CPU Coolers

[The boy 4rm oz]

Hi i'm looking for a new CPU cooler for when i upgrade my system. I am thinking about getting either a Thermaltake or a Zalman solution. I really like the Thermaltake orbs and the new Zalman Fatal1ty FS-C77. I don't want anything overly loud. The orbs are around the 18db mark the the Zalman cooler is around 40db. Any suggestions would be great.
*Thanks*

[nil8]

Zalman heatpipes are impressivly quiet. I have 2 of them running and they don't make more noise than my case fans.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thanks for that. What model do you use and can you recomend a good one?

[AKA_RA]

I suggest looking around at hardware review sites for a cooler "round-up." if you dont know what i mean, its basically like a bunch of reviews all in one article, where they directly compare differant coolers and take into consideration things like cooling capability compared to how loud each one is. then they look at the cost of the units and how heavy they are. it seems like a lot of heatsinks these days are dangerously heavy if you plan on going to lans.
this should get you started.

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=419

[bartvandenberg]

Zalman all the way. i think its called a v-900 or something? best air cooler there is. the 700 is also good, but.. not quite as

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thanks. Yeah i now what a round up is but most of them are from overseas and I cand get the recomender cooler over here without getting it shipped.

[archmaille]

I have only one thing to say... Zalman CNPS9500 it is much quieter and much cooler running than the Fata1ity, plus it's smaller and more likely to fit on all comps... I know the Fata1ity doesn't work with Corsair XMS Pro RAM because the RAM is too high.

why don't you want to get it shipped? I mean most big retailers don't charge horribly for overseas shipments... at least not that I know of. Are you looking for something that you can buy at a local shop?

[Slug Toy]

i have two things to say.

1. zalmans are good.
2. the thermaltake golden/blue orbs are slightly better

ive read lots and lots of cooler reviews (im almost sick of them now) and about 95% of the time i see the blue orb coming out on top, about 2 or 3 degrees coller than anything else. zalman and thermaltake are about equal though.

one thing i DO like about thermaltake is the aluminum with copper core. contrary to popular belief, copper isnt perfect. it transmits heat good, but it doesnt dissipate it into air very well. the best way to go is the copper core to get the heat away, and aluminum to dissipate it. aluminum happens to be one of the best (if not THE best) metal for dissipating heat into air and water.

overall, the best theoretical heatsink would be a copper extrusion that is plated with a layer of aluminum, so the thermaltake orbs get my vote for coming closest.

[nil8]

My video card is an ATI Radeon 9250 with a Zalman VF900-Cu on it. It's oc'ed about 80 mhz on the gpu and 50 mhz on the ram and runs without problems.

My proc is a P4 2.0 Ghz with a Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu. It's oc'ed to 2.4 ghz with no problems.

Silver dissapates heat better into air, but is expensive.

120 mm fans should be raised from the proc. Some people have tiny mobos.

[Slug Toy]

ah, silver. you know, its debatable whether silver is best. i spent a lot of time looking at thermal constants, and its actually a teeny tiny bit worse than copper. it definitely moves heat well (althought its something like .3 joules/meter behind copper), but it looks like it doesnt get rid of the heat as well as aluminum.

i was actually going to mold a silver waterblock when i was taking jewelry, and thats why i looked into it. i was under the impression that silver was god, but i dont think like that anymore. its just not worth it anyways. why make a $100 silver heatsink when you can make a $5 copper one that performs equally?

just dont go using a solid aluminum heatsink... it doesnt move heat very well at all compared to copper.