Recomendations for cooling for FX-8120

[NiteSmoker17]

Doing a new build in the next month or so and im looking at getting the FX-8120 w/ASUS M5A97 board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767

with a Antec three hundred two case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129180

Im currently looking at ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

My question is ...for mild to a non-extreme OC what recomendations can i get for cooling the FX-8120?

At this point im looking for
1) Low Noise
2) price under $75
3) ability to do its job.

 

[RGone]

Im currently looking at ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 << It most certainly will n0t be that weak cooler for an FX processor. We have seen a few in here try that cooler and the stock cooler was better.

I would have to do a little looking around since I don't know exactly what fits that $75.00 price point today in the changing market prices.

 

[bassnut]

I think your case selection is good. One thing I really like is you ahve the abillity to install a fan on the back side of the case cooling the socket area. I would use that instead to suck out the hot air or as an exhaust as this has proven the best for me with my FX 8150 in a recent cooling update I did as had been advised to me from caddiedaddie who pushes his eauipment hrder than I do.

One of the issues we have found with the FX CPU's and this has been well discussed in these forums is the heat it generates and the temps we need to keep under controle. You stated a Max budget under $75 and a mild OC. For that you should take a look at the Hyper 212 evo. I believe it need a 7.5" clearence in the case and the antec has an overall width of 9" so it should work. Maybe someone with that particular case can elabourate but has been the one cooler that has been recomended time and again for those on a budget.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

Its been a long time since I used or even looked at air coolers and while looking around for the hyper 212 I came across this little puppy which for some reason rang a bell. Someoen else has asked about a comparison on the Antec 920 and H100and while I was looking at some review had come across a great comparison thread of different coolers.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Prolimatech-Genesis-CPU-Cooler-Review/1281/1

The FX chips do draw allot of power and the extra heat generated in and around the socket area can be quite noticable compared to other AMD CPUs even the Six core PII's. Some guys have been paying extra attention to cooling the socket and VRM area of the motherboard with an additional fan. While in at newegg by chance I came across a cooler by prolimatech that kinda interested me as it will cool the cpu and the socket area all in one go.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835242007

I know it is out of your stated budget and probably overkill for your intended OC but thought I would bring it up you can see how it preformed compared to other coolers, your freezer 7 pro is also in the review and also for anyone else that may find this thread interesting.

 

[NiteSmoker17]

RGone and bassnut thank you for your recommendations and the links, let me kinda flip the question around a bit.

What overall real world performance would i see in getting an 8 core vs. a 6 core? IYHO.

I've read till my eyes are bleeding and compared till i cant think straight, but with 2 less cores i would have less heat that i will have to bleed off and "shouldnt" have to have such the larger cooler to cool the cpu. also i could spend less so i can spend a little more on a GPU

 

[RGone]

"NiteSmoker17", since you have asked about making a direction change; let me make a suggestion. AMD cut our throats by killing off the six-core thubans in order to force people to buy the FX series of processor. Crap on them.

But I think as cheap as the 955BE processor with no OEM heatsink with it, that the 955BE and it overclocked with a CM 212 EVO cooler would be your better choice IF you are not going to wait on the later PileDriver processor which should come soon. 955BE and 212 EVO would be an awesome match. I just don't know if the 212 EVO can handle for super long periods of time an FX. Maybe a 6 core but for the money, I would go 955BE and not spend so much and then IF the PileDrivers come in a month or sometime in OCT, you are not stuck with a BullDozer but a much much cheaper 955BE that you could swap out for the later PileDrive variant.

That is what I would do for now. 955BE, CM 212 EVO and some good Gskil DDR1600 ram with CAS 8 timing. That would serve you well for a pretty long while and remove the problem of heat and BullDozer completely. IMHO.

 

[bassnut]

In real world difference between the FX 8120 and say the PII 1090T (6 Core) I get about 10 - 20 FPS faster processing speed or about 15 min of computer time between the two with X264 running a BLU-RAY. If you like overclocking and like to play around with your OC the FX chips are so much more user friendly. Gaming wise ..... I am not abig gamer but some people like the FX better I guess it is dependen on the game that they are playing. I am sure you will get a few more answers yet this is the long weekend and allot of the guys are out and about.

When it comes to cooling I am not sure that the six core is all that much beter but then again I have never taken much time to look either as I jumped right in to the market when I was able to get the 8120 at first release.

Right now if it was me and I needed a new system and was able too, I would hold on and wait till Piledriver comes out ...... possibly in Oct. No one knows for sure when the release date will be and I am sure they will be tough to get hold of at first but after all the hype and disapointment of Bulldozer I think more people will be a bit slower to upgrade. But then right now everything is just speculation.

 

[NiteSmoker17]

RGone the reason i was looking at a direction change was simply to spend a little less on the cpu and therefore save some on the cooling. my current system is dated to say the least so not seeing any real "daily" comparison between the 6 - 8 core i wasn't really sure if it was worth the extra investment to keep thinking i needed the 8 core.

ok well im looking to order by first to mid November depending on the woman (lol) and i have been given a $900.00 limit but was hoping to get away with $750.00. I was not aware of a new chipset coming out in the next month or so, working 6 days a week will do that to a person...

basically im looking at AMD cpu, Nvidia card Geforce 560 min, min 8Gb ram , 1TB WD Hd and that antec case up top. dvd burner or BD reader if the moneys there. system will be mainly gaming but a daily driver also.

As you can see in my sig its been awhile since ive been able to upgrade and my system is showing its age. i can still play most of my games at min-mid levels but its time to do a new build.

i guess any recommendations would be greatly appreciated as it seems im more out of the loop then i guessed i was.

 

[RGone]

I figured this rig up for another 'what to buy' poster. Of course you get opinions and they can be biased if one is not cautious in making his recommends.
Put this configuration in your numbers cruncher and see how it figurs out for monies. Pretty decent setup in my eyes and surely does not break the bank.

 

[yoimcalvinn]

you looking for wind cooling or water cooling?
it does matter

 

[WhitehawkEQ]

I go with the V6GT, I have a Sabertooth 990FX MB with FX-8120 oced to 3.4GHZ (I know, not much of an OC but ) and get 38c running F@H.

CoolerMaster V6GT

1) Low Noise: check
2) price under $75: check
3) ability to do its job: check

 

[NiteSmoker17]

if your talking all in one kit for water then IDC as long as it does its job

 

[caddi daddi]

nitesmoker17, most of the top end aircoolers should get you to 4.0 when clocked right with the vcore kept low and should keep you on budget. i ran mine on a corsair h60 with the stock fan and 4.0 was not an issue and the mentioned air coolers i see posted here are the equal of that.

 

[bulldog1963]

If you have the room, the Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM is awesome. Half the price of the V-series (or more) and does just as well in cooling. And you can add a second fan. Not only that, you can orient it to vent Up/Down or Front/Back.

Check out the reviews on it. It does require space, though and you will need low/standard profile memory. That gimmicky "comb-crap" on the top of your memory is fluff.