Advice needed on stock Athlon coolers

[DeepBlueJH]

I'm building my girlfriend a computer in about 6 weeks. From the looks of it, I'll probably be getting an XP2100+ by then. I'll have it in a 300W Antec case with two, 34cfm case fans. This will be a relatively low budget system and I dont want to spend $20 extra on a fancy cooler. This sysetm will be left completely stock and wont be overclocked in the slightest.

My question: Is the stock cooler on this Athlon sufficient for my needs. Ive heard the hsf combo on retail Athlons is pretty sad on the XP2000+ and up, but then again since its retail it will come with a 3 year warranty. It doesnt matter if this computer runs warm, so long as its stable. It absolutely cant be loud.

Another related question: Leave the pink grease on the CPU or get arctic silver? Keep in mind this is a budget system and I dont really want to spend any more than I have to.


Thanks for the input.

 

[mastay]

Don't count on the stock cooler to give you good cooling. Don't count on it being quiet. And don't count on the warranty since CPU's don't progressively get bad. It either comes good or bad. I would get OEM CPU and a GC68 which is around $6.

 

[Cerb]

The stock HSF is fine, as long as you have good airlfow in the case. The placement of the PC will make a bigger difference in cooling. HOWEVER, the stock are indeed not quiet (but neither are most expensive HSFs, which is why I'm about to make a custom dual-gamma28 setup).

 

[NesuD]

The stock fan on the 2000+ is a Dynatron DC1206BM-L610. I Am using it in my box and it cools just fine as long as no extreme overclocking is planned. It can be see here. As far as AMD heatsinks go It is probably the best i have ever seen them bundle with their retail processors. It in fact is a pretty decent unit.

 

[ShotgunSi]

I recently purchased a retail 2000+ XP for my new system. The cooler I wanted was on back order so i'm stuck using the OEM AMD one for now. The heatsink is decent, but its the fan thats puny. Plus the fact the fan spins close to 5000 RPM, it is NOT quiet.
Worse case scenario is buy the retail cpu and install the cooler. If it doesn't fit your needs, upgrade it later.

 

[Necrolezbeast]

A couple of my friends are using the stock HS with a Thermaltake 60mm fan won at a local LAN. It cools really well, and it's very quiet. I would just recommend using the stock HS and buying a new fan that will provide better cooling and less noise. As others have said, the fan is the downside of the HSF combo, so just get a new fan on there and everything works out a bit better.

 

[SaveYourself]

A good fan which is a step up from the stock slim-60 fan that comes with most stock heatsinks is the 60mm Sunon with Magnetic Levitation System at Directron.com. They cost $12.00 but last a super-long time (longer than ball-bearing fans) and have lower noise (only as much as sleeve-bearing fans). They move more air than the stock fan.