Stock CPU cooler or aftermarket?

[EvanJackPenn]

Hello there!

I'm looking at getting an i5-2500K with the intention of overclocking. Bear in mind that this is my first build and I've never overclocked before (my PC's hot enough already!).

I'm wondering - would the stock Intel fan be suffice for overclocking a decent amount (not excessive OCing), or should I invest in a different one. I can save ~£15 buying OEM with no cooloer to spend on a better one.

Thanks!

[Pob255]

For overclocking, I'd say yes.
Depending on the case for the amount of cooler clearance, the coolermaster hyper 212+ is a great after market cpu cooler for around/less than £20

[kalniel]

For overclocking I'd get a third party cooler. Something like the artic freezer 13 is cheap, a doddle to install and improves on the stock a huge amount.

[EvanJackPenn]

For overclocking, I'd say yes.
Depending on the case for the amount of cooler clearance, the coolermaster hyper 212+ is a great after market cpu cooler for around/less than £20

One is looking at the Corsair 600T so I'd say there's plenty of room.

Would I have to buy a thermal compound or lap the CPU (or something, just using terms I've read somewhere)?

Thanks!

[planet436]

The 212+ comes with TIM, no need to LAP the cpu.

[Barrichello]

One is looking at the Corsair 600T so I'd say there's plenty of room.

Would I have to buy a thermal compound or lap the CPU (or something, just using terms I've read somewhere)?

Thanks!

If you were to get the Arctic Cooling Freezer, like Kalniel advised it already comes with good quality thermal compound pre attached.

I used to have the old one (Freezer 7) on my old build and was great. Then with my current build i used the stock hsf but over time my cpu temps seemed to get worse,and even with a clean, the fan nosier, so i got this about a month ago and very impressed...

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/arcti...m2-am2plus-am3

[EvanJackPenn]

Okay, thanks all!

Because I'm buying OEM, I assume no thermal compund will already be applied. And from the look of what you've all said, most cooling solutions come with thermal compound and I won't need to lap the CPU. Things are looking good for such a noob like me!

[Pob255]

Something like the artic freezer 13 is cheap, a doddle to install and improves on the stock a huge amount.

basic freezer 13 isn't that good, it's just a slight revision to the freezer 9 pro
The Freezer 13 Pro however is much better http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/cp...ro.html?c=2181

Would I have to buy a thermal compound or lap the CPU (or something, just using terms I've read somewhere)?

All coolers come with thermal paste, the Arctic cooling coolers come with their very good MX3 pre applied, so it's very easy to mount.
Although if you want to remove and reseat the cooler at a later date you'll need to get more paste.

The hyper 212+ comes with a small tube of ThermalFusion 400 paste which is similar to MX2, not quite as god as mx3 but the difference is tiny.

Lapping I'd not worry about, basically sanding down the surface of the cpu and cooler base super smooth to get better contact.
Do NOT try to lap an exposed heat pipe design like the hyper 212+ it's very easy to rupture the heat pipes and ruin the cooler by lapping.

The freezer 13 Pro would probably be a better cpu cooler for a first time user due to the pre-applied paste and mounting system

Although I found the hyper 212+ dead easy to mount, the trickiest thing is getting the wire fan clips on. (I'm not a big fan of those, excuse the pun)

[EvanJackPenn]

The freezer 13 Pro would probably be a better cpu cooler for a first time user due to the pre-applied paste and mounting system

Although I found the hyper 212+ dead easy to mount, the trickiest thing is getting the wire fan clips on. (I'm not a big fan of those, excuse the pun)

Oh god. That was the worst pun ever!

I think I'll go with the freezer 13. I see that it's compatible with AM3, so it should work with bulldozer (fingers-crossed affordable, Sandy Bridge killer!).

Thanks for all of your help

[Pob255]

Go for the 13 Pro not the plane 13

better yet
Play.com has got the hyper 212+ on sale at £16 again http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/117187...k/Product.html

[planet436]

Although I found the hyper 212+ dead easy to mount, the trickiest thing is getting the wire fan clips on. (I'm not a big fan of those, excuse the pun)

I found mounting the 212+ to be a horrific experience, though it's still better then the push-pin on the stock cooler (just about). The best mounting systems I've tried so far has been from Noctua and Prolimatech, unfortunately they cost more than the entry level models.

[EvanJackPenn]

Sorry to bring this up again, but are self-contained water cooling kits such as the Corsair H60 considerably better than the air coolers above? I've read that with Sandy Bridge air cooling is pretty sufficient, but does water give any performance boost?

Thanks

[Pob255]

Yes and no, vs the more budget coolers we've mentioned in this thread it's better however it's no better than some of the top end air coolers.
The new H60 is improved over the old H50 which is part down to an improvement in the pump&block and a good chunk down to a new fan.

The question of "does water give any performance boost?" is meaningless.
Will it improve the cooling? or Will it be quieter? would be more to the point.
There's other factors to consider here, fan PWM setting being a key one for cpu cooling and fan noise.
The newer H60 has a adjustment button on the block&pump unit in addition to the PWM, you plug the fans into the block&pump unit and plug the block&pump unit into the motherboard cpu fan slot
However opinions differ as to how you should control a water loop, some people say it's best to run the pump at full and just control the fans via PWM and some say the fans should be kept at a fixed speed and the pump speed should be controlled.
I'm mentioning this simply to stress that, "user experience may vary" and to get the best possible out of any system will require some experimentation and testing.

I'd have a look at the Antec Kuhler 620 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/antec...plus-am3-3plus it's £10 cheaper than the corsair
Antec took controlling it a different route, the Pump uses a standard 3 pin header and it uses an internal temperature sensor to automatically adjust the pump and fan (via voltage) so there's no manual control or tweaking of it.

If an all-in-one is worth it? up to you high end air coolers are generally slightly better and cost around the same.
It will be better than the cheaper end cooler we've mentioned like the arctic cooling or hyper212+
But if you need it is another matter.

I found mounting the 212+ to be a horrific experience, though it's still better then the push-pin on the stock cooler (just about). The best mounting systems I've tried so far has been from Noctua and Prolimatech, unfortunately they cost more than the entry level models.

A part from the slightly fiddly wire fan clips, I didn't jave any trouble with the mounting kit on the hyper212+, for larger coolers I much prefer bolt on than push pins, esp on large coolers.
Trying to get a push pin in when you can only just get your finger in under the fins of a large cooler is a real pig.
I would say when mounting any Air cooler, do it outside the case. not only is it easier to do but you can also use your eyeballs and actually see if it sitting correctly, you jsut cannot do this inside a case.

Although with these all-in-one coolers, it might be easier to fit the bracket outside the case, then fit the motherboard into the case, before fitting the block&pump and finally the rad, esp for the older corsair H50 or antec 620 which use a simple twist lock.

[EvanJackPenn]

If an all-in-one is worth it? up to you high end air coolers are generally slightly better and cost around the same.
It will be better than the cheaper end cooler we've mentioned like the arctic cooling or hyper212+
But if you need it is another matter.

Yeah, I think I am going slightly overkill. I'll stick to the air, considering I'm building for good airflow - modular PSU, corsair 600T white, 1000RPM fans.

I would say when mounting any Air cooler, do it outside the case. not only is it easier to do but you can also use your eyeballs and actually see if it sitting correctly, you jsut cannot do this inside a case.

I was planning on doing that anyway

However, I read this on a thread about a Corsair A50 cooler:

Bear in mind the fan isnt PWM...it does have a reducer included, but it will be at a fixed RPM.

Is this PWM important? I know the 600T has a fan controller on the top, so that could be hooked up to the CPU cooler. I quite liked the look of the A50/A70. Is the dual fan element of the A70 effective at bringing temperatures down? It'll obviously be noisier though...


Many thanks

[Pob255]

Yes I missed that bit about a non-pwm fan, personally I always want my cpu fan on PWM as correctly setup it will automatically adjust the fan speed to keep the cpu at a given temperature.
Which to me is important as cpu load and temperatures fluctuate greatly and generally the heaviest loads are when I'm playing game so cannot monitor the temperatures to know if I need to turn the fans up a bit manually.
So having the mother board monitor the temp and control the fan speed means I know it's not overheating.

The inverse way to do this is to stress test the cpu, adjusting the fan until it's at a safe level then leave the fan there and not touch it again.
I'd not use the built in fan controller as that's also hooked into the case fans.

You could replace the A50 fan for a PWM fan but that's adding to the cost so it's not quite as good a deal.

The arctic cooling freezer 13 Pro is worth a look http://www.scan.co.uk/products/arcti...m2-am2plus-am3 (note: Pro version not the basic freezer 13 )

Alternatives to the A70,
the Coolermaster V6GT is worth a look http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coole...55-1156-1366-a

You can fit 2 fans to the hyper212+ (it includes the clips for it) at some point I must get around to fitting dual fans on mine and see how much effect it has (I've got two Akasa Apache fans ready for this )
To get PWM function on both you'd need a PWM splitter cable. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/akasa...ard-pwm-header

Actually the coolermaster V6GT does look like a good cooler http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...er-review.html
It comes with a PWM splitter cable, the led light is a bit of a gimmick and requires a separate molex cable which isn't so good, I'd leave it out all told and I personally think the hyper212+ mounting system is better (having used a thermalright ultima90 which had a similar cross bar system I can say I much prefer an X shaped cross peace)
Still all told it looks like a decent cooler for a reasonable price.