mine

processor : p4 2.8c
mobo : Abit Ai-7
clock speed : 3.22ghz
vcore : 1.6v ( just set it for fun la.)
hs : scythe ninja with silverstone fan

room temp
idle : 35
load: 52-55 ( cooler at night )

air-con temp
idle :27
load : 33

*note my hs has no thermal paste on contact with the processor. so its basically naked.

fan speed is at full blast all the time. 3500rpm

its more on mechanical la. you need compressor, freon, radiators blah2 and most of the item takes place. even the piping requires through sealing or condensation of water will occur and zap the parts.

i was waiting for someone to do pelt air cooling. no one?

all hs need high cfm to moderate the air temperature to be similar to the hs (faster heat exchange) but generally copper needs a high pressure fan to run even more efficient compared to alu. such fan can be found on most high speed rpm. why is pressure so crucial? most of the fans out there can easily achieve a high cfm, but to get that much of air being squeeze in between the fins, you need the fast fan to squeeze the air through it.

coppers are great and a small copper hs perform as efficient as those bulky alu fans. for me its a no no for copper. mainly coppers are fan dependent, if you're ocing your pc at high clock speed. consider the heat generated is high. In the event of fan breakdown. the hs will have a sudden increment in heat. as mention. copper has lower specific heat. so they generally stores less heat thus heat rises. if you're lucky, the overheat protection from the mobo will shutdown just in time before the processor gets fried.

alu's my choice la. since it can perform fanless e.g si-120 and xp120. i think its the plus side. ofcourse it can't achieve a higher overclockable ability for the processor. but i'm willing to play on the safe side. In addition, alu hs are easy to clean and they don't oxidize like copper. cleaning is also a breeze since you just need to clean with water and soap. copper? clean the dust then celup inside coke to clear the oxidized parts. they can't be exposed to water. on the long run when you're tired with the noise of the cpu( getting deaf), you'll start to go for quiet hs.

i too will choose x-dream. copper and alu makes a good pair. one sucks the heat out faster while the other dissipates heat out. perfect duo just like ninja.

themal paste applied? try with closed casing cause normally open case is not good in terms of air circulation.