PURPOSE:
We are all tired of answering repetitive questions. The following gives us answers to those most asked questions: What's the best cooler, what fans should I get, and many more questions answered here.
Welcome to:
Shadowclock’s
General Air Cooling Guide
Table of Contents
Listed below are the most frequently suggested (@ OCN) CPU Coolers on the market today. This is by no means a complete list of coolers but every one of them are excellent and should be able to handle at the very least a quad core processor overclocked to 3.5Ghz within temperature maximums in a "properly" cooled environment.
I have taken most (but not all, hence no quote code) of this CPU cooler detailed information from Nemesi5 so credit goes to him for this portion:
Google CPU Coolers Comparison Spreadsheet
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tP4hr0YsZyNG_Q1DUAMPcwg&w=78&h=650 Google Spreadsheet
The following quote is strictly my opinion based on the mass of responses and reviews in the OCN community. This is the ranking based solely on performance on how I see the above coolers perform IF same TIM, same performance fans, same CPU were used, however this does not take into consideration price, size, or ease of installation:
Quote:
Below are some Low Profile Coolers (in ranked order); brought to you by Tator Tot. More specific info to come but I just wanted to get these up for the moment:
We are all tired of answering repetitive questions. The following gives us answers to those most asked questions: What's the best cooler, what fans should I get, and many more questions answered here.
Welcome to:
General Air Cooling Guide
Table of Contents
- CPU Coolers
- Fans
- Fan Controllers
- TIM a.k.a. Thermal Paste
- Fan Mounting
- Positive and Negative Pressure
- Tricks to Better/Quieter Air Flow, CFM and CPU Temps
- Dust Filters
- Favorite Vendors List
- Glossary of Terms
- Disclaimer
Listed below are the most frequently suggested (@ OCN) CPU Coolers on the market today. This is by no means a complete list of coolers but every one of them are excellent and should be able to handle at the very least a quad core processor overclocked to 3.5Ghz within temperature maximums in a "properly" cooled environment.
I have taken most (but not all, hence no quote code) of this CPU cooler detailed information from Nemesi5 so credit goes to him for this portion:
- Thermalright Venomous X - Already Lapped/shiny base, tested/benched to be the newest top dog, pressure mod is included. RAM height compatibility list(Thanks JeevusCompact). Rampage II Extreme motherboard shorting issue with VenX (Thanks Juravieal)
NOTE: Ven-X comes in 2 other "flavors". A black model and RT which comes with a fan.
. - NH-D14 - It's new, it's huge and supposedly beats nearly everything on reviews. What more could you ask for? Oh yea, it comes with 2 fans.
. - Cogage Arrow - The replacement of the IFX-14 heatsink. It has the ability to install (3x) 120x38mm fans for some extreme cooling. The problem with the Arrow is that it is rather bulky.
. - Prolimatech Megahalem - This cooler, in my opinion, is currently one of the best heatsinks on the market right now, it has an easy to install solid mount and there is no need to lap the cooler. Quote from Prolimatech site
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Prolimatech does not condone any type of lapping done to the CPU or to heatsink base. Every Prolimatech's heatsink base is designed on a pin-point scale of how the base is to be flat and/or curved where it's needed to be. We have programed our machines to machine the surface in a very calculated way. Any after-manufacture lapping or modding done to the base will alter the design, hence negating its performance factor as well as its warranty. - TRUE - Short for ThermalRight Ultra Extreme, is also a very good cooler, it follows right behind the Megahalem. However, the TRUE usually comes with a very non-flat base requiring you lap the cooler (Rev.C is the exception) and other various mods like the washer pressure mod. Still recommended if you can't find the Megahalem.
. - Thor's Hammer - Features Heatpipe Direct Touch (HDT) technology, which should allow for better transfer of heat. A generally solid choice if the above 5 are not available in your area.
. - Scythe Mugen 2 - This cooler is HUGE. However, its very cheap, at only 40$, who could go wrong with this beast? It cools as well as a TRUE (unlapped).
. - Xigmatek Balder - Great looking cooler. Updated version of the Dark Knight, now supporting two fans & and 1156/1366 bolt through kits.
. - Xigmatek S1283 - The exact same cooler as the Dark Knight with two exceptions...its not plated with Black material to make it look cooler and the Dark Knight fan is significantly better.
.
CM Hyper 212+
- Great price for damn good HDT cooling. Possibly best bang for buck cooler.
Google CPU Coolers Comparison Spreadsheet
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tP4hr0YsZyNG_Q1DUAMPcwg&w=78&h=650 Google Spreadsheet
The following quote is strictly my opinion based on the mass of responses and reviews in the OCN community. This is the ranking based solely on performance on how I see the above coolers perform IF same TIM, same performance fans, same CPU were used, however this does not take into consideration price, size, or ease of installation:
Quote:
1) NH-D14 2) Cogage Arrow 3) VenX 4) Megahalem 5) TRUE 6) Thor's Hammer 7) Mugen 2 8) Balder 9) Xig S1283 10) 212+ |
- Thermalright APX-140 RT
- CoolIT ECO ALC or Corsair H50 (honarable mentions for the low profile Block/Pump combos that can fit in most cases. Even in mITX solutions like the Sugo 5, 6, & 7)
- Prolimatech Samuel 17
- Cooler Master Gemini II s RevB
- Scythe Shurkiken RevB