CPU cooler for Phenom X4 9850?

[Uitlander]

Seeking recommendations of the best cooler that fits these two requirements:
1. Extra quiet fan cooling.
2. Certain to fit any full-size tower case (without crowding RAM, graphics card, PCI/PCIe slots, etc).
Probably does not matter, as I have not heard of CPU coolers being OS dependent, but I will be using dual-boot Debian & Ubuntu.

 

[eidairaman1]

xigmatek dark knight

 

[Bo$$]

xigmatek dark knight is pro. as eidairaman1 said

OS really doesn't matter. Temps will be good no matter what you'll do

 

[eidairaman1]

Make sure to get a tube of arctic silver 5 too. Also if youre unsure about installing the cpu cooler yourself you can always take your pc and cpu cooler to a local pc shop or best buy geek squad and have them do it for you for a fee

 

[Melvis]

Coolermaster EVO 3 would do the job wouldn't it?

 

[Bones]

The EVO 3 would probrably work as well as anything.
However, just know since it's a 9850/first gen X4 Phenom chip, it's gonna run warm and I mean nice-n-toasty warm.

The first gen Phenoms run hotter than their Phenom II siblings do, the only Phenom II that runs hotter on average would be the X6 Thuban or fully unlocked 960T. Best bet for overall quiet and effective cooling would actually be watercooling, temps will be better with that at least and those setup tend to be quiet.

OK - Now I'm just throwing some sugestions out there.

For a guaranteed all copper fan that actualy works, this one is good for the money and yes, I've been running one of these for about 4 years now and it's still going strong: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106102
It's handled everything I've used it with including my 1100T. I just set the fanspeed controller where I want it to run and it's good to go. BTW with an AMD, the cooler retainer used is almost exactly like the stock cooler except the retainer isn't an actual part of the cooler, you have to slide it in through the bottom but once in place, works just like the stock cooler's retaining mech does. Be sure the cooler is centered on your CPU, latch it, set the fanspeed where you want it and forget about it.

For watercoolng if you want to try it, this is as good and cheap as you'll find a 2 fan rad unit, it's under $100 in fact: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106190
For the chip you have, I'd suggest at least a two fan rad setup, a single might work fine for more or less stock use but may at times not keep it so cool if the CPU is loaded down heavily, such as doing some crunching/folding/whatever.

 

[BiggieShady]

Make sure to get a tube of arctic silver 5 too.

I believe it's time that finally in 2014. people stop recommending arctic silver 5 when there are MX-4 or cheaper MX-2 from the same company that are thermally more conductive, spread better and don't dry up as fast.

 

[Frick]

I believe it's time that finally in 2014. people stop recommending arctic silver 5 when there are MX-4 or cheaper MX-2 from the same company that are thermally more conductive, spread better and don't dry up as fast.

MX4 is cheaper too. I got a huge tube MX4 for for little more than a small tube of Silver 5 cost.

 

[Vario]

I believe it's time that finally in 2014. people stop recommending arctic silver 5 when there are MX-4 or cheaper MX-2 from the same company that are thermally more conductive, spread better and don't dry up as fast.

I like the Phanteks/Noctua paste, which is also solid as well! AS5 is terrible compared to modern pastes. It was only the top dog in the skt939 days.

 

[techtard]

I had a first gen Phenom X4, cooled it with an Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro.
Did the job with a mild overclock, and was pretty quiet. And inexpensive.

 

[Bones]

I've also had an Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro and didn't like it from day 1.
The fan is held in place with rubber "Things" and these can break easily, letting the fan fall down or wherever it winds up.
The worst of it though to me is how rough the CPU to cooler surface is, it has actually scratched up one or two of my chips, the one I linked to above being smooth and shiny. The AC is probrably cheaper but is an inferior unit too.

BTW if referring to TIM's, I've been using Ceramique for sometime now, easy to get and cheap too. Recently picked up a tube or two of Noctua NT-H1 and while it is good TIM, it's also expensive vs what you get with the likes of Ceramique.....But then again it's supposed to be about the best on the market too.
Either TIM will work and I'd go for the NT-H1 if you woudn't be swapping CPU's around like I do all the time. If you swap them around as often as I, that's where ceramique wins out because it's cheaper by volume and still gives good performance.

 

[Uitlander]

xigmatek dark knight

Thanks for your advice. My concern is the same as all three of the CPU coolers I had been considering. To quote a Newegg reviewer of Xigmatek Dark Knight:

Cons: Its massive. If you think you 'might' have space for it, measure first, then measure again, then measure again, because its massive. Thats a good thing for a heat sink, but don't be that guy that complains because it wouldn't fit into your ubertiny case.

My main requirement is that a CPU cooler is sure to fit (I don't wannna have to fool with sending it back). I decided to get a big full-size tower case to insure there would be no such problems, but now I'm seeing on various forums people complaining about this or that CPU cooler not fitting their full tower cases, or barely fitting, but crowding the graphics card, or RAM, or whatever.
Are you sure I'll not have a problem with this model?

 

[Norton]

Standby for some pics

Spoiler: pics of Dark Knight

Dark Knight ram clearance (close but no issue)

Dark Knight on the same board in a Fractal Define Mini

This is a Xig Gaia (same cooler w/o ceramic coating) in a NZXT Source 210

*Note- this is an HDT cooler, which works very well for AMD chips

EDIT- I have more pics (Dark Knight and Gaia) on various boards in a variety of cases so let me know what you want to see and I'll see what I can find

 

[Uitlander]

I had a first gen Phenom X4, cooled it with an Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro.
Did the job with a mild overclock, and was pretty quiet. And inexpensive.

Again, according to reviewer on Newegg, there appears to be a size issue:

Cons: A little large
Could interfear with RAM slots
Base isn't polished!@#*)!@#_!^&$@#(!!!1!1111!!!!!

I appreciate the fact its quiet, but the previous three coolers I had considered were quiet as well. Finding one that is sure to fit, yet will do the job...that's the problem.

 

[eidairaman1]

Ok look at some of the cooler reviews on this site and youll be gritting your teeth. The dark knight is considered slim to most reviewed recently. And a polished base doesnt mean its better. Ive seen unpolished coolers out do polished units. Dont be so capricious. Norton posted pics of it in action. Im resting my case. Its up to you whether you want to take mine or nortons advise. Best of luck finding a cooler to meet your needs.

 

[EpicShweetness]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835426038

Bit expensive but it really does the job, otherwise I use a Xigamatek Dark Knight, and like many others I can recommend it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608008

I use this paste, bonus of it is being non-conductive.

 

[Uitlander]

Ok look at some of the cooler reviews on this site and youll be gritting your teeth. The dark knight is considered slim to most reviewed recently. And a polished base doesnt mean its better. Ive seen unpolished coolers out do polished units. Dont be so capricious. Norton posted pics of it in action. Im resting my case. Its up to you whether you want to take mine or nortons advise. Best of luck finding a cooler to meet your needs.

No offense intended. I'm very concerned about the size consideration above all, then the noise factor. I already had three quiet CPU coolers under consideration (Noctua, Zalman, and forgot the other one), then had to forget them because of the risk of these not fitting, or blocking some other component, or whatever. As for the polished base-not a big deal. I'd be happy just for one sure to fit and reasonably quiet!

 

[Uitlander]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835426038

Bit expensive but it really does the job, otherwise I use a Xigamatek Dark Knight, and like many others I can recommend it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608008

I use this paste, bonus of it is being non-conductive.

Well, unless someone else has better (i.e. smaller cooler) to suggest, I may have to go with this. I sure haven't found anything smaller and as quiet.