Intel i7 3770 Stock Heatsink or Aftermarket?

[VT17Fan]

Hello,
Wondering if I needed to install an aftermarket heatsink and fan on my new processor or stick with the stock that comes with it? I've read several things about the Ivy Bridge processors getting hotter than the 2nd gen processors, but I wasn't sure if that was due to overclocking? System is a gaming system and I mainly play BF3, SWTOR, and WoW.

 

[Raiddinn]

I run a 3570k off of the heat sink that comes boxed with the processor.

My case has very good airflow and I have never seen my cores go over 50c since I got the processor.

However, that isn't to say that the temps couldn't be better in the processor with something like a Hyper 212 EVO.

One thing you will want to pay particular attention to, though, is that you have a side fan sitting above the processor if you decide to get an aftermarket cooler.

See the aftermarket coolers do really well for the CPU heat, but they completely neglect the other important quality of CPU dispersal fans which is to cool the chipset, particularly the voltage regulators.

If those things go uncooled because the air is flowing many inches above them when a Hyper 212 or whatever is installed, then they can overheat and do serious damage to the board. Not to mention all kinds of stability problems.

In fact, its more common that the voltage regulators are limiters of OCing than processor heat is. That is why it is imperative that you have side fans over the CPU if you want to remove the cooler that generally cools them (dispersal CPU fan).

I wouldn't worry too much about staying with Sandy Bridge because of the heat concerns unless the absolute highest OC is all that really matters. If that is the case then you should be getting a Phenom 2 processor because those things can hit 8+ GHZ.

The Ivy Bridge chips are quite a bit better than Sandy Bridge at the same clocks so if you just want to do say 4.0 then Ivy Bridge would be a more productive 4.0 than a 2500k is.

I honestly don't see any super good reason to OC an Ivy Bridge i5 anyway, so that would be what I would advise.