Hmm let's back up a bit... For a more specific response in terms of make/model, tell us:
1. Rate the following factors to give us some perspective, in order of importance to you:
A) Minimized cost
B) Performance
C) Lack-of-noise
2. What is your budget?
For example... me, I'd be something like C,A,B. I'd be happy to spend a little extra to get a heatsink that allows me to passively cool (silence), understanding I may not get every last bit of performance out of my CPU, but I'm not gonna blow the bank on a heatsink regardless, so I set the budget-factor in the middle.
Some years ago when I started posting here, I was much more like B,A,C - Didn't care if I blew my ears out and was willing to spend extra to do so if it meant more performance.
Most of my friends and family who could care less about what is inside the box would probably fall under A,C,B. Stock heatsinks are the easy solution for this profile.