Best CPU Heatsink?

[sillymofo]

Ok, beside Thermalright, what else is really good out there? I mean, there are a lot of heat sink manufacturer and not all are bad, so there's something that you guys know that other don't, please share. Might save each of us some money, without having to spend a lot of money on the comparable products.

 

[Zepper]

It's just that people are inordinately defensive about things they KNOW they've overpaid for...It's on the same plane as religion...
.bh.

 

[hytek369]

thermalright is probably the best, but zalmans are pretty nice for the money

 

[sillymofo]

Originally posted by: Zepper
It's just that people are inordinately defensive about things they KNOW they've overpaid for...It's on the same plane as religion...
.bh.

It's not quite same as religion, because with heatsinks, you can actually put proven numbers behind the price . So according to the price and performance, what's your favorite?

 

[Tenchi4U]

Swiftech has got some good ones also (albeit heavey and pricey). I love my MCX6400V (w/ 92mm Antec)

 

[slpaulson]

Swiftech, Zalman, and Alpha are all good choices.

I generally try to stay away from Thermaltake.

 

[lobadobadingdong]

For Athlon 3000+'s and under I prefer the speeze all copper hsf's they are uber quiet and only $13.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: cRazYdood
Swiftech, Zalman, and Alpha are all good choices.

I generally try to stay away from Thermaltake.

Thats it right there.

 

[Degrador]

Originally posted by: cRazYdood
Swiftech, Zalman, and Alpha are all good choices.

I generally try to stay away from Thermaltake.

Correct me if I'm wrong though, but thermaltake and thermalright are different brands. Thermalright are still ok aren't they?

 

[Sonic587]

Originally posted by: Degrador

Originally posted by: cRazYdood
Swiftech, Zalman, and Alpha are all good choices.

I generally try to stay away from Thermaltake.

Correct me if I'm wrong though, but thermaltake and thermalright are different brands. Thermalright are still ok aren't they?

They are different companies. Thermalright is in a league far above Thermaltake, IMO.

 

[JeffCY]

Thermalright's are expensive, but there are some great deals out there. I have an ALX-800 and for <$20 I think it performs pretty well. I think SVC also has the SLK-900a for sale right now for $20. I personally wouldn't spend $50 on a heatsink, but the ALX-800 with a Panaflo U1A works just fine for me. I stay below 50C under load on my XP mobile 2600+ OCed to 2.5Ghz, so I'm happy.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Im using an SLK-947U and a Panaflo 12L. My temps tend to read around 5-10C too high it seems but i idle at 51C right now and my ambient room temp is a little above 80F.

Case temp is 32C

In winter the case temp drops to like 15C.

-Kevin

 

[Zap]

Yup, SVC.com currently has the Thermalright SLK-900A for $19.99. Why do I know this? Ask my credit card, LOL. Anyways, I never considered buying this at regular prices, but with this sale price I jumped on it like a... nevermind, this is a family forum.

I've been happy with my Thermalright ALX-800 as well (just ordered SLK-900A today, so don't have it yet). I think the SVC.com price is around $16. Note that these prices are WITHOUT fan.

I was less happy with my Thermalright SLK-800A. Why? I paid $45 for it at the time, and I expected more from it. Sure, it worked REALLY well, but was also REALLY expensive. I guess I like budget stuff that works well more than expensive stuff that works well. Just consulting the list of CPUs I have... mobile Barton, mobile Celeron, P4 2.4A... all nice budget performers, heh.

I do like the Zalman CNPS-7000A-AlCu units. Fairly priced, cools decent and is quiet.

I like the budget Coolermaster units, such as the XDream and the Aero Lite. Those run about $15+ (or on sale for $11) and are a good budget solution.

I'd better put on my asbestos underwear when I say that I don't have a problem with Thermaltake products (besides their fugly cases and color choices, LOL). The company isn't afraid to innovate for the general consumer and offers reasonably priced products that are reasonable performers. Take, for instance, the Silent Boost HSF. Soon as someone mentions it, many people will jump all over the thread saying such and such Thermalright heatsink with a Panaflo undervolted with a fan speed controller will outperform the Silent Boost while being more quiet. Ya know, they are 100% correct, however the information would probably be useless to the person asking because most people probably won't notice the noise or performance difference while they will definately notice the cost difference between the $28 Silent Boost and the $35 heatsink + $7 fan + $7 speed controller. Whenever people around here ask for information on something being "the best for $XXX amount of money" the answer they get is often "the best, period." Useless information if they can't/won't spend that amount of money.

 

[Operandi]

I'd better put on my asbestos underwear when I say that I don't have a problem with Thermaltake products (besides their fugly cases and color choices, LOL). The company isn't afraid to innovate for the general consumer and offers reasonably priced products that are reasonable performers. Take, for instance, the Silent Boost HSF. Soon as someone mentions it, many people will jump all over the thread saying such and such Thermalright heatsink with a Panaflo undervolted with a fan speed controller will outperform the Silent Boost while being more quiet. Ya know, they are 100% correct, however the information would probably be useless to the person asking because most people probably won't notice the noise or performance difference while they will definately notice the cost difference between the $28 Silent Boost and the $35 heatsink + $7 fan + $7 speed controller. Whenever people around here ask for information on something being "the best for $XXX amount of money" the answer they get is often "the best, period." Useless information if they can't/won't spend that amount of money.

Well ok valid points I guess but there are plenty of alternatives that offer performance similar to Thermaltake without the &amp;$$@&amp;#! design and marketing lies for the same or less money.

 

[yourdeardaniel]

Originally posted by: cRazYdood
Swiftech, Zalman, and Alpha are all good choices.

I generally try to stay away from Thermaltake.

i second that
thermaltake sucks, email their support, never a got response.

i'd go with swiftech, zalman, and thermalright.

 

[powerMarkymark]

Originally posted by: Operandi

Originally posted by: cRazYdood
Swiftech, Zalman, and Alpha are all good choices.

I generally try to stay away from Thermaltake.

Thats it right there.

I need to know...............did a Thermaltake bite you or something?

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: Zepper
It's just that people are inordinately defensive about things they KNOW they've overpaid for...It's on the same plane as religion...
.bh.

Er, not really. I got quite a bit for a $15 heatsink from Thermalright, I'd say (SK-7, then AX-7--both better than the ALX-800 without vacuum cleaners for fans).
They really are just nice, well-built products.

Alpha and Zalman, as well.

If you want really cheap, Arctic Cooling and Speeze have you covered.

 

[Thaer]

Well, the newer version of the Zalman 7000ACU is out, the CNPS7000B-CU.
18grams lighter, WOOOOW, that's a lot, isn't it?

No honestly, THAT is a good CPU-fan. With a good copper based heatsink and a quiet 92mm Zalman fan.

 

[yellowvespa]

I had the copper core OEM heat sink and fan that came with a new Prescott CPU. Nice and quiet in a Lian-li case but I wasn't happy with the 51c temps so I bought a Swiftech MCX478-V and installed a 55cfm 92mm fan with a gutted 92mm housing for a spacer on it. After a 20 hour seat-in, about 4 days of use, the temp never dropped below 53c. I re-installed the factory setup. Advertising and pimp reviews along with doctored up graphs sure do sell a lot of product. Anyone need the Swiftech? It might perform better when hooked to to an industrial warehouse exhaust fan (not included).

 

[jswjimmy]

i say thermaltake volcano 12, its good for the money.It keeps my xp1800@2.4ghz under 60C(about 57C) under load. but if you want to move the computer then go with thermalright because thay are bolt on.

 

[Nerdwannabe]

Originally posted by: Zap
I'd better put on my asbestos underwear when I say that I don't have a problem with Thermaltake products (besides their fugly cases and color choices, LOL). The company isn't afraid to innovate for the general consumer and offers reasonably priced products that are reasonable performers. .

Normally I dont have problem with TT's product, unfortunately, they have a tendency to copy everybody's products at sell at a slightly lower cost.

Quality and performance wise, I can't really say too much since I am not a TT product player, but I did had some poor experience with it.