Bulldozer Stock heatsink

[pikaporeon]

I was reading up on FrostyTech that most old AM2/AM3 heatsinks were actually pretty good - not outstanding, but far better than some aftermarket options. I just ordered an FX-6100 and was curious if anyone knew the quality of the cooler with that. I went over my budget elsewhere, and had to strike the cooler from my budget - I was just curious if it's at the very least a decent cooler that I can at least mildly OC out of.


And lets not make this about controversies over whether I should have selected this processor.

[just brew it!]

FWIW there are some pretty nice aftermarket options that don't cost an arm and a leg. The Coolermaster Hyper series of heatpipe tower coolers, for example.

[FuturePastNow]

Reportedly, the FX processors (at least the 125W ones) come with the same heatsink as the previous Phenom processors. It is reviewed here: http://www.silentpcreview.com/amd-phenom-coolers

The FX-6100 has a 95W TDP, though, so it may get a cheaper cooler.

I used the stock heatsink with my Phenom II for a while before buying a Hyper 212+. Cooling-wise, there isn't a huge difference (though I do not overclock), but the stock cooler is not quiet. It is whiny at low RPMs and gets loud when hot.

[just brew it!]

I used the stock heatsink with my Phenom II for a while before buying a Hyper 212+. Cooling-wise, there isn't a huge difference (though I do not overclock), but the stock cooler is not quiet. It is whiny at low RPMs and gets loud when hot.

I actually had more of a difference than you did; under full load (F@H) my Phenom II was running in the mid-50s. Swapping the stock HSF for one of the Coolermaster Hyper coolers (the 92mm one, not the 212+) dropped my core temps by about 10 degrees C. Don't know whether it was the same stock HSF you had; they've apparently bundled at least two different ones (that I'm aware of).

It's really more of a noise issue; while mid-50s isn't great, it isn't going to damage the CPU either.

(This is all assuming you're not planning to OC, of course...)

[FuturePastNow]

I used the stock heatsink with my Phenom II for a while before buying a Hyper 212+. Cooling-wise, there isn't a huge difference (though I do not overclock), but the stock cooler is not quiet. It is whiny at low RPMs and gets loud when hot.

I actually had more of a difference than you did; under full load (F@H) my Phenom II was running in the mid-50s. Swapping the stock HSF for one of the Coolermaster Hyper coolers (the 92mm one, not the 212+) dropped my core temps by about 10 degrees C. Don't know whether it was the same stock HSF you had; they've apparently bundled at least two different ones (that I'm aware of).

It's really more of a noise issue; while mid-50s isn't great, it isn't going to damage the CPU either.

(This is all assuming you're not planning to OC, of course...)

I had the older, slightly better AM2+ cooler, and my load temp on it was right around 50C (higher when I had not blown the dust out of it). It's about 42-43C with the 212+. Maybe as much as 10 degrees difference depending, but I just didn't consider that significant since, as you say, a temperature in the 50s won't hurt a processor.

The noise difference is what's really significant, but to be honest, the quieter CPU fan didn't really help until I got a quieter graphics card, too.

[just brew it!]

The noise difference is what's really significant, but to be honest, the quieter CPU fan didn't really help until I got a quieter graphics card, too.

Loud graphics card fans are a pet peeve. I buy passive whenever possible.

[pikaporeon]

my 4890 is pretty quiet, though I'm switching cases so who knows how different the noise level will be in general.

I decided I'd order a Coolermaster 212+, seems to have pretty decent reviews and cost very little. I'll post what I can do with the dozer when it arrives.

[flip-mode]

Now that your issue is solved, can we talk about why you selected that processor? Did you already have a compatible motherboard or something? The 6100 is a hexa-core so it would surely get spanked by the X6 1100T (which is essentially equivalent to the Buldozer 8120).

[sircharles32]

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1743/7/

One last piece of info that might help. The above link tests the 125W air cooler that ships with the processors, so may shed some light.
They look at efficiency and noise (you'll have to read the actual results to see what they say about noise, but for temps, just look at the graphs).

Hope that helps.

[pikaporeon]

Now that your issue is solved, can we talk about why you selected that processor? Did you already have a compatible motherboard or something? The 6100 is a hexa-core so it would surely get spanked by the X6 1100T (which is essentially equivalent to the Buldozer 8120).

I occasionally test server work on my home machine and I think Bulldozer will perform marginally better for the heavily multithreaded work

Beyond that I wanted to avoid intel for ideological reasons, and I have a lot of fun getting high overclocks and due to the design in Dozer I think I can hit a higher clock rate with this (despite not actually demonstrating the same performance as a lower clocked competitor, just hitting and sustaining the high number is part of the thrill / enjoyment for me and is worth the difference - I'd get more actual satisfaction from this chip. Otherwise I just would have stuck with my Q9300)

[flip-mode]

That's all good Nothing wrong with buying the chip if you've got your reasons.

I don't see the need to replace my X4 955 and DDR2 for some time yet. Trinity will be out before then for sure, and probably Haswell too. And I'm even looking to downgrade my video card - I'll probably move from the 5770 I've got now to some lower powered professional card like the Firepro V4800 or an Nvidia equivalent or maybe even just move to the integrated graphics if I move to Trinity or whatever CPU comes next.

[pikaporeon]

I swapped out my old system because my case had developed a bunch of problems (front usb ports broken, fan broken and a huge pain to replace) and I decided to instead of just buying a new case, turn my old system into either a media/stepmania rig or sell it to one of my friends who's been computerless for some time