CPU Fan suggestion?

I use and like this on my intel but works with am3 also..

Newegg.com - CORSAIR CAFA50 120mm CPU Cooler

Or this is good. You can get coolers that cost more or have multi fans but they cool lil better normally with in 6f max unless you use some wet type cooling. And some coolers are really heavy and might have to rig up some added support bracket or something. Some cool no better than these and again at max no more than 6f and can cost up to 30 bucks or so more. Both of these first coolers for a long time cost less than 30 bucks- the prices have gone up lately. You could search the net for better prices amazon maybe and they are good. I normally buy all my stuff from the egg also- I will never again buy from tiger direct tho ...>

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

I prefer top down types my self they blow a lil air over the memory and or other components around the cpu socket and generally cool a lil better than tower types according to tests. I use this now on my am2 but also works with am3.. It is not at the egg anymore I am just showing it to ya- it is a si128se even better and can use a fan on it too or not se is silent edition..>

Newegg.com - Thermalright SI-128 CPU Cooling Heatsink

You should also use maybe ac mx2 thermal compound- read about it online it cools better than say ac5. MX2 has no cure time and last 8 years and does not conduct electrical currants. AC5 has a 200 hour cure time and after about 2 years starts to become brittle and cools less and does conduct electrical currants and if you get sloppy with it you can fry your system. MX2 cools better by up to 7f or so mx3 is a lil better and or geil2 or 3 is near same as mx and both are better than ac5 but do cost a lil more. The geil is the better value than mx you get more for less- but cools a lil less also.

For the record any cooler that works with am2 should work on a am3 they are pretty much the same exact socket and the cpu's the same heat etc. In fact some am3 mobos can also run am2 and the before cpu's all on the one mobo. I have also used the thermalright xp120 I like the fact I could install them from the top of the mobo and not have to work from the back of it. When cleaning time comes- it is nice to just remove the cooler and not have to remove the whole mobo from its tray..

Well to think about it again it is not many coolers you would have to pull the mobo off the tray for cleaning after first install- but some are more easy to work with. I really liked my thermalright products- I would use my si128 on this system now but it will not work it needs a bracket to mount up. They do not make them for the 1156-55 etc. Or best I know any way.

Is a lil odd the prices have gone up on those first 2 coolers- they was of the best a year or so ago- but is some more new near same and cost less and cool a lil better also. You would think the prices would go down. If 20 or 25 bucks they would really be great- 40 bucks sucks tho.

See ya.

It all depends what you call reasonable. Where you buy it is your choice but take a look at the Corsair H50. Cools great for the money from everything I have read. Doesn't take up a lot of room over the cpu to get in the way of air flow to ram and motherboard. Duel fans can be installed very easy. The H70 replaced it. The H70 has a bigger radiator but a smaller pump. Both seem to keep temps the same compared to each other. Every thing I read puts these little coolers in the cpu cooling parade as good or better than the best air cool and not as good as a full blown $300.00 water cool. I have chose the H50 because it was on sale at Best Buy a while back. My build is not complete yet, waiting for the tower, so I can't give you my real time temps. To the best you can if you choose a air cooler check that it won't hit your ram cooling fans. The statement above is from several hours of research on line from many sites that I trust their reviews. IMHO the best bang for the buck.

ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT 110mm 2 Ball Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler
ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

With either of these two you do not encounter problems in setting it in a mobo with oversized heatsink ram.