Best CPU Cooler

would i see that much of a difference between getting a zalman 9700 or 9500? and they'd def drop my temps lower than an AC freezer 64 right.... do the heatsinks with a fan on them work as well as these? which drop the most? that article says the thermalright 120 is the best of the best, but it needs a fan on it right?
 
I've got the Zalman 9700 and I recommend it 110%. Got my e6600 @ 3.5 (1.4825v), idle 20c, Load 41c. I had the 9500 before, and yes its a good cooler but not as good as the 9700, temps about 7-8c more with 9500. I know a few people with the Thermalright 120 and they all recommend it, and yes you would need to buy a fan (120mm) separately. The people I know with the 120 have this fan I have a few of these in my case and they shift loads of air.
 
I'm thinking I'm going to go with the 9500 just for the price and so long as it drops my temps like 5+ degrees I'll be pleased... whats the best method to apply thermal paste? I'm going to pick up some AC5 with it.
 
I find the best way to apply thermal paste is to put a small amount of paste in the centre of the cpu then pop a small plastic bag an your finger and then just smear it around until the whole top of the cpu is covered. You could always use a cotton bud, thats also a good way.
 
I trust you Artic Silver 5 there. There has been some discussion on MX-2 another compound by AS as well as Liquid Pro seeing a better conduction of heat over AS5. But the higher priced Liquid Pro goes on like an epoxy! You can't simply pop the hsf off later to reapply that stuff while it holds a much higher silver content.

MX-2 is used in server builds. But AS5 is all you would actually need to start with there. The image is the actual photo of the proper amount of AS5 on an AMD cpu with heat shield.



One article recommends stirring AS5 as you easily apply the small amount to mix the grey line seen(silver content) with the bullk of the grey colored paste. You stir the amount seen there until it flattens down to the circumference of a rasin and simply make sure you spread it evenly across the surface to see a super thin layer. With AS5 the break in time is about 200hrs. where you shut the system down after the first 3-4hrs. of a warmup period if you see high temps there. This allows the cool down time(several hours) to initialize the heat conductiveness.
 
Just add a very small layer of it, you dont want too much on it, because if you add to much, as you pop on your heat sink, which is firmly pressed against the cpu, it will be everywhere.
 
AS5 spreads fast even with the small recommended amount. On the old build with an overheated cpu after a fan quit on the cooler the simple drop on the center of the Zalman 7000b spread without excess all over the surface as was seen later when everything was taken apart. A full tube would drown everything including board there!
 
Most often you will see people using Artic Silver 5 as the thermal paste of choice. Some still use the compound that may come along with a cooler. Simply look on the previous page of this thread to see how much AS5 is used and spread thinly over the surface of the cpu's heat sheild or bottom of the heat sink. Some use a credit card or something wide and thin like that or simply slide a plastic sandwich bag over a finger to see it spread evenly. The end result should see a film less then a the thickness of a standard 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper. Something like 3 nanometers thick.
 
alright thanks guys i'll be installing it next week my 9500 is on the way and i'm going to order AC5 in about 2 minutes
 
That's (A)rtic) (S)ilver(5) there. Gee? I've been running the 9500 here for over a year now without the fan even plugged in? The temps have still remained low! When removing tha sata drives for the new case I just happened to grab one of the 120s on the side cover that was plugged in on the cpu fan spot. hhmmm..... The 9700 is presently doing a good job on the new build as well.
 
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