I actually bought one of these for my Socket A system, and it got the job done, but then I found a Thermalright AX7 on Ebay which was the first high end cooler I ever owned. If you were to lap this Adaptec cooler that would probably significantly improve its performance since the copper portion is roughly machined.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/274250433073?_trkpar … %3ABFBMlvXNrPFf

Here's where I upgraded, and I later did a comparison with Prime 95 with the AX7 coming out the winner.

Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today

Sphere478 wrote on 2022-03-15, 00:14:

https://www.anandtech.com/show/662/13 […]
Show full quote

Tetrium wrote on 2022-03-14, 23:54:

Sphere478 wrote on 2022-03-14, 21:55:

I think there was a version of these for athalons, perhaps under a different model number.

https://www.newegg.com/thermalright-slk-947-u … N82E16835109112

I do remember having seen mentions of a heatpiped HSF for Athlon XP. Actually kinda sorry I never was able to get one of those for myself as I didn't know these even existed until wayyy after they were not generally available anymore.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/662/13

Here is a heatpipe one

https://www.anandtech.com/show/662/4
But apparently this one is better.

Many of these are hard to find though… these days

It's kinda too bad the performance of the heatpipe cooler was somewhat lacking.
Kinda amazing it's from 2000 btw, I would have expected it to be from a few years later (like 2003 or so).
The AC Copper Lite seems to be from 2005 or at least the reviews I found tended to be from 2005.

This was the best Socket A cooler I ever used. They very rarely come up on Ebay, and they've had pretty high prices when they do. They originally came with bumpers to install on the CPU since the narrow footprint misses the stock ones - I don't know what you'd use now since the originals are going to be long gone, you'd have to improvise something to keep from chipping the CPU core.

Sphere478 wrote:

The clip can be changed on that cpu cooler I linked.

No, you can't change it. External pink casing is not removable.

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2022-03-15, 02:10:

Sphere478 wrote:

The clip can be changed on that cpu cooler I linked.

No, you can't change it. External pink casing is not removable.

I have that cooler. I’ve changed my clip. 😀 mine has a tab now (for easier removal/install)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/390963781079
These clips are higher tension than typical socket 5/7 and work well on the copper heatsink

other good ones were the thermaltake volcano ones, some of those came with pure copper

My first cooler was an Volcano 9 coolmod, which had some leds that turned on when the power as on and when there was HDD activity. I was able to buy one of those boxed a few years ago .

i also had a vantec aeroflow, been trying to find one but never could

anotherone that is big is thermaltake big typhoon, but there are so many models that its hard to know which one still supports socket a

Sphere478 wrote on 2022-03-15, 02:17:

These clips are higher tension than typical socket 5/7 and work well on the copper heatsink

I actually bend a lot of my clips for Socket 7 and 379 CPUs to make sure that they aren't overtensioned. I have used too much before and broken the little hook on a socket.

I would also worry about applying too much pressure on an Athlon or Coppermine CPU. It's very easy to chip it crack those dies, if you're not careful.

These older processors don't need an enormous amount of pressure to cool these old chips effectively, as long as it's a solid, even mount.

I have had very good experience with the Alpha PAL8045. Unfortunately, it has also become rare.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/825/4

Alternatively, the Arctic Cooling Copper Silent 2TC works as well. It is also still easy to get hold of.

Repo Man11 wrote on 2022-03-15, 01:22:

This was the best Socket A cooler I ever used. They very rarely come up on Ebay, and they've had pretty high prices when they do. They originally came with bumpers to install on the CPU since the narrow footprint misses the stock ones - I don't know what you'd use now since the originals are going to be long gone, you'd have to improvise something to keep from chipping the CPU core.

I used the Thermalright SLK-900A back in the day to keep my 1700+ T-bred B nice and cool running at some 2300-2400 MHz, about on par with a stock 3200+ Barton. Instantly made me a fan of Thermalright's simple, no-nonsense, performance focused designs back then. No fancy shapes or lights or custom fans that were next to impossible to find replacements for (looking at you, every Zalman cooler ever made; or the likes of Cooler Master Aero or various Orb coolers). Just the best air cooling performance you could buy, in a plain brown cardboard box, and freedom to pick whatever type of fan you want to pair it with. I then switched to their XP-120 during my Athlon 64 days, then the TRUE-120 that served me great for an entire decade, from first gen Core 2 Duo all the way up to the Haswell based i5 4670k. Only stopped using it once I upgraded to Ryzen. At that point I also switched to Noctua for cooling, which seems to stick to similar principles that made early 2000s Thermalright's coolers great.

I still have the TRUE-120 and XP-120, but unfortunately didn't keep the SLK-900A, which I now regret. I occasionally look for one on ebay, but like you said, they rarely show up.

There generally is no end to air cooling extravaganza, at any stage and platform.

But, if you just want to run a system stable and at low noise levels - with some research, you'll oftentimes be able to use a cooler of a much later socket that still fits the mounting - and a random boxed cooler for a buck will do just fine.

If it's not about overclocking, CPUs don't care much whether they run within their specifications or at a lower temperature.
So, uhm, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that motherboard WELL within the era of "CPU socket thermal sensor"?
I'd go with that.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-15, 10:07:

There generally is no end to air cooling extravaganza, at any stage and platform. […]
Show full quote

There generally is no end to air cooling extravaganza, at any stage and platform.

But, if you just want to run a system stable and at low noise levels - with some research, you'll oftentimes be able to use a cooler of a much later socket that still fits the mounting - and a random boxed cooler for a buck will do just fine.

If it's not about overclocking, CPUs don't care much whether they run within their specifications or at a lower temperature.
So, uhm, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that motherboard WELL within the era of "CPU socket thermal sensor"?
I'd go with that.

The XP3200+ Barton runs stupidly hot, the Unlocked version even more so, so no any random boxed cooler for a buck wont be sufficient.

Ask me how I know.

I'm not sure the OP is using the rare unlocked variant here so could likely get away with a decent high TDP 462 cooler, I have the unlocked version with the little pads on it and standard 462 coolers work but its not a great experience, I went with a CAKII-32 and that works well enough but for overclocking I'm hunting for a better option, preferably one that doesnt use a 7000RPM fan. I do wonder if I could modify a 120mm AIO to fit a 462 socket, certainly overkill but would look cool as hell.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-03-15, 10:15:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-15, 10:07:

There generally is no end to air cooling extravaganza, at any stage and platform. […]
Show full quote

There generally is no end to air cooling extravaganza, at any stage and platform.

But, if you just want to run a system stable and at low noise levels - with some research, you'll oftentimes be able to use a cooler of a much later socket that still fits the mounting - and a random boxed cooler for a buck will do just fine.

If it's not about overclocking, CPUs don't care much whether they run within their specifications or at a lower temperature.
So, uhm, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that motherboard WELL within the era of "CPU socket thermal sensor"?
I'd go with that.

The XP3200+ Barton runs stupidly hot, the Unlocked version even more so, so no any random boxed cooler for a buck wont be sufficient.

Ask me how I know.

I've fried at least one athlon back in the "obsolete junk I don't care" timeframe. 😉
That naked die without heatspreader wasn't their greatest idea.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-03-15, 10:15:

I'm not sure the OP is using the rare unlocked variant here so could likely get away with a decent high TDP 462 cooler, I have the unlocked version with the little pads on it and standard 462 coolers work but its not a great experience, I went with a CAKII-32 and that works well enough but for overclocking I'm hunting for a better option, preferably one that doesnt use a 7000RPM fan. I do wonder if I could modify a 120mm AIO to fit a 462 socket, certainly overkill but would look cool as hell.

OK, that chip was top of the line and rated at 79 watts, that would still be a lot today.
Now, I didn't mean just any random cooler, let alone a contemporary one.
But, e.g., many of the ca. 2010 Athlon II chips were rated at 95 W and pretty much every one of them was shipped with a boxed cooler with heatpipes, IIRC.
And at least every second one that was sold retail ended up with a custom cooler.
Therefore, those box coolers are a dime a dozen, many fail to sell at the bay.
Now, the plethora of sockets and cooler mountings are a crime against human intelligence, but I think certain AM3 ones could still fit 462 - not sure, ok.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-15, 10:34:

Now, the plethora of sockets and cooler mountings are a crime against human intelligence, but I think certain AM3 ones could still fit 462 - not sure, ok.

No, unfortunately they don't fit socket 462. Cooler compatibility on AMD's side goes back to Athlon 64 platforms, the very next generation after socket 462. All AMD coolers from then on, which utilise the plastic bracket around the socket, should be compatible with one another. In terms of mounting at least, not necessarily in terms of performance, so don't go mounting your puny 16 year old Sempron cooler on a Ryzen 9 5950x 😀. But something like the Wraith Prism, which came with CPUs as recent as the R7 3800X or even R9 3900X, could be used on the very first generation Athlon 64 on socket 754 or 939. 18 years of cooler compatibility is damn impressive. Unfortunately this only applies to coolers that attach to the plastic bracket around the CPU socket. Coolers that attach directly to the backplate through the holes around the socket obviously are not backwards compatible, since the spacing of the holes has changed several times through the years.

amoerman wrote on 2022-03-14, 23:53:

I remember using a Swiftech mcx-462 with a vantech tornado fan. Sounded like a helicopter winding up.

I had exactly the same combination... though I switched the fan out after some time, cause reasons 😁

frudi wrote on 2022-03-15, 15:08:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-15, 10:34:

Now, the plethora of sockets and cooler mountings are a crime against human intelligence, but I think certain AM3 ones could still fit 462 - not sure, ok.

No, unfortunately they don't fit socket 462. Cooler compatibility on AMD's side goes back to Athlon 64 platforms, the very next generation after socket 462. All AMD coolers from then on, which utilise the plastic bracket around the socket, should be compatible with one another. In terms of mounting at least, not necessarily in terms of performance, so don't go mounting your puny 16 year old Sempron cooler on a Ryzen 9 5950x 😀. But something like the Wraith Prism, which came with CPUs as recent as the R7 3800X or even R9 3900X, could be used on the very first generation Athlon 64 on socket 754 or 939. 18 years of cooler compatibility is damn impressive. Unfortunately this only applies to coolers that attach to the plastic bracket around the CPU socket. Coolers that attach directly to the backplate through the holes around the socket obviously are not backwards compatible, since the spacing of the holes has changed several times through the years.

I think my favorite method was the pentium 4 setup. Four hooks and two levers. Good design.

Shame everyone didn’t adopt it.

The bracket around socket 478 was a decent design, the stock coolers themselves were absolute hot garbage (figuratively and literally), that made you want to toss the whole board out a 50th story window in frustration any time you had to remove the cooler. What is it with Intel and designing the absolutely shittiest retention mechanisms under the sun for their coolers? It's like every socket generation they had an internal competition and gave out rewards to whichever employee could come up with the most awkward, unintuitive, unreliable and user unfriendly way of attaching and removing coolers. It's honestly baffling to me how shit their coolers are, even to this day. It can't be just coincidence, not 25+ years of excremental tradition, it must be by design.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-15, 10:34:

I've fried at least one athlon back in the "obsolete junk I don't care" timeframe. ;) That naked die without heatspreader wasn't […]
Show full quote

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-03-15, 10:15:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-15, 10:07:

There generally is no end to air cooling extravaganza, at any stage and platform. […]
Show full quote

There generally is no end to air cooling extravaganza, at any stage and platform.

But, if you just want to run a system stable and at low noise levels - with some research, you'll oftentimes be able to use a cooler of a much later socket that still fits the mounting - and a random boxed cooler for a buck will do just fine.

If it's not about overclocking, CPUs don't care much whether they run within their specifications or at a lower temperature.
So, uhm, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that motherboard WELL within the era of "CPU socket thermal sensor"?
I'd go with that.

The XP3200+ Barton runs stupidly hot, the Unlocked version even more so, so no any random boxed cooler for a buck wont be sufficient.

Ask me how I know.

I've fried at least one athlon back in the "obsolete junk I don't care" timeframe. 😉
That naked die without heatspreader wasn't their greatest idea.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-03-15, 10:15:

I'm not sure the OP is using the rare unlocked variant here so could likely get away with a decent high TDP 462 cooler, I have the unlocked version with the little pads on it and standard 462 coolers work but its not a great experience, I went with a CAKII-32 and that works well enough but for overclocking I'm hunting for a better option, preferably one that doesnt use a 7000RPM fan. I do wonder if I could modify a 120mm AIO to fit a 462 socket, certainly overkill but would look cool as hell.

OK, that chip was top of the line and rated at 79 watts, that would still be a lot today.
Now, I didn't mean just any random cooler, let alone a contemporary one.
But, e.g., many of the ca. 2010 Athlon II chips were rated at 95 W and pretty much every one of them was shipped with a boxed cooler with heatpipes, IIRC.
And at least every second one that was sold retail ended up with a custom cooler.
Therefore, those box coolers are a dime a dozen, many fail to sell at the bay.
Now, the plethora of sockets and cooler mountings are a crime against human intelligence, but I think certain AM3 ones could still fit 462 - not sure, ok.

I really really dont want to fry a super rare unlockable XP3200+ but yes .. they should have put a damn IHS on these chips .. was AMD trying to save a few pennies by not using a IHS . .or were they trying to be a Pentium III. Ill be honest here, It scare the heck out of me to even change the cooler on that CPU, the chances of cracking or chipping the die makes me want to just leave it be with that 7000RPM noise maker, but .. I know that as soon as I find a better alternative ill step back into the shark tank.

I wonder if you can fit a IHS to these chips ....hmmm perhaps a Pentium III Tually IHS might work.

Repo Man11 wrote on 2022-03-15, 01:22:

This was the best Socket A cooler I ever used. They very rarely come up on Ebay, and they've had pretty high prices when they do. They originally came with bumpers to install on the CPU since the narrow footprint misses the stock ones - I don't know what you'd use now since the originals are going to be long gone, you'd have to improvise something to keep from chipping the CPU core.

I have this one and the TT extreme volcano 12 and the Thermalright blows the volcano away. The only downside is the weight, its a heavy brick. Big typhoon on the other hand is huge and silent, but motherboard needs to have holes around the socket.

I'd recommend a Thermaltake Big Thypoon which is not that rare on Ebay. I'll attach photos of one I bought for 2 Euros at Ebay 3 months ago. As you can see it clearly states support for Athlon XP up to 3400+ (whereever this CPU was available back then). This cooler requires mounting holes in the mainboard (which your Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe has). You should also check whether it fits in your case because the cooler is really big and the CPU socket is almost located on the top edge of the mainboard.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-03-16, 08:08:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-15, 10:34:

I've fried at least one athlon back in the "obsolete junk I don't care" timeframe. ;) That naked die without heatspreader wasn't […]
Show full quote

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-03-15, 10:15:

The XP3200+ Barton runs stupidly hot, the Unlocked version even more so, so no any random boxed cooler for a buck wont be sufficient.

Ask me how I know.

I've fried at least one athlon back in the "obsolete junk I don't care" timeframe. 😉
That naked die without heatspreader wasn't their greatest idea.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-03-15, 10:15:

I'm not sure the OP is using the rare unlocked variant here so could likely get away with a decent high TDP 462 cooler, I have the unlocked version with the little pads on it and standard 462 coolers work but its not a great experience, I went with a CAKII-32 and that works well enough but for overclocking I'm hunting for a better option, preferably one that doesnt use a 7000RPM fan. I do wonder if I could modify a 120mm AIO to fit a 462 socket, certainly overkill but would look cool as hell.

OK, that chip was top of the line and rated at 79 watts, that would still be a lot today.
Now, I didn't mean just any random cooler, let alone a contemporary one.
But, e.g., many of the ca. 2010 Athlon II chips were rated at 95 W and pretty much every one of them was shipped with a boxed cooler with heatpipes, IIRC.
And at least every second one that was sold retail ended up with a custom cooler.
Therefore, those box coolers are a dime a dozen, many fail to sell at the bay.
Now, the plethora of sockets and cooler mountings are a crime against human intelligence, but I think certain AM3 ones could still fit 462 - not sure, ok.

I really really dont want to fry a super rare unlockable XP3200+ but yes .. they should have put a damn IHS on these chips .. was AMD trying to save a few pennies by not using a IHS . .or were they trying to be a Pentium III. Ill be honest here, It scare the heck out of me to even change the cooler on that CPU, the chances of cracking or chipping the die makes me want to just leave it be with that 7000RPM noise maker, but .. I know that as soon as I find a better alternative ill step back into the shark tank.

I wonder if you can fit a IHS to these chips ....hmmm perhaps a Pentium III Tually IHS might work.

The question why AMD kept using IHS-less CPU packages for sA is a really good one.
One reason I could think up (which by no means should be regarded as a definitive answer in any way since there probably were multiple factors involved, of which some we may not even be aware of) is that this was during the MHz/GHz race between AMD and Intel. With every single bit of performance being squeezed out I can imagine AMD not wanting to, so to say, cause any potential design hickups by adding in an IHS which would necessitate a CPU HSF redesign which at the least could have caused some bad press which indirectly would mean fewer sales.
Also perhaps AMD did try this out but they found this to limit maximum clock in some way and they decided to go IHS-less so they could squeeze out just those few last megahertzes.