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Hi guys,
Trying to decide on a new CPU cooler. Will initially be on an LGA1156 board but will probably get a 2500K at some point.
On Scan the ones of note are:
Akasa Venom - £35
Be Quiet! Dark Rock Advanced - £40
Alpenfohn Matterhorn The Beast - £40
Thermalright Venomous X RT - £42
Thermalright Archon - £44
Any other coolers around this price point I should be looking at?
And any comments on which one is the best?
Thanks!
I've only really considered the Gelid Tranquillo for a build I have coming up in December (i5 2500K) as I'm strictly limiting my own budget - not entirely sure how well it performs against the others you are looking at hough.
I'm in a similar position to you. What are your main priorities? If it's noise levels then go for a mid-large size tower cooler with a low RPM PWM fan (or a cooler with a separate fan controller). And check out the reviews of most of these heatsinks on www.silentpcreview.com, it's an excellent review source for many of these big, (relatively) silent coolers (no disrespect to our host site here!).
I've looked at many coolers, but my shortlist is:
CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ (cheap, good performance. Consider replacing the stock fan for a better/quieter PWM fan)
Scythe Mugen 3* (Replacement for the great Mugen 2)
Scythe Ninja 3
Thermalright Archon (great cooler, very quiet fan but watch out as it stands 170mm tall and doesn't fit in some cases)
Thermalright Silver Arrow (/Cogage Arrow, same cooler, different fan. Big heatsink, fans on the Silver Arrow make it teh awesome but again it's massive)
Thermalright Venomous X RT (the SPCR review of the Venomous X Silent Edition version of this cooler with 2 600rpm fans suggest it is a very serious contender)
Prolimatech Megahalems/Armageddon (both do well in many reviews)
Zalman CNPS10X QUIET
Noctua NH-D14
*I was pretty much decided on getting the Scythe Mugen 2 after a LOT of research - however it's been replaced by v.3, which uses a different design. The Mugen 3 appears to be a little less efficient and a little louder that v.2, which prompted me to keep looking around and considering alternatives again. I might still go with the Mugen 3 but keep getting tempted by the Archon, Armageddon,
Also, check out this RWLabs review of the Mugen 3. It has some great charts comparing idle, load, and noise levels of many of the top CPU coolers around at the moment, including many of the coolers you're considering (or might be once you see the charts!)
Thanks Tim, that link was informative.
Personally I have ruled out stuff like the NH-D14, Silver Arrow and Phanteks, as I'm not looking to OC to the absolute limit and therefore feel there's no point spending £55+ on a cooler.
The CM 212+ obviously gets a lot of love, and I have no doubt it's excellent for the price, but if I can get something quieter and/or better performing then I don't mind spending a little more.
I've read some reviews and have ruled out a few, and added a few others. I'm now looking at:
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus - £22
Gelid Tranquillo - £24
Corsair A70 - £29
Be Quiet! Dark Rock Advanced - £40
Thermalright Venomous X-RT - £41
Thermalright Archon - £43
I want good performance, but I want it to be basically inaudible inside my P182, and I'm worried that the cheaper coolers won't be whisper quiet.
Frosty Tech (http://www.frostytech.com/) do some interesting cooler reviews and provides rankings based on their own test bed. Obviously these figures won't translate directly into another chassis but a a relative indication of individual cooler strengths and weaknesses, I find it very interesting.
They also produce a top 5 (10?) coolers based on temps and noise for both and AMD and Intel setup which might intereset some. Some pretty inexpensive coolers perform very well against their more expensive counterparts.
I'm leaning towards the Archon if it will fit, for the best balance between performance and noise (without spending a small fortune).
If it doesn't fit in my P182 then I will probably get the Dark Rock. I think it looks a lot nicer than the Archon and from the reviews I've read it seems even quieter if anything, but it doesn't appear to perform quite as well and is also trickier to mount.
This thread suggests the Archon won't fit in a P182. YMMV! http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/.../t-266699.html
The Venomous X-RT still looks like a winner, if it fits the P182. It has an excellent pressure mounting system, similar to the one used on the Prolimatech Megahalems. There's another useful roundup of coolers here, and the Venoumous X-RT comes out on top: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.ph...=447&Itemid=62
The Zalman CNPS10X-Performa also rates very highly in that roundup and can be found for about £27 inc VAT, making it excellent value - better than the Hyper 212+ in the sub-£30 bracket, IMHO.
my vote goes for the Gelid Tranquillo, I've just fit one on an i5 2500 + fractal case plus asus p8z68 board with two stick of mem - I would recommend the low profile mem sticks although the punky vengeance ones would also fit on this config.
i recommend the Noctua cpu fan
A work colleague of mine recently built a i5 2500K system clocked to 4.4GHz (x44). He used a stock Coolermaster Hyper 212+ cooler and one of the HAF cases with a window. With the CPU at full load (all 4 cores) his temps hit 58'C after a few minutes. Idle temperature is around 23'C. Seems OK results for the outlay.
Hank, what temps are you achieving at idle and load with your Gelid Tranquilo, and are you overclocking? I'll be getting an i5 2500 + Fractal case (Define R3) plus Asus P8Z68-V so would be v interested to see how your rig is running. I'm also looking to hit a x44/x45 multiplier.
After checking out frostytech, The Zalman CNPS10X-Performa has fairly weak performance when run quiet, and only keeps up with the best when the fan is running full pelt at 2000rpm and putting out 59dBA. That one is off my list then!
The Be Quiet! Dark Rock Advanced does seem to put in a pretty acceptable performance if you're running it on a 2500K with a moderate overclock (and no overvolting). But its mounting system is tricky, as you said. It does look nice - always a bonus.
The Venomous X (or X-RT) seems to put in its best perfomance when running with a pair of low RPM fans in push-pull, as adding a second fan can drop load temps by 5'C. But buying a 2nd fan puts it close to a £50 outlay overall.
After re-reading the RWLabs review, the Mugen 3 is back on my shortlist, personally. Which is now:
£40+ bracket
Scythe Mugen 3 - £43
Thermalright Archon - £44
Themalright Venomous X-RT - £42 (/Silent Edition @ £45)
sub £40
Gelid Tranquilo - £24
Coolermaster Hyper 212+ - £22
I'm leaning towards the Archon, personally, for it's great mounting system and performance and the fact I've used Thermalright before and been impressed. It just better fit in the Define R3 case!
If the Archon doesn't fit in the P182 I wouldn't have thought it'll fit in the Define R3 sadly.
Does the Venomous X-RT have the same mounting system as the Archon?
I hadn't seen the 'Silent Edition' before with the two 600rpm fans. That looks quite interesting and gets a good write up on SPCR. It only seems to be available at OCUK from what I can tell and they'll probably want about £15 for P&P. :rolleyes:
Aargh! You're right, the Define R3 "supports CPU coolers with height of ~165mm" according to the FD website. That rules out the Archon at 170mm clearance.
The Venomous X-RT is 160mm tall and uses the pressure mount system - check it out here
I like the look of the Silent Edition too :). Just not the only retailer it appears to be available from. Come on Scan!
Yeah they want £8.50 for P&P. For something that probably costs all of £4 tops, 1st Class Recorded.
If Scan carried the X-RT2 I'd go for that one I think. As it is I'll probably go for the Dark Rock Advanced.
Why is that some coolers (Artic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro / Coolermaster Hyper 212) costs about £10-12 and others go up to about £40+?
Is there that much difference between them?
Why didnt you consider Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme Rev.C with 140mm Thermalright TY-140? totals around 40 and does the job..
Good shout, CivilDrone.
Gah, another one added to the mix. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.
I have seen the Gelid Tranquillo mentioned more than a few times in system builds and it is on my shopping list: subscribing
The Gelid GX-7 is also interesting. Looks like it just came out recently, and is in the ~£40 bracket. There's a review here: http://vr-zone.com/articles/gelid-so...w/13564-1.html. It appears to perform on-par with the Thermaltake Frio, Xigmatek Aegir, Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro C1 on both temperature and noise (and outperforms all of these if you also use Gelid's GX Extreme thermal compound - I guess that pushes the price up a little as that's another £8 for a 3.5g tube).
It doesn't look like the TRUE Rev C comes with the same pressure mounting system as the Venomous X RT. Other than that, it's a very similar design. Only issue with getting 'bare' heatsinks is that adding a single low RPM PWM fan tends to add at least another £7-12, if you're going for the 'usual suspect' quality fans such as Scythe Gentle Typhoons, Gelid Silent Wing, Silverstone APs etc, or even up to £40 for a pair of Noctua NF-P12s.
The TRUE RevC is a fair bit cheaper than the Venomous X though. With a fan it should still come in under £40, especially when it's on 'Today Only' at Scan.
Interesting you mention the Frio and Dark Rock together: my understanding was that the Frio was kinda noisy compared to the Dark Rock, though perhaps a tad cooler.
Will take a look at that GX-7, thanks.
I know a couple of people who were happy with this cooler and have even overclocked and got pretty decent temps still. I'm pretty sure Chillblast use this in their silent systems too.Quote:
Gelid Tranquillo
Yes and no, it depends on the cooler, the amount of cooling you want and how quiet you want it.Quote:
Originally Posted by CK1
something like the ACF7Pv2 or hyper212+ are great coolers for stock settings or mild overclocks, but if you really want to push your overclocking or keep you system very quiet then I would look at something better.
Most of the options listed are very good, I'd add to it the Coolermaster V6 as a decent sub £40 cooler
And there is the good old Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme (aka TRUE) I'd get an akasa venom or apache fan to go with it for PWM on a scythe gentle typhoon for non-PWM
The Scythe Yasya is pretty good if I remember correctly
Slightly over at £45 but the Antec KUHLER H2O 620 is worth a look.
This is what i'd like to know as well. i've bought the first version of the Arctic Cooler, for a scratch built PC containing a socket 775 QX6800 because it was recommended at the time by Custom PC magazine since those processors run very hot, then i bought the rev2 which allows for more compatibility with 1366, 1156, 1155 and 775. a good stop gap until i get on liquid cooling.Quote:
Originally Posted by CK1
Since this thread has been dug up I thought I'd reply.
I use an Enermax Magma with my TRUE and they work brilliantly together. Even under extreme stress(Prime95) my Q9550 CPU @3825Mhz doesn't go above 60 degrees. I would highly recommend that combination as well as using the fans suggested by Pob255 :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Pob255
Don't mean to hijack, but wanted to say I was considering liquid cooling myself (H60), for my own build, but the number look pretty good with this combo - Pob suggested a few fans, which ones did you mean specifically?Quote:
I use an Enermax Magma with my TRUE and they work brilliantly together. Even under extreme stress(Prime95) my Q9550 CPU @3825Mhz doesn't go above 60 degrees. I would highly recommend that combination as well as using the fans suggested by Pob255
Cheers.
@ Megalon
The Akasa Venom and Apache fans are very good, probably the best airflow you can get from 120mm fans. The Scythe Gentle Typhoon is also pretty good. I would also have to recommend the Alpenföhn Föhn 120 Wing Boost, I will be getting some of them to replace my more noisy fans.
These are the respective specifications for each fan:
Akasa Venom/Viper - £11.15
Akasa Apache - £10.78
Scythe Gentle Typhoon - £12.94
Enermax Magma - £8.38
Alpenföhn Föhn 120 Wing Boost - £10.78
I chose the Enermax Magma due to it's reported longevity and cheaper price compared to the rest. At high speeds it is quite noisy when attached to your case but you hardly hear it when put on a heatsink. The Scythe Gentle Typhoon is probably the most expensive for the least airflow so I wouldn't get it myself being a cheapskate and all. The Akasa Venom/Viper is probably the highest airflow but also the most noisy, probably worth it with the extra airflow tbh. For a balance between noise and airflow the Akasa Apache is the best, great airflow for low RPM and noise, brilliant option for noise concious people.
So take your pick, prices were taken from Scan.co.uk
PS: I have the first generation Coolermaster CM690 case with 85CFM 140mm fan at the bottom and 2 140mm 45CFM fans at the top providing the airflow from bottom to top. This case is renowned for it's exceptional airflow so you might not achieve similar results.
Thanks for the comprehensive list :)
I was thinking of going with the CM690 II originally, but prefer the design of the Fractal R3 - although I'm aware the cooling isn't as good.
Is it possible to remove/turn off the blue lights (LEDS?) on the front of the Coolermaster case do you know?
On my case the only LED's are found on the included fan, so I removed that to get rid of the light. I think it might be the same for the newer ones.
Just to make sure you don't buy too many fans the one spot on the side panel won't fit a 120/140mm fan if you use the TRUE, it's too tall. So you can fit 4x 140mm fans and 2x 120mm in the case.