# Air cooling & overclocking - how far can I go?



## Gso3 (Mar 15, 2011)

Hey guys, I have an AMD Phenom x6 1100t (3.3GHZ).. I'm using the standard CPU fan and just 1 case fan blowing out the back. 

Under full load the temperature is around 55-57 degrees.

I would like to OC my system but watercooling isn't an option due to it being just too expensive/not worth it for the gains imo.

I'm not sure how effective air cooling is in OCing.. can anyone advise me whether there is a specific fan blade length which dissipates the most heat?

I'm looking for a cost effective way of gaining a few GHz of processing power.. and if possible have a less noisy computer.

ANY input is appreciated


----------



## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

You can give your AMD processor a moderate overclock on the stock heatsink, though the fan will remind you it's there. I ran my Prime 95 for 24 hours on my 3.4 GHz 965 BE with the stock cooler and it never got above 59C -- but it sounded like I had a small weed-eater in my computer case.

Look at the reviews at the sites like those linked below, paying attention to both cooling and noise plus notes on size (not all coolers fin in all cases) and mounting quirks (some large coolers will bump into top-mounted PSUs and cover RAM slots). 

FrostyTech - Best Heat Sinks & PC Cooling Reviews

Best CPU Cooler Performance Intel/AMD Q1-2010 | Best CPU Cooler,Best Heatsink,Review,Best CPU Cooler Performance,Intel LGA1366,AMD AM2/AM3,Gulftown,Core-i7,Using both the overclocked AMD Phenom-II X4-965 BE and six-core Gulftown Intel Core i7-980X Ex


----------

