Cooler for bulldozer...

[Arbiter Odie]

I'll be getting bulldozer when it comes out. I want a good cooler for it. AMD is well know for using worthless stock heatsink/fans.


My case is an Antec 300 illusion.

After poking around some, it seems I have a few options. I could try to cram a Noctua D14 into my case. I could cram a Coolermaster V10 into my case. Or I could try something a bit smaller.

I'd prefer smaller. My power supply isn't that massive, and I'd prefer to keep it happy.

The first interesting heatsink/fan I saw was the Coolermaster V8. It's appears to be sufficiently small that it will fit in my case.
Or I could get the Noctua NH-U9B. It's also small enough... I think.

Which should I go for? Thanks in advance!

 

[Bijiont]

The Noctua D14 should fit in that case provided I am reading the dimensions correctly.

Noctua - 160 x 140 x 158mm

Antec 300 Illusion Black Steel - 18.30" x 8.10" x 18.00"

In terms of how effective it will cool the new chip, no on really knows as BD isn't out yet. I would guess it should be fine.

 

[Arbiter Odie]

Bijont, thank you. I'm assuming that the higher end the cooler is, the better it will be able to cool bulldozer.


If I decide against the noctua D14 (due to the price) which of the two $60 coolers would you advise, the Coolermaster V8 or the noctua equivalent I listed?

 

[Bijiont]

Bijont, thank you. I'm assuming that the higher end the cooler is, the better it will be able to cool bulldozer.


If I decide against the noctua D14 (due to the price) which of the two $60 coolers would you advise, the Coolermaster V8 or the noctua equivalent I listed?

I honestly just have read the reviews, other than that I have no personal experience with any of the air coolers. I have been on water cooling for a while now I don't recall the last air cooler I had.

I would suggest checking out reviews on the coolers maybe over at skinnee.

 

[muddocktor]

With a smaller case such as the Antec 300, I would recommend going with a smaller sized heatsink than a D14, to give yourself a little more room inside for better ventilation. A good choice would be the Thermalright MUX120 Black, which comes with mounts for both Intel and AMD and has a much smaller footprint than the D14, yet cools almost as well. And AMD boards seem to situate the ram slots closer to the cpu socket than Intel, making it harder to mount a heatsink when you use ram with tall heatspreaders, so the MUX120 gives you more wiggle room that way also. I have test mounted it on an AM2 board and when using 25 mm thick fans, you still have access to all 4 ram slots, at least on my AM2 test fit board.

2 other good Thermalright choices for you are the Silver Arrow, which vies with the D14 in being "top dog", but also has the same size problems as the D14 and also the good old TRUE Rev. C is still a top contender in tier 1 air cooling, but you will have to buy 1-2 fans to go with it. And if you are on a real budget, the original model TRUE AM2 retail kit from Koolertek is a very good value at $40 and doesn't give up much in the way of performance as compared to the Rev. C models.

 

[WhitehawkEQ]

You can try the V6GT, it's rated for up to 200W, my Phenom II x6 1090T uses 141W of power and the V6GT keeps my cpu very cool (cpu at 100% work load). I'll be using it for my BD when the BD's come out.

I'll be getting bulldozer when it comes out. I want a good cooler for it. AMD is well know for using worthless stock heatsink/fans.


My case is an Antec 300 illusion.

After poking around some, it seems I have a few options. I could try to cram a Noctua D14 into my case. I could cram a Coolermaster V10 into my case. Or I could try something a bit smaller.

I'd prefer smaller. My power supply isn't that massive, and I'd prefer to keep it happy.

The first interesting heatsink/fan I saw was the Coolermaster V8. It's appears to be sufficiently small that it will fit in my case.
Or I could get the Noctua NH-U9B. It's also small enough... I think.

Which should I go for? Thanks in advance!