procupine14

Basically here's the deal, from my recent overclocking ventures I've definitely gotten my moneys worth out of this processor with some overclocking and tweaking
There just remains one key problem i need better processor cooling. Right now at idle with my AMD 3800+ X2 processor oced to 2.6 Ghz im at approximately 46C and at load im sitting at close to 60C. Is this too high? Somtimes i get temperature jumps to 62C at peak load. I know this is pretty high but is it too high?
I'm not really sure what the peak temp is on this processor so i need some feedback. In any case if this is too high could i get some possible suggestions for a different heatsink or perhaps even some components and what i need for a water cooling system. Keep in mind that im not made of money so something under perhaps $250 for a water cooling system would tickle me to death. I believe that the last time i looked into water cooling it was a pretty expensive venture

In any case any help would be great.... oh and right now i have an AC freezer pro 64 heatsink which doesn't seem to do a very good job. It has been lapped right before i started to OC. However, performance wise it really can't take it in my opinion. The lapping did help and dropped my temps approx 8C at idle before the overclocking.

Thanks guys any help would be appreciated.

d-rad

you can get a decent water cooling kit for ur cpu for under 250 no problem. however the cooling kits that are under 250 are usually for the amature overclockers that are not going to extreme, but any watercooling kit will help in ur case. I got mine from www.tigerdirect.com but also try www.frozencpu.com or www.xoxide.com. I got mine from thermaltake for around 150 and since then i was able to add cooling blocks for both chipsets and an additional radiator which has helped out alot. the add ons for the kits are very cheap so u can turn a bottom line kit in to a pretty good highend one. however the more things u cool the better cooling you will need so i deffinitly recommend another radiator.

ChaosMinionX

My vote for aircooling OCing would be the Enzotech Ultra-X, Tuniq Tower 120, Thermalright Ultra120 or the 120Xtreme. Any of those are top of the line air coolers all under 70$, anyone of those will help you OCing alot.

If you have a Mobo tray chances are the tower coolers (tuniq, ultra120, ultra120x) will not fit in your case as they are too tall. I love my Enzotech UltraX well worth the money and is alot shorter than the aforementioned, it also cools off the components around the socket.

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Mousey

or you can do what i do, and just use a spare case fan at the back
orrrrr get even more efficient cooling, also known as - intel ;p

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procupine14

gasp* intel?
yeah see i would but that would cost me a little more than 250 dollars to make that big switch so thanks for the "go intel" idea but that will have to wait for when i acctually am looking to upgrade
thanks for the input i think i might be following d-rad's post most likely and go for the liquid cooling
however, seeing as i replace components often i will most likely buy a pretty flexible cpu only water system just for that purpose
i don't want to go to the extra work at the moment of going full water quite yet
maybe someday when i am acctually satisfied with my system longer than say 2 months
again thanks for the input

H3X4D3C1M4L

Zalman 7700Cu. That thing keeps a Core 2 Duo E6300 clocked to 2.8GHz under 50C on full load at stock volts

60 is a tad high for A64's but I think that Zalman cooler might be just what you need Quiet and works a charm.

ChaosMinionX

Zalman hasnt been quite the performer compared to Thermalright, Enzotech, and Sunbeam....

They are all leaps and bounds ahead of Zalman in terms of nexgen aircoolers, but I suppose if you dont wanna shell out 50-100$ for an aircooler like the 3 companies provide, there are alternatives with just not as good cooling but good enough for most people that arent looking to go crazy with OCing...

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GutterPunk

I <3 my tuniq tower 120 for $45. It has my e6600 at 45C load, right now I am clocked at 3.3 ghz. It is perfect imo!

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procupine14

ok so here is an off the wall question
thoughts on the efficiency of these thermo electric coolers
seeing as im a biochem major i know the science behind the peltier cooler
but are they really worth their salt?
just curious

H3X4D3C1M4L

No.

Not if you don't like dealing with problems constantly or condensation or crap like that

Judas

i really liked my XP-90 and REALLY liked my XP-90c heatsinks..... clean, heatpipped, and did a fantastic job of keeping my x2 4400+ @ 2.75ghz & 1.6v at 40-45*C under full load.

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procupine14

ah
i see

ChaosMinionX

Said the blind man to his deaf dog......

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procupine14

so i got the enzotech ultra X and with a little rearranging i got it in my case
though now i'm getting a dual channel 2GB kit of RAM because the heatsink heat tubes are so big that they push on one of my four RAM sticks

i dont want to break anything

Judas

erg... that isn't good

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procupine14

precisely why i'm getting a dual channel kit

H3X4D3C1M4L

Whatever floats your boat. Measuring beforehand may have helped

But seriously... new RAM is never a bad thing.

procupine14

well see i was going to upgrade to DDR2 800 eventually so might as well now

and for the record i did measure... however when i got the heatsink the heat tubes stuck out 8mm farther than in the description...therefore the only way it could face was towards my RAM slots due to the heatpipes on my motherboard

just so i can clear my name on being a total dumbass

but on a serious note...those heat tubes are a lot bigger than any other heatsink i have ever owned
but hey, they do the job and therefore i dont mind

H3X4D3C1M4L

No one's calling you a dumbass. That crap happens all the time... most of us just don't admit to it

Do as I say, not as I do kind of thing haha

procupine14

lol nice...well i admit to it fully. I think I'm just going to pass the blame on to ASUS for putting those slots too close to the processor socket.

procupine14

Oh, and by the way...there is a slight problem with the EnzoTech UltraX mounting kit for the socket AM2. The Retention bracket that attaches to the motherboard has only the holes for the socket 939 and not the four holes (two on each side) for the AM2 boards. Luckily, I've already changed out my factory retention bracket for something a little more heavy duty. However, if you are planning to purchase this HS for a socket AM2 board make sure that you have a strong factory retention bracket or buy a new one. Just know that the one that comes with your kit WILL not work. That is, unless they have changed the bracketing on a newer version. Just an FYI