Looking for inexpensive cooler for x2 3800+

silverwolf0 · Post by **silverwolf0** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 4:53 pm

Hello I am looking for an inexpensive cooler for an x2 3800+. I have looked through the recommended list and some forum posts and so far the trend is to have really heavy copper heatsinks that are insanely large with 120mm fans or have passively cooled heatsinks that are even larger, all of which cost from $50 onward. I've owned a zalman cnps7000 before and the heatsink was heavy and not the quietest on high rpm which I needed to set it to. Right now what I need is a simple cooler, one that is easy to install, isn't too large or heavy as I am going to put it in a p150 as space saving is a must, and has a relatively quiet fan for $30 at the most.

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 5:13 pm

silverwolf0 wrote:Hello I am looking for an inexpensive cooler for an x2 3800+. I have looked through the recommended list and some forum posts and so far the trend is to have really heavy copper heatsinks that are insanely large with 120mm fans or have passively cooled heatsinks that are even larger, all of which cost from $50 onward. I've owned a zalman cnps7000 before and the heatsink was heavy and not the quietest on high rpm which I needed to set it to. Right now what I need is a simple cooler, one that is easy to install, isn't too large or heavy as I am going to put it in a p150 as space saving is a must, and has a relatively quiet fan for $30 at the most.

You can get a lightweight (360g) XP-90 Au for $28.00. A low noise 92mm fan will cost about $8.00 -12.50 (the Nexus 92mm is the queitest). Try this website:
http://www.jab-tech.com/Thermalright-XP ... -2921.html

silverwolf0 · Post by **silverwolf0** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 6:37 pm

You mean this one? http://www.jab-tech.com/NEXUS-92MM-REAL ... -2858.html
What about the panaflos that are recommended? Also, does any of this come with a thermal compound or do I have to buy that separately also?

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 6:46 pm

Let's see... you have a processor that retails for 300 USD and you can't afford a sixth of that to keep it nice and quiet?

silverwolf0 · Post by **silverwolf0** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 11:27 pm

Yeah I am a penny pincher. Don't tell anyone but I am taking this money out of my scholarship funds.

I want to make this futureproof, sort of, but want it to be quiet also as fan noise directly affects how fast and comfortably I use the computer. My limit is $1500 and I can't really change anything else so I have to cut corners wherever I can.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 9:05 am

Greetings,

Well, that sounds like a challenge to me!

How are you spending that $1,500?

I'll be we can make suggestions to help you build a system for less than that! My X2 4200+ has dual video cards, 2GB RAM, and two optical drives, uses WinXP Pro 64, and it didn't cost that much. And I have a $36 heatsink (+ shipping, of course) -- the Ninja, and it is very quiet! It is "passive"!

diver · Post by **diver** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 1:37 pm

Neil

Time to put that system in the Staff Rig sticky. No doubt everyone around here wants to see it. Some notes on how 64-bit computing is working for you would be appreciated as well.

silverwolf0 · Post by **silverwolf0** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 11:27 pm

Herer is my wishlist from newegg.
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wi ... er=1989078

Yeah its $1500 because I added a samsung 940t monitor thats $320. People recommended the asrock dual sata2 because it was cheap. The 7600gt is my only alternative since 7900gt's are way overpriced and most out of stock. I think the zalman is the only cooler that I know that works with it. I could probably save another $32 if I switched from corsair xms to corsair value, although I don't really know if that will have any performance hits. Everything else doesn't really require too much debating over. Shipping is $60ish.

jmke · Post by **jmke** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 4:31 am

saw somebody post Ninja @ $36, that's quite a good deal imho.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 8:41 am

Greetings,

I'd go with the Corsair Value RAM, for sure:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145579

Here's a $33-ish Ninja -- shipped!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 835185122R

I'd take a look at other motherboards, and consider an mATX board? Often, they have all the same features, and they can be less money.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813130041

Another thought is to get an SLi board (like the Giabyte GA-K8N Pro SLi, and then get the XFX 7600GS (though it's out of stock now...gee I wonder why!) and then go SLi later?

Found it in stock -- for a little less:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... ode=321064

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 8:51 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Here's a $33-ish Ninja -- shipped!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 835185122R

Dunno, mounting this thing can be complicated if it happens to be missing the mounting accessories for your board...

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 8:57 am

Okay, the new Ninja Plus is $43 + shipping:

http://www.coolerguys.com/840556035572.html

oakdad · Post by **oakdad** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 9:35 am

Cost before shipping < $1500 all newegg minus the fans.
~ $320 - 7900gt video card if you can find it
~ $213 - 3700+ AMD CPU but I do like the 165 Demark at ~ $326
~ $142 - 2gigs of case 2 OCZ memory (after newegg rebate)
~ $99 - ABIT KN8 SLI mobo
~ $244 - ViewSonic VA902b monitor
~ $38 - SAMSUNG SH-S162A/BEBN burner
~ $10 - SONY Black MPF920 if you need a floppy
~ $93 - WD Caviar SE16 WD2500KS hard drive
~ $48 - THERMALRIGHT SI-120 cpu cooler
~ $95 - Antec SONATA II case with 450Watt PSU
~ $18 - for 3 GlobalWin CS1202512L fans from www.svc.com
~$140 - Microsoft Windows XP Professional
total before shipping and what not is ~ $1460 it be $1573 if you use the Denmark CPU.

silverwolf0 · Post by **silverwolf0** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 3:07 pm

Thanks for all the replies. So far everything on my list is pretty set except the motherboard and mabye the ram. I iwanted the ga-k8n earlier but after looking at the comments on newegg, which I do trust to some degree as long as the post sounds intelligent enough, weren't that great. An issue was overheating northbridge and, bad placement of connectors, and some other stuff. I don't really trust any of the matx boards as I here about stability problems all the time, initially from the xpress200 and now from the 6150. What I need is a solid board where everything works that is passively cooled. I'm not saying the asrock one is good either but the complaints have only been isolated to overclocking, which everyone is trying to get every last ounce out of it because it is cheap. All this information may also be just my misconception from untruths on the internet and if anyone can clear them so my list of possible candidates increases, it would be much appreciated. If anyone can recommend me a good board from personal experience and elaborate on it as in (all your usb ports worked, firewire worked, no sata problems, enough clearance for coolers, good stability, can control user fans" I would much appreciate it also I can't trust professional motherboard reviews as many just focus on overclocking and don't have extended periods of use and just getting a post saying "I recommend xxxx, it works GREAT on my system!" isn't too helpful. Sorry to be nitpicky but I really want this to be trouble-free and thus am willing to provide the patience and the research to find one, or at least the best candidate.

One more question. How well will the corsair value ram overclock as oposed to the xms? I don't plan on overclocking now but later on after a few years when things get slow I can overclocked to up the performance. And yes you can keep computers for a while without too much hassle as my 9 year old compaq can run windows xp and surf decently and my current desktop is 4 years old and other than upgrade the video card, it runs everything else great.

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 3:14 pm

silverwolf0 wrote:One more question. How well will the corsair value ram overclock as oposed to the xms? I don't plan on overclocking now but later on after a few years when things get slow I can overclocked to up the performance.

I don't think this will matter, honestly. Overclocking CPUs works because frequency is the most important thing that you can change (after instructions per clock, perhaps, but you can't change that). With memory, the most important thing is its amount, not the clock speed. 1 GB of relatively "slow" memory would be a much better upgrade to 512 MB of same generic "slow" memory than 512 MB of uberfast memory would...

silverwolf0 · Post by **silverwolf0** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 3:29 pm

Isn't how well the cpu can overclock based on the memory speed also? Or was that back in the socket A days? I'm an overclocking nub.

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 3:43 pm

If you have a half-decent motherboard, you can overclock the CPU to the sky and beyond without even nudging the memory clock...

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 6:07 pm

Hello,

I've used the GA-K8N Pro SLi in two systems now, and both have been near perfect. The NB heatsink gets warm to be sure, but there have been no problems with them. I also use the K8N Ultra 9 in a mondo system and it too was superlative.

What plugs are out of place? The rear system fan header could be better, but other than that...I can't think of any problems. I wish it had 3 PCI slots -- but I have yet to use any PCI slots. I wish that more than the CPU fan header was controlled in the BIOS, but I just use a 5v/7v plug. It is undervoltable, it has plenty of USB, SATA, FireWire, Dual BIOS, plenty of space, four DIMM slots, it supports X2 and WinXP Pro x64, the ATX power plugs are nearly ideally placed -- what more could you want?

silverwolf0 · Post by **silverwolf0** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 9:47 am

I've finally found the motherboard that I want. Thanks for everyone's help. Oddly enough I haven't read about it on these forums yet but I stumbled over it when I was trying to find reviews of a 6150 based board that didn't suck as much as the ASUS A8N-VM CSM. It is the MSI K8NGM2-FID. You can find everything you ever wanted to know about it, including benchmarks and bugfixes at http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview ... erthread=y

It has everything I need and is cheap.

Looking for inexpensive cooler for x2 3800+

Looking for inexpensive cooler for x2 3800+

Re: Looking for inexpensive cooler for x2 3800+