Is an aftermarket heatsink necessary if you're not overclocking the CPU?

Question is: If I'm not going to be overclocking the CPU (Namely AMD Phenom 965 BE), do I need an aftermarket heatsink? I could just use the stock AMD heatsink correct?

Note: This build will contain a GTX 460 1GB overclocked. Will it strain the CPU or something to that effect?

I figured I could save $60 on a V8 if I didn't need it at all. What do you guys think?

Thank you in advance.

Question is: If I'm not going to be overclocking the CPU (Namely AMD Phenom 965 BE), do I need an aftermarket heatsink? I could just use the stock AMD heatsink correct?

Note: This build will contain a GTX 460 1GB overclocked. Will it strain the CPU or something to that effect?

I figured I could save $60 on a V8 if I didn't need it at all. What do you guys think?

Thank you in advance.

Elian2530

If your not overclocking it and leaving the CPU at the same state at which you bought it then the heatsink they give you should be sufficient.

[QUOTE="Elian2530"]

Question is: If I'm not going to be overclocking the CPU (Namely AMD Phenom 965 BE), do I need an aftermarket heatsink? I could just use the stock AMD heatsink correct?

Note: This build will contain a GTX 460 1GB overclocked. Will it strain the CPU or something to that effect?

I figured I could save $60 on a V8 if I didn't need it at all. What do you guys think?

Thank you in advance.

C_Rule

If your not overclocking it and leaving the CPU at the same state at which you bought it then the heatsink they give you should be sufficient.

ASRCSR

My stock intel fan was fine, just a bit noisy if your cracked up the RPM's.

My stock intel fan was fine, just a bit noisy if your cracked up the RPM's.

clyde46

An aftermarket heatsink is never necessary. It just cools the CPU better than a stock heatsink, prolonging the life of the hardware. You could overclock your CPU without an aftermarket heatsink, although the temperatures would likely cause a lot of BSODs and drastically shorten the life of your CPU. I always recommend using an aftermarket heatsink with some Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste because the lower temperatures will make your clocks more efficient, extend the life of your hardware, and cause your computer to be more responsive with less blue screens of death due to high temperatures. The thermal paste is just as important as the heat sink and Arctic Silver 5 is the most bang for your buck out there. I've seen drops as high as 10-15 degrees C after simply switching thermal paste because the stock paste that comes with a stock heatsink is so inefficient.

In short, it would do you well to buy a decent aftermarket heatsink and Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste. If you don't want to spend a lot, even getting the thermal paste alone helps as it's around 5 dollars a tube which will last you 5 or 6 changes.

An aftermarket heatsink is never necessary. It just cools the CPU better than a stock heatsink, prolonging the life of the hardware. You could overclock your CPU without an aftermarket heatsink, although the temperatures would likely cause a lot of BSODs and drastically shorten the life of your CPU. I always recommend using an aftermarket heatsink with some Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste because the lower temperatures will make your clocks more efficient, extend the life of your hardware, and cause your computer to be more responsive with less blue screens of death due to high temperatures. The thermal paste is just as important as the heat sink and Arctic Silver 5 is the most bang for your buck out there. I've seen drops as high as 10-15 degrees C after simply switching thermal paste because the stock paste that comes with a stock heatsink is so inefficient.

In short, it would do you well to buy a decent aftermarket heatsink and Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste. If you don't want to spend a lot, even getting the thermal paste alone helps as it's around 5 dollars a tube which will last you 5 or 6 changes.

rakan959

I'd stay away from Artic Silver 5. Its conductive so your screwed if you get any on your componets. I'd go witih Artic Cooling MX3. I use that and its non-conductive.

I'd stay away from Artic Silver 5. Its conductive so your screwed if you get any on your componets. I'd go witih Artic Cooling MX3. I use that and its non-conductive.

clyde46

I'd stay away from Artic Silver 5. Its conductive so your screwed if you get any on your componets. I'd go witih Artic Cooling MX3. I use that and its non-conductive.

clyde46

[QUOTE="clyde46"]

I'd stay away from Artic Silver 5. Its conductive so your screwed if you get any on your componets. I'd go witih Artic Cooling MX3. I use that and its non-conductive.

KHAndAnime

If your not overclocking it and leaving the CPU at the same state at which you bought it then the heatsink they give you should be sufficient.

ASRCSR

OMG. Love your sig...

[QUOTE="clyde46"]

I'd stay away from Artic Silver 5. Its conductive so your screwed if you get any on your componets. I'd go witih Artic Cooling MX3. I use that and its non-conductive.

KHAndAnime

Arctic Silver 5 also takes far too long to burn in, why bother using it when MX-2/3 works straight away?metacritical

Oh, also, you disappoint me OP. The Phenom II 965 Black Edition is the most overclockable processor AMD has on the market right now, in the same league as the new i7s. You can easily get it to 3.8 ghz stable, and 4.0 with a small voltage increase. When you're talking about something like a 0.6 ghz on a processor that has a 3.4 ghz stock clock, you're getting a clock increase of something like 17%, which is significant. Something like overclocking a graphics card will only give you slight increases in FPS, but by overclocking the CPU you'll have a faster more responsive system as well as significantly higher FPS in games like Crysis where the engine heavily relies on CPU. The 965 is a very powerful chip and it's truely being wasted if it's not overclocked in the computer.

Question is: If I'm not going to be overclocking the CPU (Namely AMD Phenom 965 BE), do I need an aftermarket heatsink? I could just use the stock AMD heatsink correct?

Note: This build will contain a GTX 460 1GB overclocked. Will it strain the CPU or something to that effect?

I figured I could save $60 on a V8 if I didn't need it at all. What do you guys think?

Thank you in advance.

Elian2530

It depends on how much you want to overclock. If you plan on overclocking a lot then you should get the cooler. It doesn't hurt to get a new cooler if if its a slight overclock.