ARCTIC Freezer A30 Extreme CPU Cooler - AMD, 320W Ultimate Cooling Power, Direct-Touch

Pros: It's big, but I knew that from the details page. Aluminium fins connected to copper heat pipes. Works like a gem. Even better: You can replace the fan, and put in something else. Screw-less fan design, making whatever you put in there silent. Mounting options are easy to understand.

Cons: *Laughs at the fact that this is a required field*

Other Thoughts: Treat it well and it will treat you well. This went on top of my AMD FX-8320 and, on the first bootup, gave a temp of 5 degrees Celsius! Now its at least 12 degree Celsius idle and @ 4.0 GHz Prim95 stresses it to 47/43 with the new fan I installed.

Gets a little cozy with my RAM. Those with low clearance are go with this guy (although install it before you install this. You wont be seeing that first stick for a long time!)

My new fan is the Corsair High Performance SP120 for those who are curious.

Pros: Thermal Paste supplied
Huge cooler
Multiple directions for orienting the fan
Direct touch to CPU for cooling
Quiet fan

Cons: HUGE!!! may not fit in some mid towers cases at all
also depending on mob orientation and configuration may obscure ram slots or power connectors.
4 heat pipes are not machined flat and smooth allowing space in between, not too big of a deal considering the large heatsink and heat dissipation however heat spreading is not even

Other Thoughts: For my six core vishera this did the trick it was quiet in comparison to stock cooler, and because my case inverts any atx mobos it did not cause me to lose any ram slots. I have a seriously huge larger than full tower atx case, made entirely of steel that coupled with all the heatsinks and fan keep my rig exceptionally cool idles aroun 30 degrees C.

Pros: Quiet!
Good performance. (Read other thoughts.)
Quick install.
Sturdy and well-built.
Versatile: can mount four directions; interchangeable fan.
Comes with 0.5g tube of MX-4.

Cons: One-fan mount design. (Being able to add an addition fan for a push-pull configuration would be nice.)
Fan mount shroud will probably eat up one RAM slot.
Uses original AMD CPU motherboard backplate. (This might bother some.)
Still uncertain if the price cost is truly worth it.

Other Thoughts: This cooler and I have been on quite the odyssey together. I got sick of the stock cooler on my FX-4170 winding up to 6000 RPM all the time, especially when trying to relax and play some games, so I decided to get an aftermarket cooler. Also, I thought I might try to tinker with overclocking, but I am not an enthusiast, just a tinkerer. When Newegg had this unit on sale for $30, I snatched it up for its four Continous Direct Touch 8mm heatpipes and silent operation.

After I received the cooler, a series of tragic events happened that caused me to learn a lot more about proper case cooling. First, my case is old and is bad for temperatures. It has one 80mm intake on the side, and a single 120mm exhaust/outtake, and both of these fans malfunctioned or stopped working shortly after installing my new cooler. Great. I also discovered how my office, which is small and prone to being hot, really affects my temperatures. Also, I apparently sucked at applying thermal grease. Now I am finally on the right track.

Long story short, I have some hard numbers for you guys to look at. These were obtained with Prime95, and my ASUS motherboard's AI Suite II temperature sensors - the same sensors that SpeedFan and other similar programs use.

Ambient temperature: a steady 80 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 27 degrees Celsius.)

Idle CPU temps were 36 degrees Celsius.
Load temps were 61 degrees Celsius.

Delta (Temperature - Ambient Temperature) Temperature:
9 degrees Celsius
34 degrees Celsius

Moderate Overclock (10%/4.6 gigahertz) temperatures:
Idle 38 degrees Celsius (Delta: 11)
Load 73 degrees Celsius (Delta: 46)

My temperatures are high, due to outside factors, but the Delta temps I am getting are certainly respectable. Go ahead and compare them to some other reviews online.

Bottom line: this cooler gets the job done, quietly, and gives you at least a little bit of headroom to play with. As a stand-alone product, it's great in its form and purpose. I have two big gripes about it. First, the fan shroud. Most people will install this unit to blow air out the back of the case, meaning the fan shroud will cover a RAM slot. There is 36mm of clearance between the bottom of the unit, and the lowest fin. The shroud subtracts from that. I can use all four slots of my RAM because I have RAM without heat-spreaders; others probably won't be so lucky. (Also, why only a one fan design???) Secondly, I am not sure if I would have paid the full $50 the unit is supposedly worth. On the flip side to that thought, there is some serious diminishing returns in cost when it comes to cooling ability and premium air cooling. Regardless, I now have a good product that I am happy to have.

One last thing I do wonder about: the included fan is Arctic Coolings F12 PWM. It's a good fan, but it's static pressure is unknown. I wonder if a guaranteed high static pressure fan would deliver better performance?

Pros: Good heatsink
Good thermal paste, just enough.
No problem with mount.

Cons: Fan didn't do enough, watched temps raise slowly raise in prime until shutdown.

Other Thoughts: And then!
Installed a 2200 rpm 120 directly above it.
Now my 8350 stops climbing @ 43c in prime.

The heatsink is win if you use a better fan.

Pros: Direct Touch Heat Pipes Are sure to keep your chip cool, The cfm of stock fan supplies adequate amount of air to keep the heat sink cool also, I am using it with a am3 fx4100 and the temp has decreased noticeably by about 5-10 degrees C.

Cons: The Stock Fan Could Have more RPM's it only spins at about 1300-1600. The brackets that are included have issues with the rivet's that hold the screws in place..I had to change too the second bracket that came along with the order.

Other Thoughts: I would try to shop for a better one at this price range, It would be not so much of a hassle to find a cooler that has less problems.

Pros: My computer is running all 4 cores on an FX-4110 amd processor. the hottest ive ever seen it ger is 19.6 °C thats 67.28 °F and running on idle its 4.9 °C thats 40.82 °F.. im still trying to figure out if my temperature modules are messed up but from what i see this heatsink is AMAZING

Cons: i dont have any so far...

Other Thoughts: the price makes the heatsink sound like its bad, but its really a bang for the buck deal.

Pros: Comes with thermal already applied.

Cons: It is pretty big, make sure to double check your mid case can handle it. Full tower cases don't really have to worry though.

Other Thoughts: Just incase you had paste in your cart/were thinking of picking some up, you don't need it. Comes with paste included. Found that our after I ordered it.

Pros: none

Cons: poor construction, interferes with onboard memory. not impressed at all.

Pros: Pictures do not do this product justice!!! It's an amazing tool everyone should consider if they are using amd cpu's!!!

Cons: None

Pros: This thing is HUGE! It's much larger than I expected. I'm sure this thing will cool almost any CPU

Cons: Because of it's size, i can't use it and will have to RMA it and buy a smaller heatsink.

Other Thoughts: Looks very well made and has a 6 year warranty, 4 copper pipes and a very large aluminum heatsink with an equally large fan. Measures 6" high, 5" wide and about 4" deep, so make sure you have the space to fit it!