New Build, Cooling Issue

Hey Guys,
This is my 2nd build.. first real one.. (the other one was a piece of crap etc) My question about cooling.. my system idles at about 35C-37C and my CPU idles at 36C but it very quickly warms up to 60C or so during any gaming sessions (gears of war, and btw my ambient temp is around 75F so that's like what 25C or something?) and below is my current setup.. the biggest thing I can see that I can improve is my CPU cooler.. (I have what came with my processor etc) What kind should I get and how much? Any other suggestions for cooling?

CASE: Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz

MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R

VIDEO: EVGA 512-P3-N841-AR GeForce 8800GTS

RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000)

HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM

MEDIA: SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD

COOLING: Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120mm
Antec 120mm fan (included with case)
Manufactor's cooling for CPU

Also, what do you think of my build? Suggestions/Comments?

Welcome to the Forums.

There are quite a few that you could choose but the one I use and recommend is the AC Freezer 7 pro .

It is a really good cooler and cheap too.

Thanks for the welcome I've also received advice that I may not used thermal paste correctly.. any advice to that?

I've also been recommended coolers like:
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Heatsink

any advice on going that big? overkill?

TT Ultra 120 is another great cooler and isn't overkill, just need the room in your case for it.

As for spreading the paste there's not much too it...just put a tiny amount in the middle and when the heatsink is on it will spread-out. You don't want too much on there.

Yes Welcome to DEV
I would recomend from experience
Scythe Ninja Plus REV.B Heatpipe
Got mine on sale for $33

Now grant you I've lapped the bottom of the heatsink to get near perfect contact...and temps are super...(at least I think)...And it's super Quiet.
At the time of this picture it was 68*/20* cel outside.
I usually spread the paste with my finger to make sure it covers the whole bottom.

Even when gaming for a couple of hours it never went over 41* cel

Alright thanks. I don't know.. I'm just a little cautious about installing these on my CPU.. I don't know why.. just too easy to screw something up.

you are right about easy to screw things up, especially with teh thermalright ultra 120 extreme edition - which, mind you, i own. i have mine installed on a Q6600.

To be fair, it does keep my cpu cool, with my antec tri-cool set on minimum, which means it is not noisy at all. downside is that it is a bit big and heavy, and you do need to install a cpu backplate. you must also screw in four screws into the backplate using a screwdriver - which, if you slip, means you poke a hole through your motherboard and kill it - not exactly ideal.

I will say though that if you are careful, the results are amazing. but imo, it IS a bit overkill, unless you plan on overclocking alot.

Note that it also doesnt come with a fan. but it is, on the up side, the best air cooling solution you can buy on earth ATM.

To be honnest, i'd probably suggest the coolermaster TX2. Its a good cooling solution which isnt too expensive and should be easy to set up. it is also not too heavy and comes with a fan, eliminating the expense on another fan, as you would have to for the U-120 extreme.

Coolermaster TX2

In addition, you "only" have a E8400 which is 45 nm and dual core, unlike me who has a 65nm quad core. it means thermal dissipation is far less for your dual core. basically unless you want to overclock to 4 ghz, the thermalright ultra 120 extreme is not necessary - even not recomended because of the risks i mentioned above. This also does not include the price - which is usually about 50$ - about twice as much as for other coolers. bare in mind that 50$ does not include the fan, which almost all other coolers do.

That cooler master tx2 is awesome i think its what im going to get. The plastic case on it is interesting. First one i have seen that has something like that. Does that provide better cooling on the fins than full airflow?

the plastic case's back is to redirect the air towards the motherboard to cool the fets.

The case of the plastic does actually force the air to pass through the fins instead of potentially escaping through the sides. When i blocked teh sides on my thermalright ultra 120, i did actually reduce CPU temperatures by 1-3 degrees celcius, so it probably does help a bit.

I myself am using a Gigabyte g power heatsink and it works great. On the medium fan setting Im getting about 42"c on a e6600 a@ 3.4ghz and if i crank it to max I get about 36"c

If you need a better cooler then I suggest the successor the gpower 2 as according to this review it beats out the thermaltake 120

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/co...cooler-review/4

I bought a Thermaltake V1 Copper 120mm CPU cooler. Heard nothing but great news about it. Even the tech at a local CPU shop recommended it over the 9700 Cooler by Zalman. He said it has 89 CFM's at max and only 26Db at full load. So im assuming its good.

ATM im usin the intel stock on my q6600 and works fine, however the arctic cooling freezer 7 pro is what i want and at £15-£20 it's dirt cheap for it's cooling perfomance

ive heard mention of that, but since my mobo is toast, gotta go back to step 1 on rebuild and fix problems.

that cooler projectb15 said is more expensive than the AC freezer 7 pro, and any it shop will recommend you the most expensive for the buisness, which is why you shouldnt go to shops and ask, always use DevHardware Forums.

to projectb15
what are you having problems with? You might not have to rebuild the pc.

Now I'm trying to remember how many ive built. hmmmmmmm. 1.....2........3.......4.......5 and the list continues