Best 939 Heatsink on a budget

[Squyd]

I am extremely happy with my recent AMD 939 rig (Toledo 3800 dual core oc'ed to 2.9Ghz) that I decide to get another same setup, never mind I really don't have any immediate use for it

The HS choice is still open and the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme will surely do the trick My current CPU hits a hard wall at 3.0 GHz which makes think anything more than the XP-90 in use is overkill. I'm looking at:

Thermalright Ultra 90 $15
Arctic Freezer Pro $20 (?)
Thermalright XP-90 $29

Shipping not included. The XP-90 is a same bet, but does anyone have experience with the Ultra 90 or the Arctic Freezer?

 

[RussianSensation]

Why not get an E4300/4400 combo instead?

 

[f4phantom2500]

why not go am2 instead? basically the same processors, only cheaper, and cheaper ram. plus you can throw in an am2+ processor (k10) later.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Shameless self promotion.

I used this with a Manchester 3800 & it works well. Very well.

 

[MarcVenice]

yeah you could get a faster am2 socket cpu then the 3800 x2 for a s939, for less money too I do not have a clue abt how am2 cpu's OC though, but performance wise they are basicaly the same, so I guess they OC the same too, although that might be a very bad assumption

 

[996GT2]

AM2 chips OC just as well (if not better) than S939 chips. My 3500+ OCs to FX57 levels easily, and many of the low-end X2s have OC'd to near 3 GHz judging from reviews.

As far as performance goes, AM2 is a bit slower with RAM that is slower than DDR2-800. Above that, though, it's faster than S939 by a bit.

 

[Squyd]

All points taken. While AM2 CPUs are on par with 939 ones, maybe even cheaper, the 939 advantages are: no need for new DDR2 memory, and 939 boards are cheaper. The first is moot now, since I couldn't help jumping on those super Micron chip bargains going on lately However I had an excellent DFI Lanparty Expert board for $70, and last time I check, the few AM2 boards recommended by AT are well above $100.

I recently had first-hand experience with Intel 6300 vs. AMD 3800 system side by side: apart from video cards, the AMD rig reuses DDR memory (still good), and CPU and mobo come down as less than half the Intel counterparts. The Intel 6300 oc to 3.2 GHz, the AMD 3800 to 2.9 GHz. Very close to me.

I do pay attention to a reliable, proven board. At first we have great fun with oc, but over the long run, a good mobo saves tons of stress. My A7N8X Deluxe still runs strong after 3 years with a mobile barton. The thing is, it's a breeze to upgrade memory, video cards and so on, the CPU usually never dies, but it is a royal pain to replace the motherboards (taking the whole rig apart, disk backup and re-install windows ...)

 

[lopri]

Stock AMD HSF FTW. (The one with 4 actual heat pipes, see the first rig in my sig)

 

[DrMrLordX]

Originally posted by: Squyd
All points taken. While AM2 CPUs are on par with 939 ones, maybe even cheaper, the 939 advantages are: no need for new DDR2 memory, and 939 boards are cheaper. The first is moot now, since I couldn't help jumping on those super Micron chip bargains going on lately However I had an excellent DFI Lanparty Expert board for $70, and last time I check, the few AM2 boards recommended by AT are well above $100.

I don't know anyone on the forums who recommends $100+ AM2 boards. My two favorites, the Abit NF-M2 nView and DFI NF UltraII-M2, both run under $100 consistently. You can also try out the Bioforce T550 for a cheaper board. Considering the fact that an X2-3600+ which will usually do 3 ghz or more is around $55 now, board prices are less of a concern.

 

[lopri]

It's really amazing how cheap you can build such a powerful machine these days.

EVGA/Foxcon NF590 SLI: ~$100 ($250 a year ago) / Gigabyte DS3: ~$100 ($150 a year ago)
X2 3800+: ~$70 ($300 a year ago) / E4300: ~$90 ($200 a year ago/E6300)
2x1GB DDR2: ~$100 ($250 a year ago)
500GB HDD: ~$120 ($250 a year ago)
SATA DVD Burner: ~$40 ($120 a year ago)

I wish I was running a Cyber cafe or something like that. Other than the video cards where the competition hasn't been fierce, the cost of building a system with such power hasn't been this low from my memory..

 

[Puffnstuff]

Get the arctic freezer pro. I put one on the machine that I just built my parents because it's in a small case. I've got one on another machine with an opty 175 and it cools well. I almost got one for my current rig however the thermaltake version tmg-iL cools just a bit better so I went with it.

 

[Bill Kunert]

Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro currently $21 from eWiz with free shipping. Highly rated cooler for a great price.

 

[f4phantom2500]

if you can wait you should wait for the freezer 64 pro to go on sale at the egg; every now and then they have it for like $15 or so shipped, or even cheaper sometimes (i've seen it as low as like $12 shipped). I got one or $16 a couple months ago, and snagged another for $15 earlier this week .


BTW here's a good AM2 mobo for cheap:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138026

pair it up with a 3600 brisbane and you're good to go, especially if you bought ddr2 ram and if you didn't, you should! the only reason not to go am2 imo is if you have a lot of ddr ram to use. you have that motherboard, but imo you should sell it and go am2. plus, like i said, you can always throw a k10 chip in there later.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: lopri
Stock AMD HSF FTW. (The one with 4 actual heat pipes, see the first rig in my sig)

Yup. Check Ebay for the stock 4 heatpipe cooler, I use this one and love it. Even now that it's getting warm outside (we live in a capecod, so the upstairs where the PC's are get's plenty warm) this keep my overclocked Opteron nice and cool.

 

[Squyd]

Lots of excellent input here. It is primarily AMD's fault (plus some help from Intel) making build options so bewildering these days. For value, I think AMD's dual cores are really dirt cheap at below $80 (other components like mobo, memory, video card and even the psu are considerably more than that).

So the CPU+mobo prices are pretty much a toss up between 939 and AM2. AM2's future compatibility is something to think about, however in my experience the same board almost never gets a chance for an CPU upgrade.

 

[f4phantom2500]

Originally posted by: Squyd
AM2's future compatibility is something to think about, however in my experience the same board almost never gets a chance for an CPU upgrade.

Not true in AM2's case. AM2+ processors (K10) will be compatible with current AM2 motherboards.

 

[Bill Kunert]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder

Originally posted by: lopri
Stock AMD HSF FTW. (The one with 4 actual heat pipes, see the first rig in my sig)

Yup. Check Ebay for the stock 4 heatpipe cooler, I use this one and love it. Even now that it's getting warm outside (we live in a capecod, so the upstairs where the PC's are get's plenty warm) this keep my overclocked Opteron nice and cool.

I've got an AMD 4 pipe heatsink on my X2-3800+ and my temps are too high. A little over 65C @ 2.55GHz under load. I just ordered an Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro and hope it will tame the temps a bit. The AMD will be up for sale.