What Type of Cooling System

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With Age of Conan coming out soon I realized that I was in need of a new computer because I wanted to be able to run this game on max settings while still getting good fps. This is the computer that I am going to order Gamer Ultra 7000 Elite but have questions about the cooling system.

With these upgrades:
CPU: AMD Athlonâ„¢ X2 4800+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
RAM: 3GB (3x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Memory
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express

With a machine like this what would you recommend I upgrade the cooling system to? I was thinking that a liquid cooling system would be the best but would a fan do the trick for me? The CoolMaster Liquid CPU cooling system seemed like the best value to me but I'm pretty new to high end computers so that choice would be purely based on little to no knowledge of how much heat this computer will produce while running the games I play.

Not sure if this changes anything but I will mostly be playing Age of Conan and Starcraft 2 with the possibility of some FPS game in the mix...maybe Battlefield 3.

 

[eyeCpc]

If you are not planning on any heavy ocing but simply gaming a high end gaming card seeing a good vpu cooler and something like the Zalman CNPS9700 for an AM2 board with a faster 6000+ or 6400+ X2 3+ghz cpu or 9500 for a 939 board will work quite well.

The newer 6000+ X2 runs stock at 3ghz while the 6400+ X2 runs at 3.2ghz there. Which version of Windows will you be running XP or Vista? The investment in liquid cooling is generally made by those who plan on ocing on a regular basis with water coolers also available for video cards as well as cpus. For those often many go for a full tower when cramped with a mid tower.

 

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I will be running vista and do not see any overclocking in my future at all if that helps. And I'm only going to be running the X2 4800+

 

[aspire]

You'd be better off building the pc yourself, and don't bother with the cooler master water cooling, its garbage and will wind up being more trouble than its worth.

 

[eyeCpc]

That sounds like a very reasonable assumption. Some water cooling setups are nothing but headaches seeing leaks and other problems anyways.

For a stock build the slightly higher priced Zalman coolers do perform well once the thermal paste sees a good application. Many favor MX2 over Artic Silver 5 at this point.

The aluminum finned 9700 is in less regard then the copper finned blue led Zalman cooler as one thing to note. Since newegg only lists their price when added to the shopping cart a look at xoxide.com shows the average seen for one at Zalman CNPS9700 LED CPU Cooler

A look in the shopping cart shows $53.99 at newegg being the better deal since it sees a $26 rebate. Newegg.com - ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

 

[aspire]

For the price of the 9700 though you might be better off going for a Thermalright Ultra Extreme with a nice quiet Scythe S-Flex fan.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

You could also get the Xigmatek Rifle. It is nearly as good as the Thermalright Ultra Extreme but is allot cheaper.

Newegg.com - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

 

[eyeCpc]

If the cpu was a Core 2 Duo, Extreme, Q series Artic Cooling offers the Freezer 7 Pro as a good lower cost alternative and better then the ThermalTake lineup by far. Unfortunately the only model found for AM2 application by AC was a sad sight to look at!

Zalmans do a great job and one of the most reliable while the prices seen on them are a bit steep even at this time! Once you get one on good you are generally set to go while most will look for a cooler half the price just to get something within the budget on that will work.

(C'mon newegg and xoxide start dropping those prices!)