A NF-F12 ....

Weren't you just referring to expansion cards that took up a city block! Who came up with the color scheme I wonder?

Colour's meaningless...it's not exactly visible inside the V8 and inside the case.  Prime concern was/is that it works....and since it's just plonked on top of the cooler with the old-dead fan still festering inside....but doing a better job of it....all's well...

noctua fans are butt ugly but are some of the very best performing fans you can buy. if they were black, i'd be using them but i now have 5 corsair fans (4 x 140mm, 1 x 120mm) in my case, that coolermaster v8 still looks like a beast though, doesn't it? i still have mine in a box around here somewhere.

An excellent brand... should last a while. That heat you're having is a killer, though.

Just to cheer you up...

Yeah, I've got two fans on my Thermaltake FrioOCK cooler... keeps things beautifully cool, and is quiet.

It's similar to the V8 cooler in various ways but a tad cheaper... and being I have several Thermaltake components in/on this build it made sense to go with that flow.

I had to order a new rear case fan this week, it has been howling when cold since last winter. I guess it's to be expected as I seldom shut my rig off so it's seen continuous duty since 2009. When/if the CPU fan goes, I plan on upgrading the cooler from the stock AMD unit.

That's a pretty big fan dude. Is it organically powered?

running away really fast

I have now got 6 fans in my case [not counting the CPU/GPU/PSU fans]....  3 x 140mm [2 top and 1 side] 3 x 120mm [1 front. 1 bottom and 1 rear].   Now I know that you don't like Thermaltake products, John, but these Thermaltake fans are quiet and have been reliable.  I've not had an issue with any of them, so will likely add a couple more to Shaunna's case before next Summer.  As her rig is making some noise I'm planning to replace her current fans, while adding one to the front and another on top

I also have a Corsair Dominator 3 fan cooler for my RAM....

And no, my Rig isn't noisy.  I can hear Shaunna's from across the room over mine, which is right beside me. I do hear the RAM cooler at boot, but only while it is spinning up.  After that my case s relatively quiet.  Oh, and I now have an AMD FX8350 x8 @ 4.0ghz in my Windows 8 rig, and like WOW, it sure has flown since.  I did have an AMD FX8170 in it, but this beasty leaves that in its wake.

Don't these coolers work best when the CPU is properly sealed to the cooling unit?  I'd consider finishing the job right.  Though I would have to take it to the shop for a job like replacing the heatsink and cooler.

But you say it's cooling the CPU well?

If so you got lucky.

starkers, i have one of those corsair cooling systems for my ram, too. i got it when i bought my dominator ram way back when. i never used that cooler, tho. i still have that ram and fan in a box somewhere, i'm sure. it was an 8 gb kit, i think. blue heatsinks for the ram were ordered from corsair to replace the black heatsinks that came on the sticks. i have been using corsair vengeance ram for around 18 months or so. and you're right, i do not care for thermaltake stuff. they work, i know, but i prefer to go other routes with my rig. as much as you are a fan of thermaltake, i am of corsair and asus. some folks rant about corsair and asus but i've always had great luck with them. to each their own, i guess

My V8 is cool (pun intended). My seriously overclocked i7-920 rarely gets above 54°.

Yeah, if you count the organic material [coal] dug out of the ground to power up the turbines that produce the electricity used to power it.

Yeah, I like AMD, Thermaltake and Gigabyte products, but I have stuff from Corsair and Asus and have been quite happy with it as well.

I don't get why people bother with desktop computers anymore. Find yourself a laptop with balls!