Best air CPU cooler

[Dreaming]

Well, since christmas is here and all I thought I'd treat myself (since I'm losing one of my bikes ). I've got an artic cooling freezer 7 pro at the minute, and I'm going over to a Lian-Li PC-A05 in a few days. So I thought I'd treat myself to the best heatsink there is really. And I'll do all the lapping and stuff too. I'm not sure whether to watercool the 8800 since heat seems to be a problem in this case... but that's a whole other issue.

What's the best performing air cooler? Preferably one with a backplate that needs screwing on. It would have the rear exhaust fan blowing cool air onto it, and possibly a fan on the other side to suck air through it and towards the HDDs / memory at the front of the case (which is then extracted by another fan on the other side of the HDDs... quite BTXey, except for the 8800 which will literally melt).

[Cornholio]

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[freddie]

it's never as straightforward as that

you can get performance and then you can add the noise factor into it. if you want a good balance then i understand the sythe mine is good on both accounts.

just plain old performance, would lead to the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme.

lapping is a good idea. i started a thread about that a while ago and there were some interesting thoughts in that. will you be brave enough to lap the cpu?!

[Blitzen]

I dont know about THE best
but
I use the Scythe Mine and i would definitely say that price versus performance its up there easily.

Even in the summer, with a 32% overclock, my CPU never went above 39 degrees and you cannot hear it.

[Taz]

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme - very big, very heavy but not much will beat it. It uses a motherboard backplate. Stick a decent 120mm fan on it and the jobs a good 'un.

Probably not worth it if you're not going to overclock though.

[moogle]

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme - very big, very heavy but not much will beat it. It uses a motherboard backplate. Stick a decent 120mm fan on it and the jobs a good 'un.

Probably not worth it if you're not going to overclock though.

agreed, thermalright ultra 120's are the best. although the hexus review doesn't rate it the best. but thats just 1 review out of many others that have rated it #1. so I went with the majority anyway. once you got that backplate it's so easy to install and remove. scythe miné is another good one. was the #1 choice for me till i saw the thermalright. it has some compatibility issues with am2 rentention brackets on some mobos though so check out the site if you have a am2 system and plan on getting one.

[godsdog]

Most of the mid-priced air coolers will do a job for you, it depends on what job you want doing

Have a good read through AnandTech: Thermalright Ultima-90: Small Wonder? give you some ideas regarding performance, size, weight, value.

[Max Tractor]

On the off chance of sounding repetitive(I have posted about the coolers I have used a few times)

Thermalright XP-120/Scythe Ninja+/Tuniq Tower/Artic Cooler Freezer 64 Pro

Ran them all, very little in it under load, bang for buck, although I am basing the ac 64 pro price at around £10/11, the ac takes it. Personal preference would be the tuniq tower, great cooling, fan mounted internally swings it

[IAmATeaf]

Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme - very big, very heavy but not much will beat it. It uses a motherboard backplate. Stick a decent 120mm fan on it and the jobs a good 'un.

Probably not worth it if you're not going to overclock though.

If you're not planning on overclocking but might at a later date then consider the standard Ultra 120A, same dimensions as the Extreme, a few degrees off the Extreme but much lighter on the wallet.

[godsdog]

And the Ultima-90 beats them all apart from the 120 Extreme in all but a few circumstances. At £24 you can't really go wrong and you have good future-proofing for silly overclocking later on.

[JIM_BOB7813]

it's never as straightforward as that

you can get performance and then you can add the noise factor into it. if you want a good balance then i understand the sythe mine is good on both accounts.

just plain old performance, would lead to the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme.

lapping is a good idea. i started a thread about that a while ago and there were some interesting thoughts in that. will you be brave enough to lap the cpu?!

I've heard that the Miné has mounting issues because of its weight and only having push-pins to hold it down.
I would go for the Ultima 90 + 120mm fan of your choice, a Tuniq tower, or if you want to be lavish go for the 120 Extreme although it's probably not the best value for money.

EDIT: Regarding the Ultra 120A, from what i've read it has the same performance (and same price) as the Ultima 90 so it really depends if you want the extra size/weight.

[godsdog]

I've heard that the Miné has mounting issues because of its weight and only having push-pins to hold it down.

I've fitted a couple now, no issues whatsoever, and it's weight and size is nowhere near what people seem to think, it's "average" sized. It's a good cooler for sensible overclocking and convenience, the push-pins are a great idea.

I await Blitzen .......

[godsdog]

....and Scan have just now got the Thermalright Ultima-90's in stock - apparently.

[Blitzen]

I've heard that the Miné has mounting issues because of its weight and only having push-pins to hold it down

Probably if it was fitted by someone that took little care.

If you are careful fitting it and take your time it is very easy.
Its also not that heavy although a big cooler.

Its ideal for LGA775 skts but there is indeed issues whn fitting to an AMD board.

[moogle]

If you're not planning on overclocking but might at a later date then consider the standard Ultra 120A, same dimensions as the Extreme, a few degrees off the Extreme but much lighter on the wallet.

dont forget the ultra 120A doesn't support am2 boards. but for £3.53 you can get the am2 bolt thru kit which allows you to do that. i would have got one but i got socket T now soo no need for it.

And the Ultima-90 beats them all apart from the 120 Extreme in all but a few circumstances. At £24 you can't really go wrong and you have good future-proofing for silly overclocking later on.

ultra 120 is £25.83 so just for £1.83 more you get better cooling.

[Pob255]

Have recently helped two friends, one to fit a Scythe mine and the other a thermalright ultra 120 extreme, I'd say go for the extreme if you can afford it.

The problem with the Mine is that it's still quite large and uses push pins, the cooler vaines sit over the pin blocking direct access to them from above and if you've got a motherboard with heat pipes and PWM coolers the push pins get even harder to get at and apply the force needed to click them in.

However a word of caution on the Ultra120 extreme, it's very very tall, many large cases only have 1 or 2mm clearance between the side pannel and the top of the cooler.

Another option to look at is the thermaltake Big typhoon, which is also suposed to be very good, although large and heavy (esp as the weight is all at the far end so to speak)

I'd say the Ultima-90 is a good option to look at (I've got on coming on tuesday )

PS the thermalright bolt through kits can be bought seperately so you can remove the intel push pins and use a bolt through on other coolers.