Hi, I want to replace my stock intel hsf. I took it off stupidly to clean it as it was caked in dust and was geting 65 celsius at idle! forgot about thermal paste issues, now need to get some more paste and might as well get a new hsf that might actually be straightforward to install!

My questions are: whats a good heatsink&fan combo for the core 2 with an eye to mild overclocking (6300 to be taken to 6400 speed)? can anyone recommend a coolermaster? zalman? arctic cooling example? any that are a bit dissappointing that i should avoid??

2nd question, i know its not just me having trouble getting the standard intel heatsink to fit, but will aftermarket coolers still be a b@tch to fit?? do they all have that clicking pin system going on? do other manufacturers make better clicking pins???? i dont want to snap my shiny asus p5b

I know this is a bit off topic, but do i need to use special cloths to remove theold thermal paste?? and how much new stuff should i put on this time??

Thanks

zalmans 9700, I have one I'm not using now. just upgraded to a thermoelectric cooler. Zalmans are probably the best fan and heatsink combos you can get

Zalmans are good but ...wow...price difference! all that copper would look nice in the case, but the price is a bit ouch. Any others?? theres alot around, wondered if anybody had any success with slightly cheaper stuff??

Do artic cooling have anything decent?? the one on my p4 was pretty good,

cheers

my little brother runs this one with his rig. Hasnt had a problem yet, and his 6600 is overclocked to 3.2

If you need something cheaper then you could always look for a cheaper model, same make. My brother has used just about all of them, he's a fanboy, he's not had a problem with any of them before

You cannot do this without a motherboard manual and instructions.This is a High Tech operation.
Sometimes you have to pay for your pc changes like this.

huh? confused now

Edited by Moderator: Removed quote. There`s no need to quote the post directly above your own, unless you`re only replying to a specific section, in which case you would only quote that section.

What was that post all about?? stop smoking cr@ck everyone

Anything other than the stock cooler is going to be better. And remember just about everything (with an exception to a few) all require you to install a back plate that secures the HSF via screws instead of the push pins and that is the way to go.

So be prepared to remove your motherboard.

Something cheaper probably would be the Zalman 7700, it doesn't perform as good as the 9700, but its pretty good bang for buck.

And should fit most boards, even most mATX.