Cooling solution for i7 860 Overclock

[Trist_58]

Hey everyone,

Recently installed a GTX 580 but was not really that impressed by it's performance in Skyrim so I did a little more digging and discovered that my i7 860 (@2.8 GHz) is the bottleneck here as the game is very CPU intensive.

Now I'm looking into overclocking the 860 and hoping someone can give me an idea of the best cooling solution for this purpose.

This is the store I will be buying from:

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=207_23_845

Thanks in advance.

 

[nforce4max]

People often tend to recommend this cooler but I would get something that is heavier. http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=207_23_845&products_id=18670

 

[Trist_58]

Looks good. Thanks for your help, nforce4max.

 

[davcon]

CoolerMaster Hyper 612 PWM CPU Cooler = level up from EVO.
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=207_23_845&products_id=18376
Or are you man enough for this lol!
Thermalright HR-02 Macho CPU Cooler
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=207_23_845&products_id=17845
With either unit your ram kit (height and # of dimms filled)= will determine if these are compatible.
The Thermalright is probably the better of the two,and the most likely to give you fits if your ram is too tall and will encroach on dimms no doubt.
The EVO is probably the best bet for overall compatibility and will cool your cpu quite well i believe.
The older 212+ version does a fine job keeping hotter i7 9xx's in check when oc'd the i7 8xx's are cooler running.

 

[Trist_58]

Nice one, davcon. Time to do the all important measurements before I decide.

Cheers.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Whattya wanna spend and how hi ya wanna go....

$30 - Hyper 212
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=207_23_845&products_id=18670

$50 - Hyper 612 PWM or Scythe Mugen 3 (5-7C better than 212)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=207_23_845&products_id=18376

$80 - Thermalright Silver Arrow (2-3C better than 612)
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=207_23_845&products_id=16967

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=797&Itemid=62&limit=1&limitstart=4

 

[Trist_58]

Good question. Not really a tight budget but will only be overclocking for games (I need my hyperthreads for 3d work) so I think the $89 "Thermalright Silver Arrow" is overkill. The most commonly recommended cooler seems to be the "CoolerMaster Hyper 612" so I think that's a winner.

Just how far can one push an i7 860 anyway?