I've been getting into using Blender a lot, and I've been doing some hardware-intensive renders recently. I use CPU rendering, since it works consistently well, and has not failed me yet (knock on wood!). The only problem I've encountered is my CPU is getting pretty hot. I have an AMD FX-4350 overclocked to 4.7 GHz or so (Check my profile for full system specs). I have a case fan on the side of my case blowing air directly at it, along with the crappy stock AMD cooler. It does a decent job at cooling, and I have the BIOS Q-fan control set to turbo, but when all four cores are under full load for extended periods of time the CPU goes up to 60-65 degrees C. This extreme heat, I've noticed, starts slowing the render and throttling my whole system. Sure, it could be a whole lot hotter, but still, I'd like to look at some cheap but effective cooling solutions.
I do have Speedfan installed, and it says that the CPU fan is spinning at over 6000 RPM when my CPU gets that hot, and even that doesn't help to cool it enough.
So, that all being said, any ideas about aftermarket coolers? I do have Arctic Silver 5 Thermal paste applied, and I have a bunch left over for another few CPU's.
You really shouldn't be overclocking with the stock cooler. If you want a good cheap one I recommend the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo. I use Arctic Silver 5. Have no problems. I'm pretty sure the Hyper 212 Evo comes with some thermal paste. Have never used Cooler Master's Thermal Paste though but it should work.
There are a few good solutions it depends on how much you would like to spend, I like to use closed loop water cooling on my systems as I find them to be quieter and easier to install. My guess is nearly any aftermarket cooler will be a large improvement over the stock AMD one. In the 40$ USD range both Cooler Master and scythe have some awesome entries: being the Scythe SCMG 4000 which is also very quite, and the Cooler Master Hyper 212.
If you have the space and would like something even better you could get a smaller AIO closed loop system they start around the 50$ USD range A Corsair H55 would be a good unit, There are others, but if you upgrade later try to get a astec based system so you can use it with a Nzxt G10 for a graphics card in the future.
Okay, thanks for the recommendations. I'm not sure if I have enough room in my case for water cooling, so that's why I'm sticking with air for now. I think I'm gonna have a look at some of the Cooler Master units some of the other users were talking about.
I like that one you linked me to, I'll add that to my list of possible coolers. Thanks a bunch!
I do have about 3 more tubes of Arctic Silver 5, so I'll end up using that.
Back when I had my Intel Pentium E5200 @2.5GHz dual core, I had the stock cooler for as long as I had the CPU, and I overclocked that baby up to 3.2GHz with no problems with the stock cooler. Granted the cooler was pretty big, and it was only dual core, but still that thing was a beast. Stuck right around 50 degrees C maximum when under full load.
Another for the 212 evo. (make sure it's the evo, if I recall) Though i've replaced the fan on mine(8350, not overclocked).(120mm) with 2 push/pull AeroCool DS fans). Thinking about switching back to just that fan and re-checking my temps in prime 95, or mixing and matching for best cooling/noise solution(It comes with mounts for two fans, but just the one pwm fan)...possibly engineering a shroud.
As far as I gather from reading around, one fan in pull is about the best because it will pull from the sides of the cooler as well as the front, and then exhaust it all. Theory stands up to benchmarks if I recall. I do like to tinker though..
It's tall, but it's fairly narrow. With a fan on the front, it just barely clears my high profile memory(Gskill ripjaws)(touches slightly if I have the fan lowered on the heatsink). That would be one of the obvious things that is easy to forget about, so be sure to check for compatibility with your other components.
Also has direct copper heatpipe contact on the bottom, instead of running through an aluminum block and then touching the cpu, or otherwise convoluted schemes.
It does have a tendency to ....glide...even when tightened down and paste is wet, because of the arcitecture of the mounting hardware. That's the one design flaw I think really stands out, so be wary of that.
I'll have a look. I have decently low profile RAM, but it is pretttty close to even the stock cooler, so I'll have to take some measurements. Thanks for the suggestion, and I'll be sure to keep an eye on it "gliding" as you said if I do get it.