In the quest for more CPU horsepower, many users are purchasing system components that have been specifically designed to assist in the pursuit of higher core MHz speeds.

One of the many byproducts of extreme CPU overclocking is the buildup of heat. While not the be-all end-all that most fan/heatsink manufacturers make it out to be, heat is still in the top five as far as "things to avoid" while on the CPU overclocking journey.

We've well documented the effects of heat on a CPU and how to eliminate it in the Sharky Extreme Celeron Overclocking Guide, overclocking beginners should head on over to that in-depth how-to article before plunging into today's Celeron Cooler Roundup.

Towards the goal of finding the best price/performance value in aftermarket Celeron coolers, Sharky Extreme combined forces with Intel CPU fan manufacturer Sanyo Denki (who donated the expensive heat-testing equipment) in an effort to test, measure, and crown a winner in the high-end Celeron CPU cooler market.

We included two of the newest coolers in today's shootout, the Net-N-Dude Glacier 4500C + Arctic Cap, and the Computer Nerd Whopper Celery Sandwich. We also included the venerable Intel Retail Celeron fan/heatsink in the roundup to see just how effective a user can expect their "stock" fan/heatsink to be under extreme conditions.

To push the coolers to their absolute limits we brought our two "magic" 1998 Celeron 366 Slot-1 CPUs out of retirement, both of which are capable of hitting 550MHz (5.5 x 100MHz) stabily (with the right system settings and degree of cooling).

The S-Specs for these two Celerons are identical, here they are in full detail:

98500105 SL37Q
366/66 Malaysia

(On a side note, it bears mentioning that we've tested six additional Celeron 366 Slot-1 CPUs since we received these early examples two months ago, and none of them have been readily able to achieve 550MHz. In addition, we're currently testing a single Celeron 433 Slot-1 CPU, and its overclocking ability has been very poor at best, perhaps the worst of any Celeron ever.)

We'll do a full review of the Celeron 433 CPU next week, for now let's get one with our cooler extravaganza….