Popular, recommended cpu heatsinks/fans

[slowpogo]

I'm building a system around an Athlon 3700+ San Diego. I will be overclocking it and am willing to spend as much as $50 for a quality aftermarket cpu heatsink/fan.

My question is, which ones have the best reputation? I know a lot of people use the Scythe Ninja and Big Typhoon. Are there any others I should be considering? I do see the"reviews" sticky but I'm just curious which heatsinks pop immediately to mind as good and popular.

 

[CalvinHobbes]

You should spend more time reading reviews and the threads on this forum so you know the pros and cons of each product.

Others to look at:
ZALMAN CNPS7700-CU
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro
THERMALRIGHT XP-120 and XP-90

 

[charlietee]

I personally feel that ThermalRight is the only way to fly...IMHO.

Zalman is another good choice if quiet is your thing.

But for my money it is always ThermalRight.

 

[BlueWeasel]

For $50, I'd be looking at the Ninja or the TT XP-120/Big Typhoon.

 

[Shotgoon]

Originally posted by: CalvinHobbes
You should spend more time reading reviews and the threads on this forum so you know the pros and cons of each product.

Others to look at:
ZALMAN CNPS7700-CU
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro
THERMALRIGHT XP-120 and XP-90

You mean the Freezer 64 Pro right?

 

[Pens1566]

Go for the SI-120 over the XP-120. Improved design fits more MBs.

 

[Howard]

If you've got a 120mm fan as an exhaust, you might be able to get away with running a Scythe Ninja passively. A couple of people are doing that, with 55-57 load temps.

 

[the cobbler]

Thermaltake BigTyphoon owns all

beats the crap out of all but a couple with the silent stock fan. There are one or two that might slightly outperform the BigTyphoon, but they are HUGE by comparison (tuniq tower, etc.)

also requires no modifications whatsoever to run your CPU naked

I get better load temps with mine than most people on water, lol

 

[Ping to the Pong]

Ninja all the way. The spaced fin design allows the 120 fan to blow through without causing much turbulance. Also, no other cooler comes with that many heatpipes. Big Typhoon is a close second IMO, but the one drawback that i can see with the BT is that the fan is soo close to the side panel that it prevents full utilization of the 120 fan.

 

[Operandi]

As far as brands go Thermalright, Zalman, Alpha and Swiftech are the undisputed best in terms of quality, none of them have made a poor product.

Companies like Thermaltake on the other hand are all over the place; they more less make up their fan specs, and their heatsinks vary greatly. Some are pretty good which the reviews will show but others are pretty lackluster or even worse. For those reasons I see no reason to recommend them when we have Zalman and Thermalright consistently building quality HS/Fs.

 

[Henny]

If you read the reviews you'll find that Tuniq Tower spanks all others.

 

[corsa]

XP-120, Ninja, Tuniq Tower, Big Typhoon, various fans,various configurations - ABIT USA Forums

In this open testbench environment which takes the case out of the equation, TT Big Typhoon blows them away....literally

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: corsa

XP-120, Ninja, Tuniq Tower, Big Typhoon, various fans,various configurations - ABIT USA Forums

In this open testbench environment which takes the case out of the equation, TT Big Typhoon blows them away....literally

With a side panel on, the results might change.

 

[CP5670]

The Big Typhoon is outstanding. The side panel didn't make much of a difference for me; I saw about a 1 degree difference in load temperatures between the Stacker's standard panel (which has a large vent right above the BT) and the window addon panel I got. Despite what the reviews say, the installation is very simple if you use a hex bit to tighten the nuts. I actually like this much better than the clips Thermalright uses, which are easy to put on but very hard to take off.

That being said, the Ninja is currently $33 at Jab tech and is hard to beat for that price.

 

[smthmlk]

i have the 3700+ san diego and with the arctic cooling freezer64 pro. works great. easy installation, extremely quiet (relative to the stock hs/f) and temps are down significantly. great deal for the money. i use arctic silver 5 on mine.

 

[RallyMaster]

I would take a Scythe Ninja, hook it up to the rear exhaust fan with a fan duct from Thermalright and then run it passively.