Overclock on air? Which one? Please help!

[TheNewman]

I have slowly been upgrading my system over the past months but kept all the parts so now I am building my wife a decent gaming rig. The CPU she is getting is a Phenom II 980 BE - when I used it, I had it OC'ed to 4.4ghz with an H100 to keep it cool. I'm using the H100 in my new rig so I was hoping to get some input on what a decent air cooler would be for her rig.

I plan on OC'ing the 980 to around 4ghz in her rig and am hoping to keep the cost under $40 since I could purchase a refurb H60 for about $50 on Newegg. Is a refurb H60 a better option or can I get a CPU fan that will suffice at 4ghz in that price range? I would prefer to not spend a bunch more money but I don't want heat to be an issue during extended gaming sessions.

Any help or advice is much appreciated!

Also, I don't know if it matters but here is the setup

Asus M4A88TD-V Evo
AMD Phenom II 980 BE
ATI Radeon HD 5870 x2 CF'ed
Corsair Vengeance 4x4gb
Corsair GS600 PSU
Windows 7 Ultimate

 

[socialfox]

Here is a nice heatsink that should get to 4ghz easily, since that is a minor overclock.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

Nice job in taking your wife's cooler and replacing it with a cheaper cooler

Edit: Found this
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=FAN-B10212&c=CJ

The 212 evo and plus have minimal difference that is probably less than 5 degrees in difference. So just grab the 212 plus, and if your feeling guilty, place another fan on the heatsink. :lol:

*I was just being sarcastic with my comments, it makes sense for you to use the H100 since your wife probably wont be overclocking that processor to the max. In addition, another way to lower temperatures is to limit the CPU voltage to the lowest possible value for a stable overclock.

Anyways if case width is an issue and you cannot fit the Hyper 212 plus/evo then go for the next best thing the Hyper TX-3 EVO.
Also I would not grab the H60, nothing really special about closed loop water cooling. Air cooling can pull the same temperatures and it is less of a liability since you have no worries for pump noise, leaking etc.

 

[TheNewman]

I showed her this post and she thinks I screwed her hahaha. But your correct, she won't be doing anything overly taxing. I just figured make sure it's not an issue right away and not have to worry as I'm sure the stock HSF won't keep it cool. Anyways, thanks for the input. Appreciate your time.

 

[TheNewman]

Best answer selected by TheNewman.

 

[TheNewman]

Best answer selected by TheNewman.

 

[socialfox]

Hey no problem, also wanted to correct something. It should be lower the voltage to the lowest possible value while still maintaining a stable overclock. Most of the times when people get a stable overclock they don' t take the time to lower the voltage through trial and error. Lowering voltages lower temperatures. I suggest running prime 95 after the change in voltage for at least 2-3 hours.

Anyways if you have any other questions related to this thread or need an opinion on something, feel free to send me a PM. I'm on the forums most of the time.