Retail Heatsink for x2

[drifter106]

Getting ready to order an x2 (3800 or 4400) from monarch and want to solidify my choice of heatsinks. First, I have done a search here and looked at various reviews showing the typhoon, zalman 9500, xp 90, 120 and both Scythe's. They all are decent hs's. My question to some of you is, what about the retail heatsinks on the x2's. Seems like I read something about the 3800 as not being as good as the others (could be confused on that one). Does AMD stepup their hs's on the 4200 and 4400 models?

I have an option, instead of getting the retail I can opt out and go with a zalman 7000b, thermalrights that they offer are not an option. Some say that the retail hs will suffix (x2's are not hindered by heat but rather just top out). I ordered a combo from monarch last fall and the dam hs is loud. Want to stay away from that (its on a 3500 winnie).

The combo offers a zalman 7000b for $46...hell a typhoon is near that price...talked to a rep today and he said we could probably work something out if I want to change out the heatsink provided the heatsink is on their website. The only descent one is the typhoon.

Will o/c

thanks people...

jd

 

[Leper Messiah]

The stock HSFUs for the X2s past 4200 are heat pipe coolers and do a decent job. The ones for the 3800+ and the 4200+ are the same Al coolers they used on the venices and winchesters. Okay, but they get loud during OCing. The Big Typhoon is a beast, and will cool down your crap good, but its a PITA to install. The 7000b sure as hell isnt worth $46, I got a 7700Al-Cu for $29.

 

[drifter106]

thats kinda what I thought but my options are somewhat limited if I get the combo special (don't really want to give up the options that the combo gives you) from monarch... may just go with the retail setup and get AMD's stock heatsink.

 

[imported_ST]

Stock HSF Review

 

[lifeguard1999]

Nice link ST!

 

[drifter106]

Thank you for the review and I assume, based on the following from the article:

However, the major surprise to us while testing was how efficient AMD?s bundled retail cooler is. Its quad-heatpipe design is incredibly efficient, also allowing for very low temperatures with minimal fan noise. Than again, when you consider this cooler was designed specifically for Socket-940/939 processors (whereas other coolers are designed for a wide variety of configurations), you can see how AMD can focus their efforts on getting the best temperatures from this design. It?s a great cooler on its own, but when you throw in the fact that it?s free, the deal is just that much sweeter.


That this is the stock heatsink that comes with the x2 line of processors...

Looks pretty good to me!!

 

[INM8]

Remember thats only the "stock heatsink" for x2's past the 4200. Anything lower than that, and you will not get the heatpipe cooler. I have an x2 4400, and before i got my zalman 9500 i ran AMD's stock heatpipe cooler at rpms within the range of 800-1800. At 800rpm, the pc idled at about 35-30 with CnQ on, and at 1800rpm with prime 95 running on both cores i got 47-48 temps.

Its just as quiet as my zalman 9500 on "silent mode" all the way up to 1100 - 1300 rpm or so. After that, you start to hear a slight whine. After 1900rpm it gets must noisier, so keep it at or below 1800 if you want something quiet.

Its not a bad cooler...and if you managed to replace the stock fan with a quiet 120mm fan you'd be laughing.

 

[LxMxFxD3]

the stock cooler on my x2 3800 was actually pretty good, considering. But, the fan got too loud and I was hitting above 60C when overclocking.

I got the BT and temps dropped about 9C and fan noise disappeared. Good trade off.

 

[Shenkoa]

AMD's stock coolers work just fine, many people I have talked to say that their overclock was not at all improved when they purchased a new HSF.

Its a processor ornament.

 

[eflat]

Originally posted by: drifter106
Getting ready to order an x2 (3800 or 4400) from monarch and want to solidify my choice of heatsinks. First, I have done a search here and looked at various reviews showing the typhoon, zalman 9500, xp 90, 120 and both Scythe's. They all are decent hs's. My question to some of you is, what about the retail heatsinks on the x2's. Seems like I read something about the 3800 as not being as good as the others (could be confused on that one). Does AMD stepup their hs's on the 4200 and 4400 models?

I have an option, instead of getting the retail I can opt out and go with a zalman 7000b, thermalrights that they offer are not an option. Some say that the retail hs will suffix (x2's are not hindered by heat but rather just top out). I ordered a combo from monarch last fall and the dam hs is loud. Want to stay away from that (its on a 3500 winnie).

The combo offers a zalman 7000b for $46...hell a typhoon is near that price...talked to a rep today and he said we could probably work something out if I want to change out the heatsink provided the heatsink is on their website. The only descent one is the typhoon.

Will o/c

thanks people...

jd

the zalman looks damn cool and is cheap but if you ever want to replace your ram you are going to have to remove the hsf first -- that and if you are going with expensive ram with the heatsinks built around it i doubt it would even fit. so beware of compatibility issues with it.

serisouly unless you are overclocking there is no reason to upgrade the heatsink. amd would not sell the processor with a heatsink that was not more than capable of cooling the cpu at stock speeds.

 

[c1001]

I bought a Thermaltake Typhoon to replace the stock HSF on my 4800+ before I even received it. Then I purchased an Si-120 just in case the Typhoon was a PITA. I have always replaced the noisy stock HSF in the past on my CPU.
Both the Typhoon and the Si-120 are still sitting in their boxes and have never been tried after a month of use. The stock HSF on the 4800+ is actually pretty damn impressive! Good temps and with Cool N Quiet enabled, the sound is not readily noticeable.

 

[drifter106]

Well I think I will go with the stock heatsink. The hs's that are on the opteron's do an adequate job but not for sure that they are on the 4400's. Monarch rep told me the stock hsinks that come on the 4400 have pipes coming out of them so I am hoping they are the same as what is on the opterons.

 

[incompleteunit]

Originally posted by: drifter106
Well I think I will go with the stock heatsink. The hs's that are on the opteron's do an adequate job but not for sure that they are on the 4400's. Monarch rep told me the stock hsinks that come on the 4400 have pipes coming out of them so I am hoping they are the same as what is on the opterons.

I just installed a 4200 the other day and it came with the heatsink pictured in that review. I would be pretty sure that the 4400 comes with one too.

 

[evilharp]

Originally posted by: drifter106
Getting ready to order an x2 (3800 or 4400) from monarch and want to solidify my choice of heatsinks. First, I have done a search here and looked at various reviews showing the typhoon, zalman 9500, xp 90, 120 and both Scythe's. They all are decent hs's. My question to some of you is, what about the retail heatsinks on the x2's. Seems like I read something about the 3800 as not being as good as the others (could be confused on that one). Does AMD stepup their hs's on the 4200 and 4400 models?

I have an option, instead of getting the retail I can opt out and go with a zalman 7000b, thermalrights that they offer are not an option. Some say that the retail hs will suffix (x2's are not hindered by heat but rather just top out). I ordered a combo from monarch last fall and the dam hs is loud. Want to stay away from that (its on a 3500 winnie).

The combo offers a zalman 7000b for $46...hell a typhoon is near that price...talked to a rep today and he said we could probably work something out if I want to change out the heatsink provided the heatsink is on their website. The only descent one is the typhoon.

Will o/c

thanks people...

jd

Stock Heatsinks:

X2-3800 - Mixed bag, some get heatpipes other get copper/aluminum single core coolers
X2-4200 and up - AVC heatpipe unit (copper base and pipes with aluminum fins)

My experiences (on my X2-4200):

1st tried: Stock cooler (heatpipe) - cooled well, but noisy (in my opinion). Easy to install.

2nd tried: CNPS7000A-CU and AS5 - too small for this CPU. Temps climbed into the 60s on stock clock under load (with fan on high).

3rd tried (current cooler): XP-120 with Panaflo and AS5 - awesome combo, quiet and effective. Temps stay in 40's under full load (54 max with S&M).

My suggestion: stay stock (live with the noise) or get the Typhoon. The Typhoon is relatively cheap, it works and it is quiet.

 

[drifter106]

Well its gonna be the typhoon or the stock...will think on it a while and look for other things to convience me one way or the other. Thanks for all the input guys, definitely worth the reading!!!!

 

[Griswold]

Try the stock HSF (if its the heatpiped version) before you dump money on a HSF.
It does a great job for me cooling my 4400+ running at 2.4GHz. At stock speed, the fan would always stay around 1800rpm with both cores at 100% load. Now with a 200MHz overclock, it hits 2000-2100 when both cores are fully stressed, which is still pretty silent.

You can always change later. Best that can happen is, you save money.

 

[nealh]

I prefer the XP90 not because it improved my ocing but it is more efficient cooler that keeps temps down in my system and I can use a nice quiet fan

I would get an SI-120 next time