SilenX EFZ-120HA5 120mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler

Pros: Fantastic Temps, Comes with the ability to add an additional fan for a push/pull config, and near silent.

Cons: Assembly is a bit of a pain, some quality control issues; a few of the nuts had damaged threads, making them near impossible to use during assembly, and unfortunately the AMD nuts are quite unique, so I really just had to muscle one of them on (They included one spare bolt, but 2 of the 5 had damaged threads.). And finally, the backplate was a little bit warped, I didn't realize this until I had tightened it down and realized that my Motherboard was quite warped, after loosening the bolts some it's returned to near normal shape, this is a pretty big deal, you probably could straighten it with a hammer, but...a flat back plate really is a mandatory.

Other Thoughts: Improved temps on an AMD Athlon X2 7850 Black Edition Kuma 2.8GHz from 28 C idle to 18 C idle, and 60 c 100% load to 43 100% load (was using a stock cooler).

Gave it 4 eggs cause to me, the temps are what really matter, but in terms of quality control I would give them a 1-3 egg score.

Pros: Comes with everything you need. Design is satisfactory. Copper heat tubes in direct contact with CPU instead of inside aluminum. Fan is quiet. Inexpensive.

Cons: What a mess it is to install, but i guess you get what you pay for. Parts needed for install are located in the opposite vendor bag. The fan is too big for the heatsink and is attached with rubber posts that wiggle out... I ended up zip tying it to the fins. The instructions were not clear and definitely needed because of all the "options" for CPU types. The parts were a guessing game when it came to figuring out which washer was what or things like what bag the screws for attaching the bracket to the sink were in. I ended up using the adhesive discs between the plate and the mobo and the metal washers for the top. My choice based only on logical processing not from the instructions. The face of the heatsink had hairline gaps between the copper and the aluminium. Easily overtightened. It was a guessing game as to creating even pressure over the CPU without stressing the board. Wished it could have used the very well designed asus mobo clip-in brackets for OEM AMD2/3 style heatsinks.

Other Thoughts: For its cost, it seems to work well once you get it installed. 97°F with an AMD PhemonII X6 (which is usually overvolted and runs hot by default). If you're doing a cheap update to an older PC this is still worth it. It is very tall so you will need a full sized case for this.

Pros: Really quiet, keeps cpu fairly cool around 84F not so bad for the price

Cons: hassle to put together

Pros: Cool and quiet!

Cons: May require removing motherboard from case to install. No problem for building a new system, but more work than expected when retrofitting a system. Also, the heat sink is quite tall. Make sure you have a mid or larger case.

Other Thoughts: I like a very quiet system. I replaced a stock Intel cooler with this to quiet things out. The fan with the cooler is pretty quiet, although I switched it for an even quieter 120mm fan I purchased and moved this to an optional case fan.

Installation was a bit trickier than I expected, but that was mostly because I was trying to avoid removing the entire motherboard. I would purchase this again.

Pros: Quiet and keeps it fairly cool

Cons: two eggs removed because of the absurd install design.

In today's age of motherboards and heatsinks I think engineers could come up with a simpler method of attaching them. This one is complex, requiring three different brackets and three sets of screws and then finally 4 spring loaded screws that - for an AM3+ mobo - you cannot screw in from the top because the coils of the heatsink block access. This means if you have big fingers you need to squeeze two into a tiny gap and try to push down and turn at the same time. Along with much cursing I managed to do it.

Pros: Very quiet. Fits easy in mid tower case.

Cons: Installation is a bit difficult for a first time user. Wished if the instruction was more detailed.

Other Thoughts: OK, probably not many people with experience had problems what I had, but when checking the included parts on the instruction, the fan bracket wasn't in the list. Had some trouble to find out how to tighten the nuts with springs, especially one with limited access by a chipset heatsink.

Yes, it's so quiet and now the only noise problem I have is my power supply. I'm not an overclocker but before the CPU was staying around 70 C when checked in CMOS, but now at 38 C.

AMD Phenom II X4 945
Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H

Pros: Silent with bios adjustement, nice looking, sturdy and perfomance. Got a phenom ii x4 965 BE , overclocked to 4.4 ghz! And with this thing under load after 2 hours of prime 95, it reaches 58c-60 maximum! In game it's about 45-50c and this is with a 5970 with a custom cooler blowing hot air on the cpu cooler..

Cons: installation is a bit of a pain, but follow the instructions and it will be allright

Pros: Easy to use, nice quiet fan, well thought out, and quick to assemble.

Cons: Not worth an egg, but the instruction manual could be a little bit better - more informative, more clear cut (for example, hardware that is needed regardless of chip type is in the Intel bag, so the AMD people shouldn't chuck that bag out when attaching this cooler to their 990 mobo.

Other Thoughts: Would definitely recommend to anyone need a nice quiet cooler to replace their stock OEM fan.

Pros: This was my first time building a computer. This cooler was recommended to me, and it was fairly straightforward. Pretty simple to set up and put together, well packaged, instructions are ok. The build quality is very nice.

Cons: Instruction sheet could be better - more detailed, more explanatory. Only though this is my first time building a computer, it is not my first time putting things together or messing with electronics, so I had a solid base to work from. A true "newbie" might have been confused - for example, the hardware is separated by "intel" and "amd", but the Intel bag has all the "general - all builds" hardware, so making that clearer would have been helpful.

Other Thoughts: All in all, I am pleased with the cooler - it keeps my cpu at a nice temp, and I have had no issues with it so far. While a little challenging to put together and assemble, in the end it all worked out fine.

Pros: Dropped temps from around 40 down 36. Not the "big fish" story that some people seem to have with gigantic heatsinks, but definitely an improvement. Overall, it's definitely quieter than stock CPU fan, although I have some other case fans that are now a little more predominant sounding. No surprises there. Installation, although not without its annoyances, was definitely not the nightmare I was preparing myself for. I think I made it easier by resigning myself to the fact that I was going to have to rebuild the system. Didn't try to take any silly shortcuts that simply cost time and oodles of frustration.

Cons: Almost didn't fit. Can't take an egg away though, I knew exactly what I was getting into since I took the measurements as accurately as I could. Am Glad I didn't go with anything larger. Was looking at a couple of the larger Arctic Cooling models, and at 160mm, they were just to close for comfort. Glad I didn't, as I'm reasonably sure I would have been sunk.

Other Thoughts: If you have a Lian Li mid tower case with the slide out motherboard tray, you can likely forget that convenience with this heatsink. The tray will not slide back in, as the top of the heatsink stands out just a little past the frame rail. I had to take the motherboard back off the tray, slide the tray back in the case, and then reinstall the motherboard like a conventional case. Not ideal, but for the trouble of installing it, I was not RMAing if I could help it. It concerns me that the motherboard is arching upwards a little where the backing plate is. I suppose I put the screws in a little too tight, but the directions do say to make sure they are tight. With the spring retainers, it's hard to tell how far to tighten. However, after noting the stress on the motherboard, I loosened the screws a little, and it's helping some. I hope there is no notable damage to the board, but it's too late now.