Heat Sinks

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Has anyone tried an aftermarket heatsink? Do they really work that much better than the stock?
Right now I have my mb regulating the heatsink fan speed.
It's ultra quiet when I'm not doing anything intensive, but when I frag the heatsink fan and gpu fan sound like prop airplanes taking off!!!

Does anyone have this?
http://usa.asus.com/products/pccomponents/cooler/gaming/starice/star-ice_l.jpg

Is it easy to install and does it fit comfortably inside a regular ATX case?

[LA_MERC_LaTech]

That looks like the Zalman fan that I saw at QuakeCon (I know it says ASUS)...that thing is FREAKIN HUGE!!!! I mean, we're talking 6 inches tall or something and 4 inches in diameter. That's essentially a heatpipe and a fan, but should work well on a good AMD chip.

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=35-103-142&DEPA=0
That's the heatsink/fan I use. It's loud (sorta), but cools just fine. I have like 8 fans in my case anyway, so the added noise was not enough to really notice unless I had the case off.

As far as working better than stock...yes. Much better, if you get the right one.

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I have a Prescott p4 3.4, I know they are noted to run hot, on the first bootup the BIOS said it was running at 68C, lol.
Have you seen a substantial temp drop? I don't know if it's worth the money if it only drops the temp a few degrees.
I also heard that using Arctic Silver instead of the stock compound is much better at disapating the heat.

[LA_MERC_LaTech]

Arctic silver is the way to go for a PresHot. Scrape off (with a razor blade) the heat paste that's there and clean it (the heatsink) with rubbing alcohol and a cotton cloth. Are you going to notice a substantial drop in temps? Probably not. PresHots just run hot. Also, the above heatsink was for an AMD...just FYI.

[LA_MERC_M@lACHi]

If you some money to spend, these Zalman CPU heatsinks are awesome.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-118-113&depa=1
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-118-114&depa=1
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-118-109&depa=1
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-118-112&depa=1