Hi guys ,I am going to build a new system with a I7 950 on a asus rampage iii extreme board , overclock to 4.2 if possible ,gfx480 .What can you guys recommend for the cpu cooling .At this moment i have a system with a q6600 slightly overclocked to 3350 on watercooling , ( d tek fuzion cpu block eheim pump,) ofcourse i can use this watercooling for my new system but allready promised this system to my son .Are there any good air cpu coolers to get the job done for cooling the I7 950 oc to 4.2 ( if possible ) or do you guys recommend going for watercooling ?I hope you can help me , i did a lot of research for cpu coolers but there are so many reviews with different results and i think it is better to get answers from people who are using them 24/7 .Thanks in advance , Best regards ,Gérard

Hi Gerard, I have a 930 o/c to 4.0Ghz. I use a Noctua NH-D14 which is highly regarded as the best air cooler around (well it was when I bought it). It is HUGE. I would also recommend the Corsair H70 as a friend has one on a overclocked i5 and he reckons it performs really well.

I also have the DH-14 and have my 980x clocked at 4.43 with no issues.It is huge so you need not only a large case but be aware that SOME memory is too big to fit under the DH14 so research your memory size to be sure. I use Mushkin 1600 6-8-6-24 and it fits just fine. Vic

I have my i 940 at 4.1 with the Noctua DH-14 well below 80C (stress tested with OCCT)

Another beast: Thermalright Silver Arrow

ProlimaTech Megahalems is still one of the best all around aircoolers ever, however I am now using the Nochtua DH14 with three quiet Nochtua 140mm fans.In that 3-fan config the DH14 is a tad better than the Megahalems with just two fans though not by much when running loaded for long periods.Had to machine out a notch in the Mega to clear some extra tall ram sinks, still fond of that cooler but It cant beat the DH14 as setup now.What case do you have and what ram?

ProlimaTech Megahalems is still one of the best all around aircoolers ever, however I am now using the Nochtua DH14 with three quiet Nochtua 140mm fans.In that 3-fan config the DH14 is a tad better than the Megahalems with just two fans though not by much when running loaded for long periods.Had to machine out a notch in the Mega to clear some extra tall ram sinks, still fond of that cooler but It cant beat the DH14 as setup now.What case do you have and what ram?

Hi guys ,I saw that both the noctua and the ProlimaTech Megahalem are very good coolers , both are also very big .The cooler has to fit in a coolermaster haf x but i did some reading on the net and i think that won't be a problem .The biggest problem i think wil be the ram , i wanted to go for some good corsair 3 x 2 ram but read on the noctua side that the corsair was too high for the noctua .In my current rig i have kingston hyperx ddr2 which also works great but i dont't know how kingston ddr3 performs ,i read some good reviews about corsair so was hoping that they could be used with the noctua or prolimatech .Which ram do you guys recommend with the noctua and prolimatech ?Thanks in advance ,Gérard

Hi guys ,I saw that both the noctua and the ProlimaTech Megahalem are very good coolers , both are also very big .The cooler has to fit in a coolermaster haf x but i did some reading on the net and i think that won't be a problem .The biggest problem i think wil be the ram , i wanted to go for some good corsair 3 x 2 ram but read on the noctua side that the corsair was too high for the noctua .In my current rig i have kingston hyperx ddr2 which also works great but i dont't know how kingston ddr3 performs ,i read some good reviews about corsair so was hoping that they could be used with the noctua or prolimatech .Which ram do you guys recommend with the noctua and prolimatech ?Thanks in advance ,Gérard

I recommend the Prolimatech along with Mushkin 1600 cas 6 ram. Runs fast and very cool and looks good.Kind regards,

This is good ram and it will fit under the D14 and the Silver Arrow. I use the 6-7-6-18 version of this ram and it just fits under my Silver Arrowhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226121