AMD CPU Cooling Recommendation?

[Fallenjedi]

Morning All -

Been a while since I've posted here, lurking mostly. Anyhow, I'm working on building a new system, and looks like I've got myself a "Energy efficient AMD Athlon? 64 dual-core processor 4400+, Rev G, 65nm" (some of that info is not relevant here, but ya know).

Anyhow, I'm not going to do water cooling so that's out of the picture, but what CPU Coolers are you guys running? I need something, (who doesn't?) that's quiet and cools well. I've searched the web a few times, and can't find anything really recent in regards to a good roundup or comparison. I mean I see the giant thread with the thousand of reviews, but what people read and use/do are generally different...

Any suggestions are most welcome.

Thanks!

 

[coolpurplefan]

I've used Gigabyte Neon Cooler 8, Zalman 7000 alcu and Scythe Ninja.

The Gigabyte Neon Cooler 8 is cheap, easy to install and quiet enough. The only advantage I think the Zalman 7000 has is that you can twist off the heatsink if you want to take it off. I had it in a Coolermaster Centurion 5 case and I could hear it because that case has like a mesh front panel. Since it has a 120mm fan in the back, I decided to put Scythe Ninja in there without a fan and the temperatures are in my opinion, very good. It can go over 50'C when playing games but that's OK for me. The rest of the time, it can be in the low 30'C or even under 30'C.

 

[jgigz]

Are you going to be running it at stock, or are you going to be overclocking at all. If you could provide that info there will be a lot more choices and it will help us decide on what you actually need.

 

[Fallenjedi]

coolpurplefan thanks for the insight!

jgigz, right now, I'm thinking about running at stock speeds, for now - maybe with the option to slightly OC? Not too helpful


Here's the case I'm looking at Thermaltake LanBox Lite, it's "steel mesh" all around so if its too loud, it will be a factor.

 

[coolpurplefan]

I haven't looked at silentpcreview.com in a while but the last time, there was a jump from the Scythe Ninja to the Zalman 7000 alcu. I mean, there wasn't much in between. Like the Scythe Ninja was 9 out of 10 or something like that and the Zalman 7000 alcu was a 7 out of 10 or whatever.

There are some new ones from different companies like several from Scythe so I don't know which one is really ideal. You can always use the fan that comes with the Scythe Ninja and use a Zalman Fanmate to slow it down to get a really silent PC. I read even the pump in water cooling will make noise so you almost never win I guess. Hehe.

 

[Fallenjedi]

Thank you all for your recommendations! You've all been a great help. Some of these look a wee bit big, but once I pick up the new case, I think I'll have a better view Thank you. Any further suggestions are still welcome though

 

[soydios]

Zalman CNPS9500 or 9700 is good, I have the 9500 at minimum speed in my rig and it works very well (full Orthos blend load on both cores yields a Speedfan core temperature that NEVER exceeds 60C).
tower coolers, anyone? (I haven't been following the latest and greatest too closely)

 

[Noubourne]

Scythe Infinity seems to work OK on my opty. It's pretty quiet too, as most 120mm fans are at 800RPMs.

 

[A554SS1N]

The Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro is supposed to be an ok budget solution.

 

[zylander]

Ive been using Thermaltake Volcanos in my last three computer builds and I am very pleased with them. The sound output isnt too bad (my case fans are louder) and it keeps are CPUs very cool even when running at 1.5v.

 

[GeezerMan]

Link

I use the AMD Heatpipe, model Z7U7414001, on my overclocked Opteron 165. Fits 754,939,AM2. Look at the chart here in the Frosty Tech review. It was tops at the time, and still is very far up there today. Look at the other high end models it beats out. 6 degrees cooler than the Zalman. You have to run the fan on high to beat the other guys, so I short out the thermistor on mine, so the fan can run all the way up when needed, like during stress testing. 5 minute job to modify the thermistor. I just set the fan in the bios to go high after a certain temp. It can get noisy on max, but mine usually does not need to go high anyway.
Be aware, there are many different models of the AMD heatpipe, so go by the model number. You can usually get new ones for 20.00 delivered from the bay.

 

[VinDSL]

Okay... now for the BIG question:

Are you actually gonna use this box for LanParties, e.g. lug it around?

If so, you'll need a low-profile HSF. The Nvidia GeForce 8800 instructions show a Thermaltake Blue Orb II -- which would be a good choice!

If not, it doesn't really matter, cuz that mofo has a LOT of space inside! Personally, I would go with something like a Enzotech Ultra-X...