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Looking for quiet cooler, not too big and heavy

435 views 11 replies 4 participants last post by  doyll 
#1 ·
Hi all,

I have a I7 6700k which i dont plan on overclocking, i been doing research on what cpu air cooler to get for it, everywhere i look they say the big noctua or the 212 evo ...i just wanted to see if there are any other options.

I am specifically looking for something that will keep it cool (which shouldnt be hard since im not overclocking) and at the same time be quiet and maybe on the smaller side, i dont feel like i really need that big monster noctua with the 2 fans because that seems like overkill (unless im wrong here)

Something i considered was the 212 evo(just because everyone recommends it) the Zalman 9900 (because i think it looks pretty good)
and maybe the low profile noctua NH-LI9i or the NH_l12(but im scared it might be too small and wont keep it cool enough).

All i will be using this pc for is gaming.

Please give me your suggestions. Budget is anything under $100.

Thanks.
 
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#2 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by silunk View Post

Hi all,

I have a I7 6700k which i dont plan on overclocking, i been doing research on what cpu air cooler to get for it, everywhere i look they say the big noctua or the 212 evo ...i just wanted to see if there are any other options.

I am specifically looking for something that will keep it cool (which shouldnt be hard since im not overclocking) and at the same time be quiet and maybe on the smaller side, i dont feel like i really need that big monster noctua with the 2 fans because that seems like overkill (unless im wrong here)

Something i considered was the 212 evo(just because everyone recommends it) the Zalman 9900 (because i think it looks pretty good)
and maybe the low profile noctua NH-LI9i or the NH_l12(but im scared it might be too small and wont keep it cool enough).

All i will be using this pc for is gaming.

Please give me your suggestions. Budget is anything under $100.

Thanks.
Silent. Cool. Small. Pick two, and only two. If you want to compromise and balance all three then you could go with Cryorig H7, but there's no reason not to go big, just check for compatibility beforehand. Pretty much all of the big towers perform within a couple degrees of each other.
Where will you be ordering the heatsink from? I could help you narrow it down further.

And anyone still recommending 212 Evo should get slapped.
 
#3 ·
Pretty much what Loladinas said.
thumb.gif

We really need to know what your system is; What case, motherboard, RAM, etc. Some links to online stores you can buy from is also helpful.

The difference between top 10 coolers is 2-3c .. and the next 20 coolers are only 2-3c warmer and only a couple dB louder. Human hear needs 2-3dB change to know volume has changed.

You definitely don't need one of the biggest, best cooling for 6700k. I'm using a True Spirit 140 rev.A; stress testing is 60c @ 1100rpm and low load like right now is 26c @ 650rpm. I prefer cooler with 140mm fan if it will fit. They are usually a little cooler and quieter. Bigger size and fan means lower noise and better cooling.

Thermalright Machos using 140mm fans .. not easiest to mount, but mount works well. True Spirit 140 are very good. Alpenfohn Matterhorm if available are very good value cooler.

Zalman 9900 is not as good cooling and not as quiet either.

If your case is big enough for tall coolers, I would use one.
 
#5 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by silunk View Post

I live in the U.S. I usually order from Amazon or newegg

So here is what I have:
Antec twelve hundred full tower case
Asus z170 pro motherboard
G skill tridentz 32 gb 3200 ram
Asus Gtx 1070
I7 6700k
Sorry, Antec does not say what the CPU clearance is. Can you mesure from surface of motherboard to side cover please?
Asus Z170 Pro Gaming has 70mm center CPU clearance to daughterboard, 90mm to PCIe x16 socket and 51mm to RAM socket.
G.Skill Trident Z are 44mm tall, so 47mm above surface of motherboard.
 
#6 ·
I didn't get a chance to install the motherboard yet but I found another post about this case and what can fit inside, it looks like the d14 will fit in one of these cases and that pretty much as big as they get right?

http://www.overclock.net/t/978552/will-noctua-nh-d14-fit-in-my-antec-1200

I also found an old review of the case I have, it has some specs on it and a lot of pictures.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/antec-twelve-hundred-case-review/5/

•Dimensions: 22 29/32" x 8 25/64" x 20 13/64" (58.2 cm x 21.3 cm x 51.3 cm) (H x W x D).
•Net Weight: 31.9 lbs (14.5 Kg)
•Gross Weight: 38.6 lbs (17.5 Kg)
•Bays: Twelve external 5.25" bays (with one 5.25"-to-3.5" adapter) with three hard disk drive cages, each one using three 5.25" bays. Each hard disk drive cage supports up to three hard disk drives.
•Expansion slots: Seven.
•Fans: One 200-mm (190 mm) fan on the top, two 120 mm fans on the rear and three 120 mm fans on the front (attached to the hard disk drive cages). Speed control for all fans. Space for a 120 mm fan on the side and one 120 mm fans on the middle (attached to one hard disk drive cage).
 
#7 ·
Small, efficient and low cost?

Scythe Fuma. Compact (149mm high) twin tower with excellent performance. ehume's review here.

But, since you have the space for a big twin, that's cool too.

Regarding the top-mounted 200mm exhaust...might want to disregard what many, some, or at least me, will say about it....it's terrible. And it will fail, sooner rather than later and when it does, it will feel good, life will be better, the system cooler...but please disregard. The Antec marketing department knows the important bullet points of case design.
biggrin.gif
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by silunk View Post

So should I just go big? Always been worried about having 10 pounds of metal sitting on top of a cpu. Any concerns with the cooler crushing or bending the cpu or motherboard especially since the skylake are thinner?
No concerns. If...it's a quality motherboard, not some nasty thin entry level model. A quality multi-layer motherboard is very strong and mounted correctly to the case distributes the 2-3lb cooler load evenly. Most of the cooler mass is located close to the CPU mount anyhow. In the years of large cooler use I've never seen a board or cpu damaged. Big GPUs are more of a worry than large air coolers.

I like the Noctua mount as it is spring loaded and won't allow pcb crunching pressure to be applied. Other twin tower options from Cryorig/Thermalright/Phanteks have very safe mounts as well.

If you don't plan to kick your rig down the stairs or ship it cross country by lowest bidder freight, mere gravity will have no effect - I suspect the gravity-well fears of big coolers is one of the boogeymen myths started by the CLC marketing departments on internet forums, to help users help the CLC companies.
 
#12 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by silunk View Post

I didn't get a chance to install the motherboard yet but I found another post about this case and what can fit inside, it looks like the d14 will fit in one of these cases and that pretty much as big as they get right?

http://www.overclock.net/t/978552/will-noctua-nh-d14-fit-in-my-antec-1200

I also found an old review of the case I have, it has some specs on it and a lot of pictures.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/antec-twelve-hundred-case-review/5/

•Dimensions: 22 29/32" x 8 25/64" x 20 13/64" (58.2 cm x 21.3 cm x 51.3 cm) (H x W x D).
•Net Weight: 31.9 lbs (14.5 Kg)
•Gross Weight: 38.6 lbs (17.5 Kg)
•Bays: Twelve external 5.25" bays (with one 5.25"-to-3.5" adapter) with three hard disk drive cages, each one using three 5.25" bays. Each hard disk drive cage supports up to three hard disk drives.
•Expansion slots: Seven.
•Fans: One 200-mm (190 mm) fan on the top, two 120 mm fans on the rear and three 120 mm fans on the front (attached to the hard disk drive cages). Speed control for all fans. Space for a 120 mm fan on the side and one 120 mm fans on the middle (attached to one hard disk drive cage).
Measure from motherboard backing plate to side and deduct 16mm. The resulting measurement is distance from top of CPU to case side cover.

NH-D14 is only 160mm tall. Many coolers are 160+mm to 170mm tall.

Scythe Fuma is a quite good, but not the quietest .. but not at all loud.

When air cooling cases with conventional motherboard mounting top case fans tend to cause more problems than good. We want front to back airflow (especially in the front half of case) to avoid the heated air coming off of GPU from betting into cool air flowing from front to CPU cooler. Top exhaust fan/s pull air up taking cool intake air out the top and moving GPU heated air up into CPU's flow path. top fan as intake push air down and disrupt the smooth flow from front to CPU .. loose / loose.

You might find 'Ways to Better Cooling" link in my sig of interest. 1st post is index, click on topic to see it. 5th topic is good place to start.
Quote:
Originally Posted by silunk View Post

So should I just go big? Always been worried about having 10 pounds of metal sitting on top of a cpu. Any concerns with the cooler crushing or bending the cpu or motherboard especially since the skylake are thinner?
It's not 10 lbs, it's 2 lb or less, and as the cat said, it's not a problem. Have you ever seen a motherboard that was damaged by having too heavy a cooler on it? I have, but only when they after they were subjected to abusive handling.
tongue.gif

A German site did a video of abusive handling of a new LGA 1151 which is thinner PCB CPU under a big-ish air cooler. They even boxed the system up and dropped it while running from over their heads onto floor. It kept right on working. They did find considerable damage to PSU, case, etc when they removed it from the box.
tongue.gif
 
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