How Cold Should I Be?

[factorydirect]

For my first build, I have a few questions about cooling my parts. Ill be running a Intel C2D E6750 2.66 and a GeForce 8800GT, I was wondering what the benefits to buying a heatsink and or other cooling products... obviously I have no idea what I'm talking about here Fill me in please! Ask if you need more info regarding my rig, thanks.

 

[phreejak]

It all boils down to o'clocking really.....

Do you plan on o'clocking? and if so, how heavily?

That would determine just what cooling solution would be best for your situation. Simple o'clocking can be handled by a decent HSF combo for, perhaps botht he CPU and GPU as long as you have good airflow in your case. It is the cheapest solution. Stepping up to watercooling is more expensive but it will, typically, lead to better results than convection cooling (provided the proper investment is made).

We're talking below $100 versus several hundred dollars here. It all boils down to your intentions with your rig.

 

[CompuTronix]

factorydirect, in answer to your thread - How Cold Should I Be? - the following temperature scale is according to Intel's specifications for your E6750, and is from the Core 2 Quad and Duo Temperature Guide: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/221745-29-core-quad-temperature-guide

Section 6: Scale

Scale 1: Duo

E6x50: Tcase Max 72c, G0 Stepping, Tjunction Max 100c, Vcore Default 1.350, TDP 65w, Delta 10c

-Tcase/Tjunction-
--70--/--80--80-- Hot
--65--/--75--75-- Warm
--60--/--70--70-- Safe
--25--/--35--35-- Cool

Tcase is CPU temperature and Tjunction is Core temperature. There is a 10c difference or "Delta" between them. You might want to read up on it in the Guide, so that you understand how temperatures work. Basically, you can overclock as high as your chip will go, as long as you don't exceed 1.5 CPU voltage (Vcore) and Safe on the Scale during load and stability testing at an ambient room temperature of 22c.

Comp