Quad core Intel air cooler......?

T

TheRapture

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
May 31, 2000
Messages
6,885
Opinions and thoughts on a GOOD air cooler for a quad core, yes, I will be overclocking of course. Hoping to get the stock 2.66ghz to a nice 3200mhz or a bit better....

I don't think my Big Typhoon will handle the additional heat of an overclocked quad? It has served me well for years on a variety of AMD and Intel cpu's......
 
Isn't stock 2.4 GHz?

Anyway.. I haven't over clocked my Q6600, BUT... running OCCT for 1 hour, the temperatures never reach over 50 celsius, and inside my house is about 80 fareinheit.

I am using the Tuniq Tower.
 
I think the big typhon will be fine, i have a zalman 7000 series on my q6600 running at 3.0 stable all day.
 
The Big Typhoon should be alright for 3.2GHz, although if you want to go higher I recommend the Xigmatek HDT-S1283. There's a deal on Newegg that might still be going on for the cooler at $36.99 with free shipping, so if that's still available you should jump on it ASAP.
 
Dont waste you're money on a TRUE or Zalman, the Xigmatek S1283 can be had for $39.99 shipped on the Egg, and performs better then the Zalman and on par or even arguably better then the TRUE. My Q6600 is @ 3.2GHz all day, idles @ 29c and tops out running Prime95 around 46c. And thats in a cramped Lian Li PC-A05B.
 
Xigmatek S1283, hands down.

Performs far better than any Zalman cooler for like half the price.
 
I love my Xig - and [unlike the TRUE] Xig comes with a good PWM fan, so need to throw down extra cash for a fan.

Both the Xig and TRUE have a fairly high pressure drop, so matching up an aftermarket fan to coolers like these isn't easy - getting one that's already a good match is a good starting point for your overclock.
 
My Ninja + stock 120mm fan keeps my Q9450 @ 3.5GHz w/ 1.3v = 35/60c, 24/7.

But the Xigmatek S1283 for $39.99 is a better "bang for your buck" fo sho. A nod to the TRUE too. All great air coolers.
 
After reading the positive comments folks in here wrote about the xig, I started looking around and found a few reviews that do indeed show it on par with the TRUE. Here is one if you want more.

One thing that struck me about the Xig was it's push-pin style mount hardware. Not a good idea for a heavy HS in my opinion. The hardware the TRUE comes with is a very secure X style backplate with heavy duty spring-screws. This design is time-proven not to stress/damage or bend/flex the MB. After all, these coolers weigh nearly 1 kg with fan!

The TRUE is 8 heat pipes vs. 6 on the Xig if that matters to you.

Read this thread wherein the discussion is about how the Xig's fan is attached, and how it can be removed. If it truly is difficult to remove, that is a major negative for it since fans and go bad overtime and need to be replaced. The wire mounts the TRUE uses are very easy to attach/detach. You can do it without unmounting the HS making changing fans a simple operation. As I understand it, you need to unbolt the Xig for the MB and then, somehow, you can remove the fan. Again, read that post.

The other thing to worry about might be noise levels. My TRUE with Scythe S-FLEX 1600 RPM fan is nearly silent in my closed case... all that said, I think I paid $70 for the TRUE and the S-Flex fan so I guess if the trade-offs I mentioned above don't bother you, maybe the 40 % price savings in the Xig (only $30 less than the TRUE) might be the major deciding factor for you?

If you asked me, the inability to remove the fan without unbolting the HS is a major reason not to buy the Xig. Once I get my HS down and the AS5 cured, there's no way I wanna rip it off and reapply the TIM, f*ck around with getting a good mount, etc. but that's just my opinion.
 
I forgot about the mounts on the Xig, sorry. Yeah, that is a point against it, both in terms of fan mounting and MB mounting. To get the fan off, either to vac out dust or whatever, I've had good luck using hemostats. The push style MB mounts are the same kind as an Intel stock HSF, which IMO is a bit too light for something as tall as the Xig, especially if you move your system around.

So far I've fabricated one set of mounts to fit my Shuttle MB, but I wasn't happy with my (off center) results:


I'm working on a new set and a fan shroud - the shroud will have threaded inserts so I can attach a single or stacked fans using screws.

So I know the Xig moves good heat, and I can also tell you that if the push-pin mounting system isn't what you want, fabricating a set of mounts to fit under the edges of a Xig but still clear capacitors around your socket is pretty tricky.
 
I'm using the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme and its easily the best cooler i've tried. Fairly expensive but easily worth the money.
 
How often do the fans die? really... The fan isnt hard to get off, just push it to one side, then to the other, I have done it with it installed in my case perfectly fine. And im using the push pins, it feels amazingly secure. You would have to get in there and really try to break it free before it would under its own weight (which is relatively NOT much) People are way to paranoid and blowing things out of proportion. Dont waste you're money on a TRUE, please.
 
graysky said:
One thing that struck me about the Xig was it's push-pin style mount hardware. Not a good idea for a heavy HS in my opinion. The hardware the TRUE comes with is a very secure X style backplate with heavy duty spring-screws. This design is time-proven not to stress/damage or bend/flex the MB. After all, these coolers weigh nearly 1 kg with fan!
Click to expand...

Xigmatek makes a bolt-through kit for the S1283, and the Thermalright kit also works with it. Both are around $5, so it's a pretty good deal for peace of mind.
 
I can vouch for the TRUE, i got mine from crazy pc with the lapping option, i have the scythe s-flex fan also and with my settings in sig im usually at 52 under full load
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top