Need advice on a fan

SomeOldBloke

I just bought an i7 2600 Sandy Bridge and didn't plan ahead so have to use the stock fan. It's noisy as hell and doesn't cool that well so can somebody advice me on an alternative for around $40.

Tkanks.

M.

Quizzical

Any heatsink with several heatpipes and a fan that blows air parallel to the motherboard would be a huge upgrade over the stock fan.  One fan might be a little better than another, but if you're not overclocking, then most of the options that you'd find on your budget will be good ones.  Without looking very hard or coming terribly near your budget:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103074

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118090

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181012

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233081

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103057

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233082

Any of those would probably be a huge upgrade over the stock fan.  You should probably have a closer look than I did before buying one, but I think any of them would be fine for you.

 

Edit:  One other thing you'll want that I didn't check for is variable fan speed, so that the fan can be quiet at idle, but only spins up faster when the processor is getting hotter.

SomeOldBloke

Thanks... I never know which are good makes and which are crappy.

Barbarbar

Seems that on every overclocking forum you go to, they want either the biggest Noctua for pure performance, or the Coolermaster 212 for best budget performance.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

I googled quickly for some reviews here too.

http://www.google.dk/search?q=heatsink+212&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:da:official&client=firefox-a#sclient=psy&hl=da&client=firefox-a&hs=jfQ&rls=org.mozilla:da%3Aofficial&source=hp&q=Coolermaster+212&aq=f&aqi=g1g-s1&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=5b4fd9c840c7b009

 

Edit: From the Anandtech review: "Those who want the very best in air cooling will not be completely satisfied with performance of the Cooler Master Hyper 212. However, those who want the best performance they can get for an investment of around $40 will have a smile on their face when they buy the Hyper 212. This Cooler Master represents excellent value for your cooling dollar and will deliver performance approaching the best we have tested, especially when mounted with two 120mm fans in a push-pull configuration.

Those who will never overclock but who want a cooler that can provide low processor temperatures for an extended CPU lifespan will be ecstatic with the Hyper 212. It matches, at both idle and load conditions, the best performance we have measured in cooler testing at AnandTech. Cooling performance at stock speeds is all but identical to stock results with the superb Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme."

P.S. People advise to look for some youtube installationvideos before starting out, might be a good idea.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Coolemaster+212&aq=f

It's very tall and might not be what you are looking for.

Barbarbar

I tried to come up with an alternative one. The one I got myself and was the best some years ago, bit I'm not sure it works with the Sandy Bridge so I deleted this post.