Stick with stock heatsink?

[hittman305]

Ok i am going with a Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 cpu. I dont have any plans to overclock. ( i have an Intel MobO DDR 3 )just running at stock. but i hear the heatsink is horrible. But should i go with a better heatsink/fan? even if i do not overclock? My main use for this cpu, is High end gaming (crysis,warhameer,cod4 etc) and burning dvd's, downoalding, web surfing, etc. so, is it worth it to buy a better cooler? and if so, what would you reccomend? (something under 50 buks, pref)

 

[LoneNinja]

Personally I wouldn't bother spending the extra money if you don't plan to overclock. That's just my opinion.

 

[zagood]

Start with stock. Decide for yourself if you think it's horrible.

 

[faxon]

yea if you determine yourself that it's horrible then go for it, otherwise test it out first and see if it meets your needs. i can tell you straight up though that with linpack or OCCT you can get the CPU to thermal throttle on most board's stock config (70-85c shutoff) with the stock cooler on my Q9650. should be similar with a Q9550. if you just want a cooler to help it run a bit better without caring so much about performance, there's a shit ton of good cheap coolers on the market now which come with at least 3 heatpipes (preferably 3 8mm ones like the S-1283 and variants) and mount 120mm fans. if quiet is your game as well i would highly recommend it, since most of these coolers will give you a significant drop in core temperatures with even a low RPM fan or 2 in push/pull. 2x low speed yates + megahalems got me 4GHz with 70c OCCT temps @ 1.296vcore 18 hours OCCT stable, but even my S-1283 noticed a few degrees of gain in performance with 2 low speed yates over the stock medium speed fan that came with it, and it's quieter lol

 

[aigomorla]

If you dont overclock, and your not bothered by the noise, dont bother.

Stock fans are fairly quiet until they go on full load.

 

[Denithor]

Xigmatek S1283 $40 - $10MIR with free shipping

That's the best deal in coolers right now. Very high efficiency at low cost.

That said, stock cooler was designed to keep the chip within an acceptable thermal range at stock speeds. This one just does it better, probably 12-15C cooler under load.

 

[Eureka]

You don't need it. The stock cooler can usually handle a good range of temperatures. Only if you're overclocking do you really need a specialize cooler (that or if you're going for a dead-quiet PC).