i7 860 Cooling: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - worth it?

Hi all,

I'm currently using the stock Intel i7 860 heatsink and although it's fairly quiet when idling, both temperatures and noise have been getting to me lately when either gaming, or running some of my final year project code (it's one of the only times I've been able to stress all 8 cores).
I'm looking to get a new heatsink as a result, and had been considering the Megahalems. Having just spotted the compatible AC Freezer on Scan's Today Only - I'm split between the two.

I know they're wildly different, but for the £15, will I notice a big difference between the stock cooler and the AC Freezer?

I've used a tower heatsink in the past (Scythe Ninja), which did a very good job, but I'm always wary of the potential stress placed on the motherboard. I can't help but feel that the Megahalems is also a bit overkill, although if I'm going to get a good heatsink, I might as well pay the extra!

Out of the Megahalems, or the AC Freezer, which would you guys go for?

FWIW, the case is an Antec P180, with both top and back fan slots occupied with fairly slow 120mm fans (Yate Loon DSL12s) @ 5V installed (generates just about enough airflow to keep CPU temperatures under 40 when idle with the stock heatsink).

If you are going to look at a new heatsink have you looked at the Xigmatek HDT-S1283? Might need the crossbow mounting bracket fot it as well so £23 for cooler and £7 for bracket if needed.

Cooler
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Xigma...uad-Core-Ready

Bracket
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Xigma...Knight-Coolers

EDIT: Good list to check out of heatsinks http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

The ACf7p is not going to do anything for you, esp if you want low noise.
The only difference between this new one and the original is it now comes with a multiple socket mounting bracket so AC no longer have to make seperate versions of it.

It'll keep an i9 cool but the fan speed is going to really ramp up under load to keep it cool.

You need to be looking at a 120mm fan based cooler if you want low noise.

The Coolermaster hyper 212plus seems pritty good for a low cost 120mm fan based cooler, however getting hold of one is currently an issue. :(

There's a new Akasa Nero S which looks very good but I cannot find it for sale yet. :(
http://www.akasa.com.tw/update.php?t...=AK-CCX-4001HP

The Akasa AK-CC017 freedom looks good as a low cost cooler @ £26.21 and it uses a bolt through mounting.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Akasa...6-1366-AM2-AM3

Since you appear to have a 1366 based i7, I would go for the Prolimatech Megahalems - the original one with just socket 775 and 1366 compatibility is on Scan today only for £36 - which is a steal.

That and two 120mm Yate Loon /Nexus fans from Chilled pC or http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/...4&cat=0&page=1 will be nice and quiet.

Have a look here for more info on other coolers http://www.silentpcreview.com/Recommended_Heatsinks

I've got a freedom tower on my i7 860 and idle temps are between 21-25, load tests with linpack didnt go beyond 65 :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kmac

Since you appear to have a 1366 based i7, I would go for the Prolimatech Megahalems - the original one with just socket 775 and 1366 compatibility is on Scan today only for £36 - which is a steal.

---

No it's not, the i7 860 is socket 1156

Cheers for the inputs guys - the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 does indeed look quite good - the heatsink itself is a really great price, although availability (& price!) of the 1156 retention mechanism is somewhat disappointing. I'm seriously considering it now though (if I can find a decent price on the RM, I may just plump for it!).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FatalSaviour

H
I know they're wildly different, but for the £15, will I notice a big difference between the stock cooler and the AC Freezer?

---

In short, yes. It's much better than the stock cooler. And if it does have to ramp up it's a very pleasant wooshing sound that doesn't distract. I have one on my OC'd 939 X2, and will definitely be getting one for a future i7 860 build.