Q6600 cooling

[NUFC987]

I'm going to buy a Q6600 (hooray for july 22nd). I'm thinking of getting a Zalman 9700 to cool that bad boy. will this cooler do the job? Ive seen that most people prefer the Ultra 120. Any input/recommendations are greatly appreciated.

 

[speed4life]

Are you going to over clock it? If so I would go with water cooling. I am waiting for July 22nd also. Will be getting two of those bad boy's. If you are not going to over clock then that Zalman will be fine. I will be over clocking mine to about 3.4Ghz. Cannot wait.

 

[aevm]

I'll be doing exactly the same (Q6600, Zalman 9700, 8800 GTX, etc.) and I've already asked the same question some time ago :lol:

The Zalman 9700 has excellent reviews and a lot of people on this forum have also told me it's a good choice, especially if I decide to overclock.

If you don't overclock you could probably get a cheaper cooler. Scythe Ninja or Scythe Infinity are also good.

 

[SuperFly03]

Well done air cooling can get you more performance than entry level water and probably 80-85% of the performance of midrange water.

Water really doesn't offer a great value overall. Air is perfectly fine.

 

[NUFC987]

awesome, thanks for the help. Water cooling isn't for me, to impatient to set it up, and scared that it will leak. look like 9700 it is.

 

[SuperFly03]

Anandtech Air cooling graph

This will give you an idea of cooling options. It has the 9700 Ultra 120 Extreme, Noctuna, etc.

 

[vpsaline]

I have the Zalman 9700, and its great, but it is not the best, nore the cheapest. I was ready to pay the extra for it cause I was sure it would fit my case and mobo, whereas the other heatsinks are just so rediculously large that its kind of a gamble with them.

 

[graysky]

I have a q6600 i run @ 9x333. It's cooled with the ultra-120 extreme. I'd recommend it for any quad chip. What you thing about it, running a quad @ 3 ghz is the same as a stock QX6800 (at least that's that sandra's cpu test shows). Anyway, I dunno if that zalman will provide enough cooling for you. Quads generate 2x the heat of a dual, remember.

Here are some threads that may interest you relating to q6600's:

Lapping ultra-120 extreme
Lapping Q6600 (complete with temp results and pics)
Effect of room temp on load temps of a Q6600 @ 9x333

 

[spaztic7]

Ok... Now this seems to be an old thread and I am going to try to revive it.

I currently have a thermalright ultra 120 extreme and I would like to know if I should water cool. I am looking at the CoolIT SYSTEMS EL-1000 Eliminator Thermoelectric water cooling all-in-one kit. I do overclock. I am currently running my q6600 at 3.21 ghz and idle at 114 - 124 fahrenheit. At load I jump... I do not know... I need a program to record my temps under load.

Should I go water cooled or is the thermalright good enough. I will be pushing to 3.4 to 3.6 for crysis and I already know that 3.6 is a no go with the thermalright ultra 120 extrem with my current system.

Ther other thing to know is that I normaly do not use my AC. I can but it is cheaper not to run it. So my room ambient temp is normally a few degrees cooler then outside temp. (it is normally 78-80)

 

[V3NOM]

hmm ages since i seen speed4life post.... 🙁 um regarding this post i have no experience regarding water cooling i'm sorry. all i know is that a good air cooler such as a lapped TRUE or a xigmatek HDT-S1283 will outdo 80-85% of low and mid range water coolers...

as for a program to record your temps under load, i suggest speedfan, coretemp, realtemp adn cpu-z if you dont have it to see your specs...

 

[rubix_1011]

You will be fine with an aftermarket cooler...you might be *limited* to 3.4 or so...but you might also look into good NB cooling too, if your MB doesn't have anything but a chintzy heatsink.

If you are going to go watercooled, don't expect to spend less than ~$180 or you are wasting your time and money. The good stuff isn't cheap, but the cheap stuff isn't worth it.

 

[LB_Specter]

I dont like the zalman all that much. I have the 9700 and though at 3.ghz my temps have not gone over 45C prime95 for 4.5hrs I cant help but believe that there just has to be a better cooler out there. My biggest gripe with the zalman is that it swivels over the cpu after being screwed down. Its not a very tight fit. and when i had it on the am2 motherboard i swear the thing just hung ther. the clamps for it was not very tight.