AM3 air-cooling recommendation?

[NorthboundOcclusive]

TL;DR, i'm looking for a recommendation on a 120mm AM3-compatible aftermarket/non-stock HSF suitable for a AMD Phenom II x4.

with guild wars 2 in the near future, i'm giving serious thought to upgrading my CPU and GPU for more dakka.

what i have is an Athlon II x3 445, looking to upgrade that to Phenom II x4 965BE (AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz So...)
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/446932/P1010021.jpg
Case: Rosewill Blackbone (Rosewill Blackbone Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid T...)
PSU: Antec Earthwatts 650w (Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI...)
Motherboard: ASRock M3A770DE AM3 (ASRock M3A770DE AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard)
RAM: 2sets of 2x1gb Cruicial DDR3 1333, potentially upgrading to Gskill ripjaws (G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 ...)


what im looking for in a fan is
1) cheap. budget/entry-level, figure $25-35 is reasonable. doesnt have to be super-cool or ultra quiet
2) pre-applied thermal interface material. my experience with applying thermal paste/grease is between zero and none.
3) single 120mm fan, similarly single tower fin stack (option to add a second fan would be a bonus, but by no means required)
4) im not terribly concerned about ram clearance, my current ram doesnt have any heatsinks at all to get in the way, and the gskill ripjaws im looking at as an upgrade arent particularly tall either.
tower clearance with the PSU could potentially be an issue. eyeballing the 120mm rear exhaust fan, id say there's about 1cm of clearance between the where a tower HSF would fit and bottom of PSU, plus the cpu power tail is also running thru the same space

ive looked at the Xigmatech Gaia (XIGMATEK Gaia SD1283 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU C...) and Cooler Master Hyper 212 (COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatp...), both seem solid choice, and in my price range, but being a TIM newbie, im wary of putting too much/too little on, or simply doing it wrong.

[Fourstaff]

CM Hyper 212+

[JrRacinFan]

Originally Posted by Fourstaff

CM Hyper 212+

+1 or Corsair Hxx series, if you got the space.

EDIT

Oh and try to find a Phenom II 960T instead, if you're really feeling upgrading with a board swap. i5 2400 + h6x. Just depends on how much cash you got all at once.

[phanbuey]

Originally Posted by Fourstaff

CM Hyper 212+

This^

TIM is like the easiest thing to apply, do not let a cooler buying decision be based on that. Here is a guide.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.ph...1&limitstart=5

^there, like that at the bottom, and you're set.

[bretts31344]

Corsair A50
$35 Shipped or $15 after rebate. Comes with thermal paste. You seriously just squeeze a little on the cpu, then slap the cooler on top.

Either of the ones you linked should be great too.

[Norton]

I recommend this cooler:

AC Freezer 7 Pro rev 2 ($29.99)

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm Fluid Dyna...

Based on your post and comments, you are new to this type of thing....

This cooler:

- Has decent performance (much much better than stock/not as good as those being recommended)
- Has thermal paste pre-applied per your request
- Is quiet
- Is easy to install (2 screw installation, don't have to remove motherboard to install)

I have been using one of these for years in one of my rigs and have had no issues with it (good performance at stock as well as minor overclocking). One of the best things about it is it takes less than 5 minutes to swap out the CPU using this cooler.

If you do get this one the only thing I recommend is that you remove or move the power supply before installing (easier to see and properly attach the upper bracket/tighten screw)

[techtard]

Anything under 40 bucks will do the trick. Just get a heatsink that you think looks nice, and is affordable.

[newtekie1]

Originally Posted by NorthboundOcclusive

being a TIM newbie, im wary of putting too much/too little on, or simply doing it wrong.

Almost every cooler I've ever seen that comes with pre-applied paste has too much on. So you really can't mess it up any more than they already have at the factory. Just follow one of the guides and you will be fine.

Even if you do put on too much or too little, it won't kill anything. The worst case is that your temps will be a little higher than they should be with an aftermarket cooler, but even then they will still be better than with the stock cooler, so you'll be fine.

And the CM Hyper 212+ or Xigmatec Gaia are both good choices. I'd go with the Coolermaster as my first choice, and put a fan on it that wasn't absolute shit.

[KieranD]

CM Hyper 212+ or 212 EVO (a revision of the 212+). Bang for buck.

[Fourstaff]

Originally Posted by newtekie1

And the CM Hyper 212+ or Xigmatec Gaia are both good choices. I'd go with the Coolermaster as my first choice, and put a fan on it that wasn't absolute shit.

Stock fan for the 212+ is not that bad, although there is plenty of room for improvement if you don't like the sound or the performance.

[Vulpesveritas]

Something that might not be noticed is Deepcool's USA distributer; Logysis. They have some good fans in my personal experience.
This one is Between the CM 212 + and evo in price; LOGISYS Computer MC4002IW 120mm Hydro Bearing Ice ...
SilentX also has a very good cooler; and as per the name is silent; SilenX EFZ-120HA5 120mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler It performs between the two Coolermaster coolers as well, while being quieter than both.
And the Coolermaster 212 series are always a decent choice, although they use sleeve bearing fans which don't last as long as other bearing types; COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Contin...

[ThE_MaD_ShOt]

Another for the CM Hyper 212+

[suraswami]

The xigmatek you mentioned is a good choice and I prefer this over the hyper 212. The xigmatek has 3 pipes and the center pipe sits right on top on the CPU core which gives better cooling and better OCing if the TIM is applied properly.

Again thats my preference, but hyper 212 is also a great choice.

[newtekie1]

Originally Posted by Fourstaff

Stock fan for the 212+ is not that bad, although there is plenty of room for improvement if you don't like the sound or the performance.

Actually, I more don't like the fact that I've never had a sleeve bearing fan from CoolerMaster last longer than 6 months before needing oiling or just burning up. Sleeve bearings already suck, but somehow CoolerMaster manages to make them suck even more...

But on a limitted budget the stock fan works for a while until the $15-20 can be raised to get something way better.

[NorthboundOcclusive]

Originally Posted by Vulpesveritas

Something that might not be noticed is Deepcool's USA distributer; Logysis.

i did not know that, that's interesting. always kinda thought logysis was super-el-cheap kit, might have to give them another look

Originally Posted by Norton

I recommend this cooler:

AC Freezer 7 Pro rev 2 ($29.99)


Based on your post and comments, you are new to this type of thing....

why yes i am, does it show =)

Originally Posted by newtekie1

Actually, I more don't like the fact that I've never had a sleeve bearing fan from CoolerMaster last longer than 6 months before needing oiling or just burning up. Sleeve bearings already suck, but somehow CoolerMaster manages to make them suck even more...

But on a limitted budget the stock fan works for a while until the $15-20 can be raised to get something way better.

yeah i suppose thats an option, get the 212+ and just stick a different fan on it (maybe one of those deep cools from logysis..), some i wouldnt be able to do with the arctic freezer 7


thanks for all the replies folks.

are solid-base HSFs generally more TIM-newbie friendly than direct-contact heatpipes?


think i'll probably start with the arctic freezer 7 (not hot on the looks, but looks aint everything). little smaller, suspect that'll let me see any potential clearance issues with larger units before they happen
so looking into the arctic freezer 7, on AC's own page, looks like it uses those evil little spring clips for amd socket mounting (good for busting knuckles in my limited experience) and is limited to a vertical orientation

which means it'll either be blowing into my psu fan, or onto my gpu, hardly seems like an idea situation for me

the gaia and 212+ are listed as 159mm tall, i assume that's measured off the motherboard, rather than from the motherboard tray in the case. that'd be cutting it really close, 16cm, 16.5 maybe in my case

[Norton]

Applying TIM is not really a big deal- there are many ways to do it, simply follow the instructions that are provided with the TIM and you will be fine.

Careful installation of the heat sink is just as important- you can usually find youtube installation videos for the specific heat sink you are buying to use as a general guide

[BarbaricSoul]

I just posted this in the thread about the I7 960 too hot about applying thermal paste.

I use a dab about the size of a pea. If your unsure about the size of a pea, aim for the size of two grains of rice. Only apply it to your CPU. Don't spread it, let your heatsink/waterblock squeeze the paste flat as you tighten the heatsink/waterblock.

It really is that easy.

[NorthboundOcclusive]

bit more research and Tom's Hardware got a Hyper TX3 (COOLER MASTER Hyper TX3 RR-910-HTX3-G1 "Heatpipe D...) in their March $1300 SBM PC build (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ck,3160-2.html)
92mm and only 140mm tall and a bit cheaper to boot, think it'll make a good starter.

again, many thanks for the advice all

[JrRacinFan]

Just go the extra $3....
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatp...
... get soemthing that is worth the extra premium. The TX3 really isn't that great, had one on a 720 Black and it was like running a stock cooler. =/

[Athlonite]

This is all quite funny did any of you read what ram he was hoping to upgrade to

Doesn't Gskill ripjaws have a tall HS on them

AMD + tall HS ram = needs an HSF that wont block dimm 1

1 the hyper 212+ or Evo blocks the use of tall HS ram in dimm 1

what he really needs is the Tuniq Tower 120 or it's big brother or a Thermolab Baram 2010 all of which do not block dimm 1 with tall HS ram

like this below