Which CPU Heatsink/Fan to get for C2D Overclocking?

Hello guys,

at the moment i am getting sick of my good Noctua NH-U12F with 2x120mm Noctua fans on it.
It is a good heatsink, but as it seems not enough to cool my E6850 enough when overclocked.
I have a read through a lot of reviews so far, and still cant really decide which new one to get.

I have the following to chose from:

- Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme
- Scythe SCNJ-1100P Ninja Plus
- Scythe SCINF-1000 Infinity

I plan on putting 2x Nexus 120mm on the heatsink i finally chose, so please dont consider the
stock fans of the above. I know some of you are wondering why i didnt list the Tuniq Tower 120:
Simply because i cannot find any shop here that has it listed. And importing from UK or USA just
isnt an option considering the price/shipping ratio. So these are the three i looked at. I am leaning
more towards the Infinity, because the Ultra-120 seems to have pretty much the same mounting
mechanism as my current Noctua, and i dont like it much, it needs a lot of pressure, and all in all,
it isnt easy to mount. But nonetheless the Ultra-120 is a very good one it seems. The Ninja seems
to be very popular, but from what i've read it is the older model, and the Infinity does a tiny bit better job.

Any hints, ideas? Or maybe some other heatsink i didnt look at yet.

You already have a very good HS in the Noctua NH-U12F.

Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme is supposedly the cream of the crop, so I'd suggest that's the only one that's likely to give you any (significant) improvement.

You're likely at the limits of air cooling.

You may only get another couple of C reduction even with the Thermalright ultra.

Might be worth investing in some water cooling if you are serious about it :D more expense and lots of swearing :lol:

Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme and Tuniq Tower 120 are the best air coolers at the moment, with maybe the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme just pipping the Tuniq Tower by a degree or maybe two.

As Clunk says, first try cleaning and repasting.

I know lots of people rate the Noctua (and I hav 4 brand new of their 120 fans unused - yes quiet, but they don't shift much air), but they did not fare well in the Custom PC Labs test http://www.custompc.co.uk/labs/84109/noctua-nh-u12.html

Thanks for the replies guys. I will give my AS5 one more day to bed in, if it does get better, i will invest a few bucks in the Ultra120, even if its only 3-5°, i think thats worth it. Water is still too expensive here, a good complete kit is about 200-250 euro. At the moment i am at 3.52 GHz with 1.4250v and idle ~60° on the cores, but 77° with orthos load.