New cooler? Lap Zalman Flex or stick with H70?

[gcwebbyuk]

I have tried a selection of coolers over the past 18 months. These were over three systems, but the aim with all of them has been performance but as quiet as possible:

AMD BE 965
Zalman CNPS 10x Quiet
Zalman CNPS 9700 NT
Zalman CNPS 10x Flex
Zalman Resorator

AMD BE 1090t
Zalman Resorator
EK / XSPC water cooling loop
Coolermaster V10 - Scythe Slipstream 1900 PWM fans

Intel 2600k
Coolermaster V10 - Scythe Slipstream 1900 PWM fans
Corsair H70 - Scythe Slipstream 1900 PWM fans

I am currently getting OK temps with the H70 (around 80c load @ 4.8GHz) - however, I can never stick with the same setup for long - I am considering a change....

I could go back to a full water cooled loop, but don't "really" have the time to spend setting it up, and it does cost much more than an air cooler - I won't disregard it at yet though.

I could also lap the Zalman Flex cooler and use the Scythe Slipstreams. Or, I could buy a new cooler.

Am I likely to get "much" better temps though - or will they be minimal (less than 5c load)? To be honest when swapping coolers in the past, I haven't noticed too much of a change. Would something like a TRUE drop the temps enough to warrant spending?

 

[SMOKEU]

Why not use Speedfan to reduce the fan speed? You may even have the option to reduce the fan speed in your BIOS. It's unlikely you'll need full fan speed anyway unless you're putting your CPU under a very heavy load or running it in a hot environment.

I had a pretty loud AMD rig which I made quiet just by going into the BIOS and reducing the fan speed as it was automatically set to 100%.

 

[gcwebbyuk]

It's not an issue of fan speed - I have that under control on the MB - my system at the moment with the H70 is silent most of the time (@4.8GHz) it's only when I really load it up it gets louder.

I am more interested in trying out some new cooling hardware - but will anything make that much of a difference - or will it just be a couple of c?