Phenom II Cooler

[Shedlife]

Hey All,

Just in the process of gathering parts for my first computer build . I've automatically chosen a artic cooling 64 pro just because I've heard alot of people talk about the AC7, and saying a its a good cheaper cooler so I just presume the AC64 is the same just fits AM2+.

Anyway, what I'm wondering is there anything drastically wrong with the AC64 and if so would somebody like to recommend a better cooler for £20 or below . Naturally I've searched around and not seen anything, but its always worth asking

[shadowmaster]

You could spend £10 more and get the Xigmatek S1283. If you plan to overclock, it will be significantly better.

[staffsMike]

Agreed, £30 would be better if you could stretch to it. A decent tower is what I would want sat on a quad core, the cooler that comes with it will be as good as the arctic cooling I think.

[Shedlife]

Oh sorry, I forgot to mention I'm looking at getting a Phenom II X3 720BE. That probably doesn't change anything, but just in case =]

Another thing is that pushing a phenom II past 3.6Ghz will greatly reduce life expectancy I believe because you'll be hitting 1.5+V, so would sticking to a stock cooler be ok?

[aidanjt]

If you've no plans to overclock, stick with stock. Modern stock coolers don't rape your ears like the old ones did, and they do the job for CPU cooling. If you think you might want to dab at overclocking, go with the above.

[nvening]

the X3 coolers arnt very nice though - the X4 ones are good though

[Shedlife]

I was hoping to go around 3.6Ghz, just depends how far I can get really on 1.4v to be honest, I might stick with stock and get a new cooler is the temps are 60+

[staffsMike]

Nice enough xigmatec tower on scans today only (in the supersavers) for about £11.. Not sure how good it is though.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would hold off buying a cooler until you have read the following article:

http://ixbtlabs.com/articles3/cpu/phenom-2-cnq-p1.html

It actually compares the stock cooler to aftermarket coolers. I was suprised how well the stock cooler on the Phenom II X3 did!!

[Hicks12]

The s963(xigmatek) isnt a bad cooler at all, getting 38-44 idle and 53 max stressed with intel burn on an e8400. Ive probably seated it wrong so £11 is great for this cooler.

[Shedlife]

I would hold off buying a cooler until you have read the following article:

http://ixbtlabs.com/articles3/cpu/phenom-2-cnq-p1.html

It actually compares the stock cooler to aftermarket coolers. I was suprised how well the stock cooler on the Phenom II X3 did!!

Excellent article, thank you very much, and yes I'm also very surprised with how well it did! I guess I need to leave the days of the ye olde pentium 4 coolers behind

Just a quick question are Phenom II's the same voltage wise as Intel processors? What I mean to ask is, can you apply more than 1.4v to the core without reducing the life expectancy of the CPU?

This is a quote I saw, that made me wonder about the voltage; "Phenom IIs love volts and love to be kept cool"

[aidanjt]

Any voltage increase reduces the life expectancy of a CPU. It's all a trade off. If you need moar megahurtz, bump the voltage up a notch and try again.

[Sputnik]

I would hold off buying a cooler until you have read the following article:

http://ixbtlabs.com/articles3/cpu/phenom-2-cnq-p1.html

It actually compares the stock cooler to aftermarket coolers. I was suprised how well the stock cooler on the Phenom II X3 did!!

It is noisy though. I used the stock cooler for a few days before changing it for a Scythe ninja 2. It is both quieter and cooler than before.

[Shedlife]

Any voltage increase reduces the life expectancy of a CPU. It's all a trade off. If you need moar megahurtz, bump the voltage up a notch and try again.

The CPU is designed to run at 1.3V and could do for 10 years (in the case of the 720BE anyway), so would say 1.6v hurt the cpu alot more than 1.5v? Or is nobody too sure?!

[aidanjt]

Yes. Even a 0.005v increase will shorten CPU life. It might only be a minute off CPU life, but it has an effect.

[wraithblader]

I'm using the sunbeam core contact, very good cooler and not too heavy.