Which Cooler

[Warby35]

I need some advice on what cooler to buy for a Phenom CPU, for about

[kingdingeling]

Tuniq TX-2 is the way to go at the moment As for the cooler, I'd grab the Scythe Mugen (Infinity) for just a tad over 25 pounds

[Warby35]

Can anybody recomend a cheapish cpu water cooling kit, with the option of adding extras?

Edited May 5, 2008 by Warby35

[Verran]

Can anybody recomend a cheapish cpu water cooler, with the option of adding extras?

Don't get cheap watercooling. If you're not willing to spend around $200, WC is probably going to perform worse than air. Cheap watercooling is just a gimmick targeted at people who mistakenly think that water will always be better than air.

 

On a budget of $50ish, you should definitely be looking at air. You can get some really great air coolers for that money (like the one king recommended).

[cchalogamer]

Can anybody recomend a cheapish cpu water cooling kit, with the option of adding extras?

Well like everyone here with real experience will agree, cheap + water = fail. With that said the only setup I would personally look at would be Swiftech's H2O-220. Not too expensive, good results for what it is, but still, if you want to start adding more blocks etc, I would personally look at "designing" your own kit. You'll save money and get better results in the end.

 

As for air(which I think you SHOULD go) I would personally pick up a XIGMATEK HDT-S1283. Under

[alexi_amdOCer]

I think "NINJA PLUS Rev.B" CPU Cooler is vest! because it is cheap and powerful.

but It is big. so I don't know can your mobo installation this cooler.

 

Apropos, In Japan it's about $35. but In US, It is $54@Scythe official web site→http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/cpu/026/scnj1100p.html

[capthowdy575]

cooler cheap and good make sure to get the cu edition

[damian]

For

[Puck]

For

[damian]

FYI that cooler does NOT perform higher then the ultra 120 extreme. In one review it bested it by like 1c full load, but they had some crappy silent 40cfm fan on the TRUE and the noctua dan on high.

 

It is a great cooler, and cheaper since it comes with the fan, but not better then the TRUE by any means.

 

Even if its by 1C-5C its still better

http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/s...?i=3268&p=1

 

 

"However, you will have to equip it with two 120x120x25mm fans to ensure that it really shows what it is capable of. Especially since everything you need for that is bundled with the cooler. As a result, Noctua NH-U12P becomes the best cooler of the four testing participants of our today

[six]

I'm willing to put another vote towards the Xigmatek S1283. I don't own a TRUE, but my Xigmatek outperforms my Tuniq 120 by a measurable margin and cost me less than half as much. Frostytech was the first to say they thought it was the best cooler you can buy, and a few more reviewers have stated similar opinions since then. I don't have the money or the time to verify claims like that for myself, but I'm glad I read their advice and followed it. I got to save a few bucks and I didn't have to lap a TRUE to keep my quad cool.

 

I'm a little baffled about thermal compound choices. Assuming the compound is properly applied, I'm a little skeptical about the claims of several degrees celcius difference between the quality compounds . I read an article just after Christmas that claimed MX-2 would give me a 4 to 5 degree drop compared to AS5 and that TX-2 was somewhere above AS5, but just below MX-2. I couldn't reproduce such results, personally. In fact, I couldn't reproduce any measurable difference between AS5 and MX-2. Who knows. Maybe I just suck at applying thermal compound... or maybe there really just isn't that much difference between the quality compounds.

[damian]

I'm willing to put another vote towards the Xigmatek S1283. I don't own a TRUE, but my Xigmatek outperforms my Tuniq 120 by a measurable margin and cost me less than half as much. Frostytech was the first to say they thought it was the best cooler you can buy, and a few more reviewers have stated similar opinions since then. I don't have the money or the time to verify claims like that for myself, but I'm glad I read their advice and followed it. I got to save a few bucks and I didn't have to lap a TRUE to keep my quad cool.

 

I'm a little baffled about thermal compound choices. Assuming the compound is properly applied, I'm a little skeptical about the claims of several degrees celcius difference between the quality compounds . I read an article just after Christmas that claimed MX-2 would give me a 4 to 5 degree drop compared to AS5 and that TX-2 was somewhere above AS5, but just below MX-2. I couldn't reproduce such results, personally. In fact, I couldn't reproduce any measurable difference between AS5 and MX-2. Who knows. Maybe I just suck at applying thermal compound... or maybe there really just isn't that much difference between the quality compounds.

 

Thermal compound is all the same and the most you will see is a 1 degree drop or gain (when properly applied) i suggest you go with the tuniq tx-2 as its the cheapest one but of good quality.