Cpu coolers - good from the bad

thor

My stock intel P4 fan/cooler is starting to get very noisy and I am in the process of looking around for a replacement. I am considering getting an aftermarket product but there are so many out there and I don't have a clue about which brands are genuine quality and which are bad knock offs.
Any suggestions?

nickcardwell

could it be the fan is getting clogged up with dust/dirt and needs a good clean?
You could also get a replacement quieter fan?

bengalknights

It depends if you want quiet coolers go for Noctuas as they are among the quietest on the market, if you want a fan that will keep your cpu ultra cool but dont want to take the liquid route then id say coolermaster or Zalman coolers.

Toxteth_OGrady

A comparison here (the ones at the top of the chart have the best performance):

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/nzxt_havik_140_cpu_cooler_review,10.html

You do however have to take into account cost, size, motherboard and case compatibility, plus whether or not you want to overclock. Selection of TIM paste is important.

However, tbh, if you are not overclocking you should be fine with a replacement OEM cooler.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Foxconn-Socket-478-Pentium-4-cpu-heatsink-fan-cooler-/380317887181?pt=Computing_ComputerComponents_Fans_Heatsinks_SR&hash=item588cb66acd

esuhl

I'm very pleased with my Corsair H50 liquid cooler, which I got when I built my Core i7 PC when the chips came out a few years ago. It's not a DIY cooling kit - it's a sealed system, which means that you won't have all the maintenance associated with liquid cooling, but it does only cool the CPU - no other components. It's seems to be very effective and reasonably priced.

thor

Toxteth_OGrady wrote: »

A comparison here (the ones at the top of the chart have the best performance):

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/nzxt_havik_140_cpu_cooler_review,10.html

You do however have to take into account cost, size, motherboard and case compatibility, plus whether or not you want to overclock. Selection of TIM paste is important.

However, tbh, if you are not overclocking you should be fine with a replacement OEM cooler.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Foxconn-Socket-478-Pentium-4-cpu-heatsink-fan-cooler-/380317887181?pt=Computing_ComputerComponents_Fans_Heatsinks_SR&hash=item588cb66acd

Thanks for the ebay link. I checked there myself for 478 fans but did not see this come up in my searches. The 60 day warranty put me off a bit as it suggests it is not brand new(in contrast to it's description) but the guy had 28 to sell which is quite a number to have if they were all second hand I suppose.
I think I may buy this one.

thor

nickcardwell wrote: »

could it be the fan is getting clogged up with dust/dirt and needs a good clean?
You could also get a replacement quieter fan?

I've given it a clean but it made no difference.
The intel heastsink/fan combo I have is really that - The fan is retained in place by clips which have to be broken if you want to separate them.

banger9365

thor wrote: »

I've given it a clean but it made no difference.
The intel heastsink/fan combo I have is really that - The fan is retained in place by clips which have to be broken if you want to separate them.

if you turn them a 1/4 turn they unlock no need to break them

the h50 is ok if you get a good one ,ive seen a few bad ones
this is a good cheap cpu cooler http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-035-AR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

thor

banger9365 wrote: »

if you turn them a 1/4 turn they unlock no need to break them

The stock intel heatsink/fan I have is definitely unseperateable. I did a bit of reading about it and it cannot be taken apart without causing damage.

banger9365 wrote: »

the h50 is ok if you get a good one ,ive seen a few bad ones
this is a good cheap cpu cooler http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-035-AR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

I can't justify spending that much sadly. I can see myself shelling out 5 or 6 quid but for anything above that, I can live with a noisy fan.

Spank

A stock Intel p4 cooler will be about £5-6 unless you go for a 2nd hand

Lil306

Thermaltake Frio, around ~£40 one of the best rated atm