Looking for good i7 920 cooler with realistic price

[aaronjwood]

Hello,
I am looking for a good aftermarket cooler for an intel core i7 920. I would like to stay under $45 if possible. If it is not possible to get a decent cooler for under this price, I may raise my budget.

Currently, when I have had the i7 at 75% load, it gets close to 60 C. I am still using the stock Intel cooler. When doing transcoding/video editing or long time gaming, my CPU reachs 60 C and sometimes a little bit over.

Can anyone recommend an exceptional cooler? I am also interested in overclocking my i7 920 once I get a aftermarket cooler. Nothing extreme, but at least up to 3.0 GHz.

 

[OvrClkr]

Here are 2 very good coolers for the price :

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

or

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

 

[aaronjwood]

Here are 2 very good coolers for the price :

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

or

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

Funny you mention the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 rev. 2 because I've been eying that for a while. Very good price and I know the first revision received rave reviews almost everywhere when it came out.

The one thing that I had started seeing pop up in a few sites was people doubting that cooler because of it's age. They said that they haven't changed it much (other than to work with the i7's) and that other coolers out there today beat it. I'm not sure if this is true or not, but if you or anyone else has experience with this cooler (rev. 2) let me know how you like it.

I wanted to get a cooler that will lower my temps all the time by will also allow me to overclock and not reach 50+C. Again, I'm not going to be doing any heavy overclocking, but enough to get it out of the 2.6GHz bracket.

A couple of people on different sites said the arctic freezer 7 is a decent cooler but doesn't leave room for overclocking. I'm not sure if these are peoples assumptions or if the cooler is actually outdated enough where it will lower temps, but not be enough for overclocking.

If anyone can give me more info on that arctic cooler, I would gladly snatch it up. I've just seen too many mixed things with not enough evidence/proof since rev. 2 is relatively new...

 

[OvrClkr]

Look at it this way, I have a similar cooler (Freezer 64) and my temps never exceed 52c no matter what clock (3.1/4.0Ghz) so you should be fine if you do choose the Freezer.

The new Rev. 2 Freezer is even better since the fan has been updated with a higher CFM.

Here is an example:

at 3.6Ghz my temps never reached 39c (load), of course the 920 runs hotter than my CPU but you wont have to worry about your temps as long as you don't do any extreme overclocking....

here is another screenshot stressing the CPU :

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Here is a link to a very good web site with a lot of useful information about cpu heatsinks:

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

You can use the embedded search engine to find information about socket specific heatsinks.

 

[aaronjwood]

Look at it this way, I have a similar cooler (Freezer 64) and my temps never exceed 52c no matter what clock (3.1/4.0Ghz) so you should be fine if you do choose the Freezer.

The new Rev. 2 Freezer is even better since the fan has been updated with a higher CFM.

Here is an example:

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv199/OvrClkr/core2.jpg

at 3.6Ghz my temps never reached 39c, of course the 920 runs hotter than my CPU but you wont have to worry about your temps as long as you don't do any extreme overclocking....

Wow, those are pretty nice temps for 3.6 GHz. Maybe I'll jump on the freezer 7 rev. 2 then. I also didn't know the fan was upgraded in rev 2.

Do you know much about fitting with that cooler? This is the motherboard I have: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131371
Any idea if it will fit in there? I'm not concerned about the case since when I change the cooler I will be moving the whole computer into a new case too (Antec 900)

Another quick question: are the stock fans that come with the Antec 900 decent or do you know of anything else that could replace all the 120mm ones that would be better? Having LEDs or not doesn't matter to me FYI.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[aaronjwood]

Here is a link to a very good web site with a lot of useful information about cpu heatsinks:

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

You can use the embedded search engine to find information about socket specific heatsinks.

Thanks for the link Johnny but there is no chart for the 1366 socket yet. It does say it's in the works though...

 

[OvrClkr]

You wont have any issues at all installing the Rev. 2 on that rampage.....

 

[aaronjwood]

You wont have any issues at all installing the Rev. 2 on that rampage.....

Awesome. Glad to hear. I couldn't find anything about fitting with that mobo and cpu cooler on Google so I'm glad to get an answer from someone.

As for the case, my g/f had given it to me because she upgraded to an Antec 902. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do about the case and if I'm going to use it or not. One of the fan's wires was ripped open when she was taking one of the cages. She had soldered it back together and it seems to work fine but I'm still unsure how those antec fans perform that they include with the case. I do like the 200mm fan on top though.

Just curious, what kind of case do you use?

 

[OvrClkr]

Awesome. Glad to hear. I couldn't find anything about fitting with that mobo and cpu cooler on Google so I'm glad to get an answer from someone.

As for the case, my g/f had given it to me because she upgraded to an Antec 902. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do about the case and if I'm going to use it or not. One of the fan's wires was ripped open when she was taking one of the cages. She had soldered it back together and it seems to work fine but I'm still unsure how those antec fans perform that they include with the case. I do like the 200mm fan on top though.

Just curious, what kind of case do you use?

Antec 300 with some modifications, here are a couple of pics ......

 

[aaronjwood]

Antec 300 with some modifications, here are a couple of pics ......

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv199/OvrClkr/SANY0009.jpg

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv199/OvrClkr/SANY0015.jpg

Very nice! Well, I'm going to start out by getting the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 like you suggested.
I have decided I am going to use the Antec 900 and change the fans later on if I want or if needed.

One more thing. I heard the rev. 2 of the freezer 7 comes with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186020

Do you think I should still get a tube of AS 5?

 

[OvrClkr]

Yes, the cooler already has pre-applied paste so once you recieve it just slap it on and your ready to go.

The paste that comes with the cooler is MX-2 so there is no need for a tube of AS-5.

As far as the fans go, I use these and they are cheap, reliable and hold up pretty well... For the price you cannot go wrong....

Rosewill RFA-120-BL 120mm 4 Blue LEDs LED Case Fan - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200049

or if you do not want any lights :

Rosewill RFA-120-K 120mm Case Fan - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200048

 

[aaronjwood]

Yes, the cooler already has pre-applied paste so once you recieve it just slap it on and your ready to go.

The paste that comes with the cooler is MX-2 so there is no need for a tube of AS-5.

As far as the fans go, I use these and they are cheap, reliable and hold up pretty well... For the price you cannot go wrong....

Rosewill RFA-120-BL 120mm 4 Blue LEDs LED Case Fan - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200049

or if you do not want any lights :

Rosewill RFA-120-K 120mm Case Fan - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835200048

Sounds good to me.

Thanks again for all your help

 

[OvrClkr]

My pleasure.....

Let me know if you encounter any issues or need any help....