We reported a few days ago that AMD is considering bunding a sealed loop water cooling solution with it’s high end FX processors. In an interesting development, VR-Zone today stated that Intel will not be including any cooler at all with it’s Sandy Bridge-E parts.
Specifically, Intel will not be bundling any processor cooler with its Core i7 Sandy Bridge-E 3820, 3930, or 3960X CPUs. These processors are rated at a 130 watt TDP; however, VR-Zone reports that the processors may in fact be drawing as much as 180 watts at stock speeds. This massive jump in power compared to previous models, if true, would make Intel’s move to not include a cooler a good thing, as enthusiasts will almost certainly want a quality third part air cooler at least, and a proper water loop if any overclocking is involved. Enthusiasts especially have always opted to use an aftermarket cooler instead of the included Intel one as they have been notoriously noisy and mediocre in the performance department. While they are decent for stock speeds, overclockers have always demanded more than the Intel coolers could provide.
The situation is made all the more interested when paired against AMD’s announcement; Intel has opted to not include any heatsink at all while AMD has opted to ratchet up the cooling performance with a sealed water loop. Personally, I find the two companies’ reactions- because they are almost direct opposite solutions- very intersting and telling about the company mindset. Which solution do you like more, would you like the chip makers to ratchet up their stock cooling performance, or do you prefer the hands-off approach where they allow you to grab the cooler of your choice by not bundling anything in the processor box? Let us know in the comments!
Image Credit: Tim Verry. Used With Permission.
I have never used a stock
I have never used a stock cooler on any of my own machines or on those I have built for others, even ones which ran at stock speed–overkill no doubt. Anyway, if they can shave some money off the cost of the processor by doing this, I am all for it. At worst, I will not have another boxed cooler to put in the closet or throw away. AMD’s move is cool, but has to add something to the cost. Though I have a long history of using liquid cooling, these days, with air coolers being as effective as they are, I choose those over the added complexity involved in even a sealed loop. Ironically, the best performance in the latest corsair’s comes at the cost of a fair amount of additional noise. The performance at that level is only a few degrees less than the best air coolers, and the noise is more than I am willing to accept.
lol, now that you mention it,
lol, now that you mention it, I have at least two Intel retail coolers in my closet that have never been used 😛
I like this better than AMD
I like this better than AMD FX bundled cooler because then we get a choice to select a cooler.
I never used the boxed CPU
I never used the boxed CPU coolers, every time I buy a new CPU first thing I do is throw the stock cooler into garbage bin(in India we don’t get tray Cpu’s but only retail boxes with coolers bundled). I usually buy a good cooler from manufacturers like Coolermaster, Thermaltake, Thermalright, etc. and use it as even at stock speeds these coolers offer better performance compared to stock one.