OCZ Vanquisher result

I bought a OCZ Vanquisher just now for $15 (went to pick it up, so no shipping). Thought I would post my result here to benefit future Googlers since there seems to be very few reviews of this cooler with a Core 2 Duo (all AMD and Core 2 Quads, and still very few even then).

E6300 (B2, Tjmax = 85C) overclocked and slightly undervolted at 3.010mhz (430 x 7) @ 1.3125

ambient ~26C
all temperatures below are load temperatures of Everest stability test (with only "Stress CPU" selected, as read by both everest itself and Core Temp 0.99)

Intel Stock cooler (copper base) with AS5 - 64C
OCZ Vanquisher with AS5 - 53C
both at full speed (fan speed control disabled in BIOS)

AS5 applied using the method in AS5 manual (line method).

Note that the AS5 on the Vanquisher has not settled in yet, and the AS5 on stock cooler has. (~2C difference)

in a generic cheap case that I have been using since the Northwood days.

motherboard: GA-EP35-DS3L. BIOS F5b (fixes voltage not sticking issue, kindly sent to me by a user on Anandtech forum, who got it from Gigabyte tech support. Feel free to PM me for it)
Power supply: Antec EarthWatts 380W
VGA: eVGA 8600GT

2x80mm fans (one side intake, one rear exhaust). Blowing a desk fan into it doesn't improve temperatures, meaning the airflow is good.

Feel free to ask for more details.

For a $15 cooler... how much more can I ask for? =)

Very nice, now crank up the FSB some more.

Axis

doing it now =). It's running stable at 3.36ghz (480x7) at ~68C load. (1.375 vCore). I am debating whether I should leave it as this or change it back down to 470x7, since my "point of requiring crazy voltage" seems to be somewhere between 470 and 480. I can run it pretty much on stock vCore @ 470. Maybe I will wait for a sub-0C snowy day here in the winter and take my computer outside to see how far it can go =). Actually, come to think of it, has anyone tried it?... it's like the fridge idea that could work =) nature is certainly more powerful than those condensors and compressors?

Better airflow through your case would help tremendously. 2x 80mm fans does not make good airflow unless they are the monster Delta dualfans. Cleaning up wiring helps a lot as well.

Axis

"suicide" run done at 3.43ghz (490x7) @ 1.4V, 69C Orthos Small FFT. 3.50ghz (500x7) requires > 1.4125V, which I am not comfortable playing with. At least not on this cheap board + cheap CPU + cheap heatsink =). My motherboard has a FSB wall at just over 500mhz, too, without overvolting MCH (which I am also not comfortable doing, with the tiny stock nb heatsink). Thanks for the suggestions. The 80mm fans are both 30cfm+, so should be better than average (I don't care about noise). I think my wiring is okay. Just one IDE cable, completely out of the way of the airflow. There's pretty much no wire in the airflow route.

Conclusion: a cheap ($15) aftermarket heatsink can go a long way =).

woot! just lapped both my CPU and the heatsink. 70C -> 64C Small FFTs load. Expecting it to come down 1 or 2 degrees after AS5 settles in . I only used 320 and 1000 grit. No liquid involved. Took me about 1 hr combined. Would probably be faster if this is not my first time lapping anything . Well worth it IMHO. Afterall, who RMA's their CPUs .

i got one coming too. should be here tues or so. thanks for posting that up! Looks like it might be better then my freezer 7!

i got one coming too. should be here tues or so. thanks for posting that up! Looks like it might be better then my freezer 7!

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Nice! Would you mind reporting the difference in temperature you find between this and the Freezer 7? I have been wondering about this for a long time. I am guessing it won't be better, though... just hoping it's not worse . If indeed it is not worse, I think we have just found a better budget cooler (in terms of price). Seems like this one costs ~$10 less than the Freezer on average.

ya i will try. might be a few days.

thanks!