StarTech.com Round Orb Chipset cooler

Advantages: Price and high performance
Disadvantages: Heat and power

...AMD’s Athlon is arguably the best CPU around. With similar performance to Intel’s PIII at the same frequencies and the fastest Athlons (currently 1.33GHz) offering similar performance to Intel’s fastest P4 (currently 1.7GHz) in most of today’s applications. When building a system around an Athlon CPU it is crucial to the performance, stability and longevity of your new computer to be aware of the following issues. Temperature: The amount of heat produced by such high frequency processors is quite staggering. There have been reports of Athlon processors permanently failing in a few seconds due to the lack of adequate cooling. A good cooler will be made out of a material such as aluminium or copper, which both have a good thermal conductivity. AMD recommends processors on its website at http://www1.amd.com... Read review

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Advantages: Overclocks very well, Connectivity, Price
Disadvantages: Poor bundle from Gigabyte

...Full list of Specs http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/ProductsOverview.aspx?ProductID=2288 Gigabyte have been a forerunner in creating quality computer components for a number of years, often trading blows with the likes of DFI and Asus with many of gigabytes motherboards brining new technology. The Gigbayte GA-965P-DS4 is no exception. The first thing you notice with the motherboard is the radical chipset cooling solution. The south and north bridge are connected to the Voltage regulators via an elaborate system of heat pipes and heat sinks. This cooling method allows the vital components of the board to remain at cool stable temperatures without the need for noisy fans. The best thing is that the technology actually works, heat pipes are more and more being used in the cooling processors with a great deal of success... Read review

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Advantages: Excellent games processor, very fast, stable, quiet
Disadvantages: not very overclockerable - I managed 3.4GHz and thats on a gaming motherboard

...I bought this processor for my computer as an upgrade with a motherboard (ASUS 975 chipset). I would recommend this CPU if you are not going to overclock it as it really isn't any good, coz the most I got out of it was 3.4GHz on the standard cooler and 3.5GHz on a zalman flower CPU cooler. Bear in mind I am running a gaming ASUS 975 chipset motherboard - with stability and overclocking features and still only managed 3.5GHz and it wasn't 100% stable then. Anyway, I still would recommend this for all types of options including servers, gaming, CAD and graphic design work. It is reliable (with standard speed) and fast. So for gamers and designers this is a must, as the cost isn't over the top either...... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful