Well, as one would expect, almost immediately, I was displeased with the stock cooler on my Phenom 9950. I slapped it on basically long enough to ensure it worked and to let it run while I wrestled with the Zalman clip, and then again to compare temperatures and sound levels in a more formal sense

I thought it odd at first glance that they're using the same stock cooler design that they used on my old S939 4600+, a 110w (or possibly 89w, depending who you ask) CPU. Same four heatpipes, same clip, same 70mm fan "embedded" into the top in a frame that could be cut open and tied to a 92 instead.

Except, they aren't. It's actually an even chintzier design:

* The copper insert is smaller
* The fins are less tightly spaced (so you get fewer)
* The entire assembly may be about 1mm shorter
* The new fan seems to be rated for well below the 6-7000rpm the old one would spin up to when hot. (since it's a PWM fan, I'm not sure if it's thermally sensored like the old fan either).

Now, perhaps some of this is assuming better Cool & Quiet adoption-- so there's less need to keep the CPU cool at idle-- but still, it feels weak.

I know that they definitely do offer different sinks (the 65w 4200+ at work has an "no heatpipes, all aluminium" sink with a fan that barely spins up)

Does everyone else's Phenom sink look like this? Or did I get some "intended for a 9150e" sink by horrible accident? Everyone claims to have decent stock-cooler OC of these chips, but I can't imagine it considering the small size of the sink-- and how hot it runs even with a much bigger cooler.

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I only way I use a Stock cooler is when I replace the Stock cooling fan with a SUPER HIGH RPM Fan.
Zoooooooooooooooom!!!

There will probably (hopefully) be some secret advances in the design that aren't too obvious.

Maybe they're using a different kind of copper? IDK.

I'm blindly speculating.

All stock heatsinks suck. The last stock Intel C2D heatsink I got resembled a Zalman GPU heatsink. Needless to say it's never been removed from the packaging.

I'm shocked that any PC Apex member would even consider using a stock heatsink, whatever the circumstances! Get the watercooling out man, never mind a Zalman!

Quote: Originally Posted by Slaymate All stock heatsinks suck. The last stock Intel C2D heatsink I got resembled a Zalman GPU heatsink. Needless to say it's never been removed from the packaging.

I concur with Slay. Some stock ones are ok for a minor oc, but they suck. Water, aftermarket air, just the cost of cooling.

Well, actually, I was trying to compare and contrast the way one of the temperature sensors responded to a "downforce" cooler versus a "side blowing" cooler.

I would have used a CM GeminiII, but I discovered that the bolts are now irreperably stuck in the S754/939 position, so I can't mount it as I would desire to for AM2.