesn't seem even close to the c-14 and the price difference is only $10. I don't know if I want to get this because it is a little over my budget and $80 was supposed to be my absolute max. However, I'll consider it anyways because I'm not buying an aftermarket HSF just yet. Maybe my budget will increase later on and will allow me to get the c14 since it does look promising. Thanks for the reply, I thought this thread was dead.

 

[Lobodomy]

What are you basing that on? From what I've seen, they're both very close. Using the AMD charts from the FrostyTech reviews of each fan, this is what I've found:

C14
High Fan Speed: 12.9°C at 46.6 dBa
Low Fan Speed: 14.7°C at 35.1 dBa

D14
High Fan Speed: 11.2°C at 48.1 dBa
Low Fan Speed: 12.6°C at 30.8 dBa

So looking at the differences:
High Fan Speed: D14 is 1.7°C cooler with 1.5 dBa MORE than the C14
Low Fan Speed: D14 is 2.1°C cooler with 4.3 dBa LESS than the C14

In that case, I guess it comes down to price, size, and whether you want vertical or horizantal.

Not sure about you, but I'm planning to take the D14 as I have room for it, and having it exhaust through the rear as it is horizontal.

 

[aznwings]

What are you basing that on? From what I've seen, they're both very close. Using the AMD charts from the FrostyTech reviews of each fan, this is what I've found:

C14
High Fan Speed: 12.9°C at 46.6 dBa
Low Fan Speed: 14.7°C at 35.1 dBa

D14
High Fan Speed: 11.2°C at 48.1 dBa
Low Fan Speed: 12.6°C at 30.8 dBa

So looking at the differences:
High Fan Speed: D14 is 1.7°C cooler with 1.5 dBa MORE than the C14
Low Fan Speed: D14 is 2.1°C cooler with 4.3 dBa LESS than the C14

In that case, I guess it comes down to price, size, and whether you want vertical or horizantal.

Not sure about you, but I'm planning to take the D14 as I have room for it, and having it exhaust through the rear as it is horizontal.

Oh, I was basing it off the CFW taken from each product on the Newegg site. Guess I should have been looking at reviews instead.

I can get the Hyper 212+ for around $25 at a local Frys, so would it be a better decision to get the 212+ or to get the D14? (Price-per-performance-wise)

I just checked out the charts for the Hyper 212+ and I think the 3 Degrees Celcius difference on high is very small, but I would like to hear people's opinions on this (Noise difference is very big. The D14 is real quiet. And real expensive.). I also think the Frio is very impressive, but for double the price....

I don't know!

1) Hyper 212+ or Something else? (Price vs. Performance. Is anything better?)

2) Which will fit into my Rosewill Challenger? (Will the above recommendation fit my case?)

 

[Lobodomy]

This is what the chart shows about the Hyper 212+:
High Fan Speed: 14.4°C at 50.1 dBa
Low Fan Speed: 23.0°C at 35.3 dBa

Compared to the D14:
High Fan Speed: D14 is 3.2°C cooler with 2 dBa less than the Hyper 212+
Low Fan Speed: D14 is 10.4°C cooler with 4.5 dBa less than the Hyper 212+

Based on that, between the two I'd just go with the Hyper 212+ if you don't like the idea of spending $100 when you can get the cheaper option for only $25 in your case. Also, as far as noise, I don't think the Hyper 212+ is loud enough to complain.

Also, I don't think the D14 would even fit in your case to be honest You'd have to measure yourself to be sure though. You might have to change the position of the side panel fan if it interferes, but I'm not too sure.

 

[aznwings]

Best answer selected by aznwings.