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Thread: Good low profile cooler for i5 2500?

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    Good low profile cooler for i5 2500?

    My partner wants a new rig and she wants it to be small, so i'm going to build her a cheap ITX system and i'm letting her have my current CPU which is a standard Core i5 2500 (means i can get myself an Ivy Bridge )... Will the Arctic Freezer 11 LP be good enough to keep the i5 2500 cool when gaming? The case will either be a 'Bitfenix Prodigy' or the cheaper 'Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced' mini-ITX case (airflow should be ok with either of these). I need a low profile cooler that's better than Intel's stock coolers and one that won't block the RAM or PCI-E slots on a mini ITX board (probably go for a cheap Asrock H61M-ITX or similar).


    Anyone recommend anything else or is the Arctic 11 LP ok? I'm not looking to spend silly money or get liquid cooling either! Cheers


    This will be the rig i'm going to build (trying out Overclockers UK for a change ):

    CPU: Intel Core i5 2500 (non 'K' version, so no overclocking) - i already have this
    RAM: 8GB TeamGroup Elite DDR3 RAM
    Mobo: Asrock H61M-ITX mobo (or similar from Asus or Gigabyte)
    Case: Bitfenix Prodigy - or - Cooler Master Elite 120 ITX case
    HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB HDD
    Optical: Generic DVDRW drive (don't care which brand - all very similar to me )
    PSU: OCZ ZT 550W modular PSU
    GPU: Either a Radeon 7870 or maybe a GTX 660 Ti (she wants Borderlands 2, so i'm leaning towards the 660 Ti )


    You can probably tell i'm trying to keep it cheap
    Last edited by PowerPie5000; 04-09-2012 at 04:48 PM.

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    Re: Good low profile cooler for i5 2500?

    There is no real point for you to get an IB,CPU as the performance increase is minimal. OTH,for her computer,the TDP reduction on the IB Core i5 is useful.

    This Core i5 has a 35W TDP and is around £140:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...rt-cache-35w-o

    Its also not clocked that much lower than the higher TDP versions either.

    There is also this slightly cheaper Core i5 with a 69W TDP:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...dmi-69w-retail

    Either would do with the standard SB stock cooler used with the 95W TDP Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs.

    Also,the HD7950 has dropped a lot in price - I would actually give her your HD6870 and keep the HD7950!!

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    Re: Good low profile cooler for i5 2500?

    I thought i'd give her my i5 so i can get the newer tech Ivy with PCI-E 3.0 and DDR3 1600 support, with a slight performance increase (seeing as i have to buy another CPU anyway). She mainly wants it for gaming, so i think the i5 will perform a bit better and last a bit longer than lower clocked, lower TDP CPU's. I was also thinking about giving her my 6870, but she wants something newer with a bit more grunt (hard to please just like me )... She's also seen a few PhysX videos

    I've not got my 7950 yet, but i'm leaning towards the HIS IceQ version (with boost) based on the good reviews

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    Re: Good low profile cooler for i5 2500?

    Just realise the i5 3470T is a dual core! Scrap that then!

    I would stick with the stock cooler. In a case with good airflow,it won't be an issue IMHO.

    I would probably get her a GTX660 non-TI if the price is right.

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    Re: Good low profile cooler for i5 2500?

    Quote Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH View Post
    Just realise the i5 3470T is a dual core! Scrap that then!

    I would stick with the stock cooler. In a case with good airflow,it won't be an issue IMHO.

    I would probably get her a GTX660 non-TI if the price is right.
    I didn't know there were non-Ti 660's out there? Might be a good choice if the price is similar to a 7870... I'm sure the performance will be similar (just more eye candy with PhysX - something i'm personally not bothered about).

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    Re: Good low profile cooler for i5 2500?

    Quote Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH View Post
    I would stick with the stock cooler. In a case with good airflow,it won't be an issue IMHO.
    I forgot to mention i don't have the stock cooler as i bought my CPU as an OEM part . I'm sure the Arctic Freezer 11 LP can't be any worse than the stock cooler? I've also looked at some other heatsinks such as the Cooler Master GeminII and the Scythe Shuriken, but they look quite wide (The RAM slots and especially the PCI-E slot are very close to the CPU on ITX boards).

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    Re: Good low profile cooler for i5 2500?

    Quote Originally Posted by PowerPie5000 View Post
    I forgot to mention i don't have the stock cooler as i bought my CPU as an OEM part . I'm sure the Arctic Freezer 11 LP can't be any worse than the stock cooler? I've also looked at some other heatsinks such as the Cooler Master GeminII and the Scythe Shuriken, but they look quite wide (The RAM slots and especially the PCI-E slot are very close to the CPU on ITX boards).
    Stock cooler is £5 off Scan!!

    Quote Originally Posted by PowerPie5000 View Post
    I didn't know there were non-Ti 660's out there? Might be a good choice if the price is similar to a 7870... I'm sure the performance will be similar (just more eye candy with PhysX - something i'm personally not bothered about).
    It seems they will be released this month. I suspect that the HD7870 will be generally ahead especially with AA applied if you take an average of reviews,but in Nvidia sponsored games it will probably be fine!! I would be surprised if a GTX660 non-TI could not run BD2 at decent settings at 1920X1080 TBH!

    It should reasonably decent power consumption I suspect too!
    Last edited by CAT-THE-FIFTH; 04-09-2012 at 05:12 PM. Reason: typo

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    Re: Good low profile cooler for i5 2500?

    Quote Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH View Post
    Stock cooler is £5 off Scan!!
    Great! I hope it's not too loud though (she used to have a Phenom II with a very obnoxious stock fan and hated it )


    Quote Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH View Post
    It seems they will be released this month. I suspect that the HD7870 will be generally ahead especially with AA applied if you take an average of reviews,but in Nvidia sponsered games it will probably be fine!! I would be surprised if a GTX660 non-TI could not run BD2 at decent settings at 1920X1080 TBH!

    It should reasonably decent power consumption I suspect too!
    Sounds like one to keep an eye out for


    I'm also building a similar system on Scan so that i can compare prices

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    Re: Good low profile cooler for i5 2500?

    Well, i didn't bother going for a mini-ITX rig in the end as the CPU coolers are either crap or they block the PCI-E slot... Too much hassle finding a decent one.

    I decided to order the following (except CPU) for a cheap gaming rig:

    *Intel Core i5 2500 CPU (i already have this) with Arctic Freezer 7 Pro rev 2 cooler
    *Asrock B75 PRO3-M motherboard
    *8GB of OCUK Value DDR3 RAM (nothing special, but should do the job )
    *KFA2 (Galaxy) Geforce GTX 660 Ti EX OC
    *1TB Toshiba 7K1000.D HDD
    *Generic DVDRW optical drive (OCUK own brand?)
    *Xigmatek Asgard Pro ATX case (didn't like any of their micro-ATX cases, and this one seems good for a budget build - good airflow )
    *Cooler Master GX 550W PSU
    *24" AOC 2436VWA monitor (OCUK stock it as their own brand - not sure why?)
    *Logitech X140 speakers
    *Dark Lady gaming mouse (some Chinese brand called OVANN i think?).
    *Xenta CG-EL2027M illuminated keyboard
    *TP-Link TL-WN7200ND high gain wireless N (USB)
    *Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (OEM)

    Should keep her happy for a while!

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