retail or not for air cooling?

[gaccm]

I bought a 2.4c proc, and average overclock is up to 3.3gig, so i'm definitely looking forward to testing mine. Would the retail heatsink be sufficient to get up there? (with artic silver 2, not the goop with use). Or should i go out and drop another $30-$40 to get the really high air cooled overclocks?

[larva]

Using the retail cooler usually doesn't hurt the OC much if your case ventilation is good, but a better unit will drop at least 5C on the max processor temp which is always good for OC, stability, and processor life. I would pick up a decent cooler if OC'ing is the goal, but there isn't any reason you can't test the chip to see if it has any potential with the stock cooler.

There are many good coolers for the P4. The Aluminum version of the Zalman 7000 is impressive, as is the Vantec Aeroflow, Alpha 8942, Swiftech MCX4000, and the Thermalrigt SLK 800u or 900u.

[flapperhead]

get a good hs. it pays especially if u have to bump up the voltage

[micamica1217]

Originally posted by flapperhead
get a good hs. it pays especially if u have to bump up the voltage

I agree...a good HS never hurts, and cooler temps are always a plus.

mica