New built almost complete... just need an aftermarket CPU cooler

[Formhault]

Hi guys!

 

So, I'll be quick.

 

New build is gonna be complete soon (like <5 days), and... the AMD FX-6300 I'm gonna use has a sh*tty fan on it. Like... airplane taking off sh*tty. That's no good

 

I've searched the Interwebz a bit and discovered that the Cooler Master EVO 212 is the best bang for the buck when it comes to aftermarket CPU cooling (or at least so I saw some FX-6300 owners saying), but I find that to be quite expensive, coming in at about 40 USD (I'm in Romania, mind you, so our prices here differ... a bit).

 

I've always thought aftermarket CPU cooling solutions to be... bleah... I mean, what the hell, OEM, y u no do your job good? Anyway...

 

Does anyone have a cheaper alternative, like, I dunno... 25 USD maximum?

 

Let it be known that I don't plan to overclock the CPU very soon. I mean I'm gonna jump from a dual-core @ 2.2 (well, 2.37 GHz, since I auto-overclocked it by 7% woohoo) to a six-core 3+ GHz, for crying out loud... unless I discover the CPU is slacking on me, I'm not gonna overclock it. Maybe just a tiny bit... I dunno...

 

Anyway, the reason why I need an aftermarket cooler is because the stock one is gonna be loud. Temps aren't gonna be an issue (I mean I could handle with 50 Celsius on the cores), but I don't think I can go to sleep with an airplane taking off 5 feet away from me...

 

Thanks in advance!

[Manny Calavera]

have you tried turning it off and on again? nah joke

 

have you tried undervolting ?

[IP man]

Hello Formhault! i was in the same situation with the cpu going off crazy and i bought Coolermaster hyper tx3 evo and it works like a dream. Very quiet and easy to install. just clip it on your motherboard. very cheap too.

[Formhault]

have you tried turning it off and on again? nah joke

 

have you tried undervolting ?

 

 

Hello Formhault! i was in the same situation with the cpu going off crazy and i bought Coolermaster hyper tx3 evo and it works like a dream. Very quiet and easy to install. just clip it on your motherboard. very cheap too.

 

I think I forgot to say...

 

CPU and motherboard will arrive on Wednesday.

PSU = none yet.

RAM & case = standing by in the corner.

 

I've also opened a thread asking for PSU suggestions. So far, I'm still building this PC

[Viiza]

I would recommend Cooler Master T2 or TX3, just make sure they fit your case, as it has that wacky side fan

[Formhault]

I would recommend Cooler Master T2 or TX3, just make sure they fit your case, as it has that wacky side fan

 

Right. The EVO 212 is way too high for my case

 

The T2 and TX3 are almost the same price (give or take a few cents, lol). The TX3 is definitely superior to the T2 (right?). I mean it has 3 heatpipes (as opposed to 2) and is PWM enabled, so... I'd say the TX3 is next on the list (and first, actually, lol).

[jkraghify]

I've used an earlier version of this zalman cooler for 4 years on two different builds (the same cooler, I didn buy two)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118075

My roommate has this model in his PC and it is very quiet. It's $50 but considering these last a very long time, I think they're worth it.

The CM coolers were too bulky for me Aluminum is cheap but doesn't cool as well as copper does.

If I buy a heatsink, I want it to be 100% copper. None of that aluminum stuff. Lol

[Formhault]

I've used an earlier version of this zalman cooler for 4 years on two different builds (the same cooler, I didn buy two)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118075

My roommate has this model in his PC and it is very quiet. It's $50 but considering these last a very long time, I think they're worth it.

The CM coolers were too bulky for me Aluminum is cheap but doesn't cool as well as copper does.

If I buy a heatsink, I want it to be 100% copper. None of that aluminum stuff. Lol

 

F*** THAT ! $50, woot...

 

That's not even available in my country, it seems...

 

Anyway, no. I've got these two to choose from : Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro rev. 2 and Cooler Master Hyper TX3 EVO. Or... option #3... I stick to the stock cooling solution of the FX-6300 until I can get one of those at a discount (promo days & such) or buy a radiator and a fan and build one myself.

 

EDIT : Upon further inspection of reviews and such... One guy who has the exact motherboard as I will (GA-990FXA-UD3) lost 1 RAM slot due to the Arctic Cooling being just too large.

EDIT : Upon even further analysis... some guys have complained that the Cooler Master TX3 is kind of loud and comes with cheap thermal paste.

 

[Viiza]

F*** THAT ! $50, woot...

 

That's not even available in my country, it seems...

 

Anyway, no. I've got these two to choose from : Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro rev. 2 and Cooler Master Hyper TX3 EVO. Or... option #3... I stick to the stock cooling solution of the FX-6300 until I can get one of those at a discount (promo days & such) or buy a radiator and a fan and build one myself.

 

EDIT : Upon further inspection of reviews and such... One guy who has the exact motherboard as I will (GA-990FXA-UD3) lost 1 RAM slot due to the Arctic Cooling being just too large.

EDIT : Upon even further analysis... some guys have complained that the Cooler Master TX3 is kind of loud and comes with cheap thermal paste.

 

I can imagine the Tx3 is loud at 100% but so is pretty much any fan. You should be able to run it somewhere between 50% and 80%, have it not sound aweful and still provide good enough cooling. Also, pretty much anything with a 50mm+ fan is going to be quieter than the AMD stock cooler The thermal paste they provide is cheap but the difference to other pastes is really not that big unless you compare to some fancy liquid metal "pastes".

 

There's a sub $ 20 cooler roundup at silentpcreview.com here

 

How much clearance for the cooler do you actually have?

[Formhault]

I can imagine the Tx3 is loud at 100% but so is pretty much any fan. You should be able to run it somewhere between 50% and 80%, have it not sound aweful and still provide good enough cooling. Also, pretty much anything with a 50mm+ fan is going to be quieter than the AMD stock cooler The thermal paste they provide is cheap but the difference to other pastes is really not that big unless you compare to some fancy liquid metal "pastes".

 

There's a sub $ 20 cooler roundup at silentpcreview.com here

 

How much clearance for the cooler do you actually have?

 

About 141 milimeters - I've read some guy saying that about the same case as the one I've got (the one with the insanely big side fan).

 

Which pretty much kills the EVO 212. Given that the TX3 is 136 milimeters high, it should be enough.

 

And yeah, pretty much everyone I asked said the same : FX stock cooler is loud, buy another one asap. The TX3 has a 92mm fan, so... yeah, I'm gonna plug it in to the motherboard and have access to control its rpm via BIOS (UEFI, whatever it's called nowadays, lol)... don't think it'll ever have to go >80%.

 

Funny. I have a Sapphire Radeon 4670, which has an Arctic Cooling Damn It's Freezing In Here Something Something fan on it... by default, it's at ~20% or so. If I ramp it up, it gets loud as hell, but the AMD Catalyst tool doesn't report cooler temps. Not even under load. 20% = 100% fan speed in terms of cooling capabilities. And I'm here like "WHAT THE HELL". I'm not complaining... it sits at 34 C idle with the fan at 20% or 100%, so at least I can keep it silent without the GPU heating up, but meh...