Hi all Planning on getting the i7 860, but not planning on overclocking it...... So is it worth replacing the stock cooler with somthing like a Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro or Coolermaster Hyper TX3? (In a CM Elite 335 / RC-600 case & Ati 5850) I'm interested in quietness and reliability Thanks.
i replaced mine with the arctic pro rev 2 and it sits at 36 idle 50 load (860 overclocked to 3ghz) which is pretty good temp! mind thats in a antec 1200 case...
To answer your question , Yes without doubt the stock needs to be replaced. Its just a matter of what you want and how far you want to go with it. The two coolers you linked are decent enough. They will show an improvement for sure. However they mainly gained there reputation on the previous core 2 quad series. Cant comment how good they are with the much hotter i7 range. Especially if your looking for high clocks. But they will be good for 3.6ghz i think its fair to say. I do agree with HybridX , the second release of the H50 with the 1156 bracket will be shipped in a few weeks. Its a bit dearer than most but for me a great new development to cooling. Especially if you want high clocks as this is tried and tested with the i7 series and is up with the best. McT
Replacing it with the Coolermaster you suggested is a good idea, here is a review. It is nice and cheap but also seems to be a very good cooler.
I would like to know why not one of you have taken note of the fact that he said that he doesn't plan on overclocking Is it really worth the extra expense of a new cooler for a system that will only be used at stock, i don't think so...
Hehe, I was about to mention that. You definitely won't need a new cooler if you won't overclock. They wouldn't give you a stock cooler than wasn't capable of handling stock speeds. That said though, I would recommend overclocking and getting an aftermarket cooler. It's free/cheap performance.
I dunno, If I was gonna spend £200+ on a CPU, I wouldn't mind buying a £14 cooler to keep it cooler and quieter than the stock cooler (even if not overclocking). Also, it lets you buy the OEM chip instead and save some money. Of course, it also gives you the headroom to try out some overclocking at some point in the future.
