Is amd phenom ii x2 555 be's included cooling system adequate???

anzaksonn · 09-02-2010, 08:13 PM

Hello dear Fellow-Members!
I'm preparing to upgrade my PC & have obtained
a Gigabyte GA - 890 GPA - UD3H motherboardand AMD PHENOM IIX2 555 B.E. CPU.Initially I'll be using 2 Gb DD3 memory and 160 Gb HDD. The case is a mid-tower by NZXT called HUSH.
My question is about the CPU. The cooling system included with the CPU seems so very small. It's even smaller than my earlier AMD ATHLON 64 4000 - the AMD Phenom is: 70X70mm fan & heatsink + 65mm height total. What comments or experiences do any of you have with this CPU? The case has 3 120mm fans. Should I install a bigger cooling system from the outset or is it adequate as it is??? I play games seldom but I do a lot of editing of digital images and video. Presently, my OS is UBUNTU 10.04 and I'll continue with that. It's a fantastic OS!!! My GPU is Ge Force 7300 LE. Any suggestions about a newer GPU would be most welcome.
I'll be extremely thankful for any and all inputs. Thanking you for your time and efforts! Have a great day!!!

...anwar...

gripip · 09-03-2010, 01:18 AM

it all depend on what extent ur going to overclock ,cause this is BE and ud probability looking forward to OC it(although its already 3.2 ghz), i already have 1 oc at 3.5 gz without any heating issues. im not very experienced at this so i dont know if this moBo can attempt to unlock the cores or not,if it can then its good , u can have 3 or 4 cores at the cost of 2. and dont worry about cooling ,unless u want to highly overclock it.

jiml8 · 09-03-2010, 02:40 AM

AMD insists that you use their cooler if you want to maintain your warranty on your processor. Depending on how you look at it, that could be the end of the discussion.

That said, the stock cooler will keep the CPU within its temperature limits - presuming, of course, that your case is adequately ventilated. However, your processor will run a lot hotter than it would run with many aftermarket coolers AND it will be noisy because that little fan will be screaming.

I am running a Phenom-II 955 x4 overclocked to 3.415 GHz (not heavy overclocking, just a couple hundred MHz). My computer is set in an environment where the ambient temperature is usually around 28 C, and my processor idles at about 39C and runs full speed at 49-50C. I am using an Evercool Transformer 4 heatsink.

This heatsink is very large and has 2 120mm fans in a push-pull configuration. The fans spin at 1000 RPM and are not adjustable, but are very quiet. The case is an Antec P-182 with a number of other fans in it. I am quite pleased with the thermal performance of this system, and it isn't too loud. After summer, when it is cooler here, I'll turn down the fans and the system will be virtually silent.

The Transformer 4 heat sink has received mediocre reviews relative to some other heat sinks that are available, but this appears to be partly due to the fact that the fans run slow and can't be adjusted faster (hence in heavy overclocking, you can't move more air past the fins) and because the design of the heat pipes on the heat sink don't fully engage the heat spreader on the intel chips that are usually used in testing. However, the heat pipes do fully engage the somewhat larger heat spreader on the AMD chips. Regardless of how it is rated, the Transformer 4 vastly outperforms the stock heat sink and is far, far quieter. Personally, I find a temperature delta of +22 C over ambient at full processor load to be quite adequate performance.

However, it is also huge. After mounting it in my case, I used a wire tie to hang the end of the heat sink from a hanger in the top of the case so that I could take the torque off of the motherboard.

jay73 · 09-04-2010, 09:04 AM

One of my systems has the 550BE (3.1Ghz). The stock cooler is perfectly adequate, though somewhat louder than an aftermarket unit.

Maybe you should consider the Phenom 635. Multimedia editing tends to benefit more from extra cores rather than extra speed, especially if you use linux. The 635 is 400Mhz slower but you'll get four cores instead of two. In most tasks, I do not notice much difference between my 550 (3.1Ghz) and 955 (3.2Ghz) but the latter is a lot faster when I am editing videos or photos.

jay73 · 09-04-2010, 09:07 AM

double post :-<

anzaksonn · 09-05-2010, 01:51 AM

Thank you guys for your quick responses!
gripip:I don't plan to overclock too hard and even then it won't be that often. I didn't know - because I never checked it out - that 3 and 4 cores arent much more expensive than 2 cores. Actually, I got these as birthday present so I didnt think in terms of 3 or 4 cores. Now, after your and jay73's suggestions, I'll go see if I can change and pay the additional price myself. Thank you very much for taking the time and giving me your input. Take care and have a great day!!!

jiml8: Yes, jim, the noise is the main concern and therefore wanted to know from others' experiences. I would have loved to check out the Transformer 4 but in this country (Bangladesh) we dont get all the brands. Nexus, Cooler Master, Thermaltake, Corsair are the more common ones in the market. I think I'm opting for a better cooling system than the one included by AMD. Theres another computer in the room that my brother uses. If both are noisy, it could become very irritating. Thank you so very much for your suggestions and I learned some more reading about your solutions! Take care and have a great day!

jay73Your suggestions make a great deal of sense for my situation. If the 3 or 4 cores speed up my work with photo and video, I would appreciate that a whole lot. I'll go try to change my Phenom and get the one you suggest. Thank you so very much for your time and your suggestions. take care and have a great day!!!