[Macmac508]

Decided i want to get a bit more performance out of my CPU. Have found that the temps are heading up quite quickly even with baby overclocks.

Someone has reccommended the Zalman 9700 cooler, its £34 on ebuyer.
Is it good value and make a big difference to the temps, any other suggestions welcome too, want to get as much value for money as possible.

It comes with Zalman Super Thermal Grease, is this good as well or is it worth investing in a different paste?

Thanks

[Carbon]

Fan is nice, paste is paste is paste.

[Cew27]

not true, some past out performs other, arctic silver is supposed to be the best and see drops of around 7-10 degrees on the cpu

[alex]

Because it's basically silver it allows quicker conductivity over the usual generic junk.

The Zalman is not for you. It's a stylish cooler it has to be said but is expensive and can't cool a cpu well enough for decent oc's.

If you want to oc your core2 there's really only a choice of two:

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 pro.

Tuniq Tower. The Tuniq is around the same price as the Zalman but has so much more cooling prowess. Just ensure it fits in your case as it's a very tall cooler, around 19cm

[Macmac508]

Rightyho, cheers for the help. Will have a look at them.

Thanks

[Thunderer]

So, if I intend not to overclock atall, will I see good temp. drops with a quad core + Artic Cooler paste + Zalman 9700

[alex]

It's not that simple Thunderer.

A cpu's waste heat is caused by the amount of voltage put through it.

Some Q6600's can oc further than others on the same amount of voltage.

So you want to plan for the worst case: 1.5v. Any more than this and you risk the cpu, on air anyway.

If you're going for high oc's, again, I'd recommend the two hsf's I quoted above. There simply is no other choice, and to quote a line in a Steven Segal movie:

"You can take that to the bank".

[Thunderer]

But what if I am not

Originally Posted by alex

going for high oc's, again, I'd recommend the two hsf's I quoted above.

and seriously, I will not ever overclock, will the Zalman, Artic Cooler 7 or the Tuniq Tower fit in my ThemalTake Armor+?

And since I will not overclock, the Zalman should do the job right?

[Gazmondo]

If you have no intention on overclocking then stick to the manufacturers HSF.

If you are intending on overclocking, whether it be a little or a lot, get the Arctic Cooler 7.

Any case scenario, AC7 > 9700