Recommended CPU Coolers

[HeLLspAWn]

I've noticed that cooling is a complex "thingy" and requires standalone topic.

Post your recommended and not recommended CPU Coolers here including the following:
- CPU Cooler name/model
- Price (used or new)
- CPU Make/model + it's clock speed
- Temperature results with and/or without overclocked CPU idle/moderate usage (in game)/stress (prime95 etc.)
- PC Case make/model + additional information if you added more fans than fabric amount.
- Why do you recommend it/why do you not recommend it? (This also means subjective feelings about assembly difficulty, build quality, overall look and overall feeling).

[Skyward]

BeQuiet Silent Loop 280 (AIO) + BeQuiet Silent Base 800 + i5 7600K (Turbo 3.8 to 4.2ghz - ram 2133mhz)
34°c idle, 65°c stress, stealth fans

BeQuiet Silent Loop 280 (AIO) + BeQuiet Silent Base 800 + i5 7600K (OC 4.5ghz - ram 3000 mhz)
40°c idle, 67°c stress, noisy fans (PWM)

BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro 3 + Cooler Master Silencio 500 + i5 3570K (Turbo 3.4 to 3.8ghz - ram 1280mhz)
54°c idle, 66°c stress, mid noise

Cooler Master Hyper TX3 + Cooler Master Silencio 500 + i5 3570K (Turbo 3.4 to 3.8ghz - ram 1280mhz)
59°c idle, 75°c stress, very noisy

I recommand any watercooling AIOs or big coolers, but those will require a big PC case (besides the BeQuiet Silent Loop 120 which may be a very good choice for smaller cases), a bigger cooler than necessary allows you hold decent temperatures while keeping a decent noise level. The temps are secured in case of hot and dry weather too. I reserve smaller coolers for low end computers or for those who don't care about the noise and who prefers to pay less money.
My personnal preference goes to BeQuiet, Noctua and Alphacool.

[Zeo]

Cooler: DEEPCOOL THETA 15 PWM
Price: 6,73 $ (new)
CPU: Intel Core i3-3210 3.2 GHz
Temp: 29° idle, stress will be added later, gotta test it next night (I'll try to render fragmovie and play DOOM at the same time)
PC Case: Zalman Z3 Plus (Midi-tower, 4x120mm fans)

I've bought it because I was looking for a cheap cooler which uses screws to be attached to the mboard. Comparing the temps, Intel's cooler sucked hard compared to this one

[Skyward]

Cooler: DEEPCOOL THETA 15 PWM
Price: 6,73 $ (new)
CPU: Intel Core i3-3210 3.2 GHz
Temp: 29° idle, stress will be added later, gotta test it next night (I'll try to render fragmovie and play DOOM at the same time)
PC Case: Zalman Z3 Plus (Midi-tower, 4x120mm fans)

I've bought it because I was looking for a cheap cooler which uses screws to be attached to the mboard. Comparing the temps, Intel's cooler sucked hard compared to this one

is that thing seriously efficient for 6 bucks? xD

[AmcoTraD]

wow this is though, i dont know where i am gonna start...


it all depends on the internal thermal compound that intel uses on each CPU
the thermal compound structure and thermoconductivity of it depends on usage and age
And it also depends alot on the external thermal compound ofcourse, that's why you should mention it aswell

so a newer CPU has a relatively fresh (internal) thermal compopund installed and thus got a better heatspread than an old one
no matter what "high performance" cooler you get for your "old" CPU, if you still get poor results you now know why

decrease the voltage: if you decrease the general Vcore voltage by maybe 10-20% it eventually saves you -30°
this might cause some bluescreens until you find a stable value.. but it saves you a HUGE amount of heat and thus increases lifetimes dramatically

No CPU or GPU is identical: soldering spots, material, thermal compound may differ by a huge margin,so you can never tell generally how a cooler does its job on several CPU models - don't be disappointed if you get much higher temps than expected

"is that thing seriously efficient for 6 bucks?"
read about your CPUs informations and its TDP - if you have a TDP of 40W (i3) you can even put a stock cooler for 2 Bucks on it and have temps below 68°

Prime95:
tells nothing - this is a very useless tool for consumers like us.. it was mainly build for servers to run virtual extreme situations, no PC will ever come to situations like that over the same time
in my opinion the tool "Heavyload" does a better job that comes closer to gaming situations - just enable CPU and GPU load leave it run for a while and read temps with HW Monitor...


so enoughly written, here are my results:

- Corsair H100i / + BeQuiet Silent Wings
- 30€ used / 20€ new
- i7 4790K / stock clocks, 20% undervolted
- stock clocks using Heavyload for 20 minutes = 71° max fans at 30%
- Phanteks Enthoo Pro
- i would never recommend a cooler that costs more than 40€
- thermal compound: Arctic Cooling MX-4 / 17€ 20g

[HeLLspAWn]

Why didn't you start such topic then? I forgot about the things you've mentioned. Especially thermal compound, which is very important.

[AmcoTraD]

if i start creating topics about my knowledge and experience i wouldn't know where to start and where to end, but when i read smaller hardware "chapters" it's easier for me to focus

[HeLLspAWn]

You must be god then.

I have to write about the two coolers I've mounted and tested in some programs other than prime95. SilentiumPC Fera 3 v2 and SilentiumPC Spartan Pro 3. Cheap and efficient. I even wonder if it's really necessary to use these programs to make tests. I think if the temps are acceptable while playing demanding games or using demanding programs in a long term (let's say rendering video in a video editing program), then there's no need to push the CPU to the limits with cpu testing software.

[AmcoTraD]

this should be interesting for some customers to get into the basics:

[HeLLspAWn]

so enoughly written, here are my results:

- Corsair H100i / + BeQuiet Silent Wings
- 30€ used / 20€ new (wat)?
- i7 4790K / stock clocks, 20% undervolted
- stock clocks using Heavyload for 20 minutes = 71° max fans at 30%
- Phanteks Enthoo Pro
- i would never recommend a cooler that costs more than 40€
- thermal compound: Arctic Cooling MX-4 / 17€ 20g

lul?

[AmcoTraD]

lul?

30€ for the H100i used and 20€ for the 2 fans new (thought it was clear, sorry)

[HeLLspAWn]

Ok. The thermal conductor under the IHS, I think it doesn't really make any noticeable difference (no matter if it's 2 years old or 10 years old processor). The temperature difference on the same external cooling conditions will be negligible, maybe 1-3 degrees of C. That's what I've noticed on my old C2D E6750 and C2Q Q6600 on Intel stock coolers (now they hawe a third party cooler installed so I could overclock the Q6600 a little bit).

Funny thing is that such an old processor from early 2007 performs better than some new 2016 Intel series. The only advantage of new processors is the power they require. New generations are really power-saving units.

[GraphX of GZ wow]

New generations are really power-saving units.

some high end cpus should drain more energy, even 140 watts

[AmcoTraD]

coolance is the most important factor (aside from material) of electricity, that's why chips got so efficient over the years - the transistors (FinFet) got placed closerly together by time and thus grants better cooling performance

if a CPU runs 1-7 degree hotter or cooler it just means it consumes more or less watts, that's basically it
to be honest i don't know any CPU from 2007 that beats a current Intel CPU

[HeLLspAWn]

to be honest i don't know any CPU from 2007 that beats a current Intel CPU

You mean-performance?