Aftermarket cooler

Newegg has the CM Hyper 212 for 29.99 w/ free shipping. hmm... maybe it would be worth the trouble of installing that.

It's a pain to install and it won't be significantly better than the Freezer 7 Pro and it's most likely going to produce more noise. It also looks like the old model (same as what I have) and it's a pain to fit the fan as it relies on some stupid metal clip hooks. The new models has plastic brackets that the fan snaps on to. Also, the whole thing has to be screwed in place, twice...

Well that's a crock of ****.

I think I'll stick with the Freezer 7 Pro.

Well, at least it's not going to fall out
Most high-end coolers need to be screwed in place and it's a pain in the ass.
You get a metal plate, some screws, a clamping thing, some spring loaded screws, some kind of fastening mechanism for the fan etc...
So yeah, it took me a good 30 minutes to get this cooler installed today.
10 minutes of that was spent trying to fit the fan, as the clips were really really stupid.
And I guess another 5 was spent cleaning out dust
It's not coming out any time soon though so...

Well, myaybe I'll just suck it up and accept that I will lose 30 minutes of my life installing a fan. Who knows, by the time I'm done vacillating between which model it'll be time to build a whole new computer.

I'm also thinking about buying a quiet aftermarket cooler for my i5-750. I just finished building my Hackintosh last night (specs are in my signature). I'm using the stock Intel cooler and noticed that the CPU fan noise is pretty loud, even when the computer is "idling". It also seems to constantly vary between two speed settings, even at idle. I'm not doing any overclocking.

I installed the iStat nano widget, and it shows both CPU temps are around 40-42C when the computer is idling. Is this what I should expect with the stock cooler? This is installed in a CoolerMaster Elite 341 case that has a single 120mm chassis fan in the back, and the PSU is a Corsair 550VX that's supposed to be very quiet. Room air temperature was fairly cool at the time.

Maybe I should try reinstalling the stock cooler with new thermal compound? I installed it with the stock thermal paste that was pre-applied by Intel. I've got a tube of Arctic Silver 5. Should I really be seeing 42C at idle on a stock i5-750?

Yup, that temps are ok for stock cooler, I think Intel saved a buck or two delivering this funny coolers with quad core CPUs.

You can try reinstalling your stock cooler and applying AS5, it'll decrease the temp a few degrees until you replace the stock cooler with something seriuos.

thelostswede recomended CM Hyper 212+, I think too that it's very good solution regarding performance/price.

I get about the same temps, with a much larger cooler, so yeah, that's not half bad. Still, the Intel cooler is a bit on the noisy side and it collects dust really easily.

And no, I didn't recommend the 212+, I said it was a pain in the ass to install

There are much easier coolers to install, the Freezer 7 Pro from Arctic Cooling is a good option.

If you are guys are serious about lowering temps, and noise, the place to go is SilentPC Review, and look at their list of recommended fans and heatsinks. They are truly obsessed with quiet PC's and rigorously test everything in an anechoic chamber.

Yeah, that's a cool site and the guy that runs it is a really nice guy too, helped me out once with something