Air cooler - low noise

[Scainer]

Just going through research and I'm wondering about the best low noise air cooler. Please expand my knowledge.

If I was just replacing stock i'd go with the arctic-cooling-freezer-i30

With overclocking, its not so straight forward.....
e.g.

nzxt-havik-140
or
thermalright-archon-sb-e-x2

Both could offer room for tall RAM



Then the heavy weights...

thermalright-silver-arrow

noctua-nh-d14

be-quiet!-dark-rock-pro-2

phanteks-premium




Does anyone have any experience with any of them? Its potentially for a Fractal Design Define R4 build

[Willzzz]

If you don't mind the fugly fan this is about as good as it gets:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Noctua/NH-U12S/

[Spank]

I've got a Dark rock pro 1 (2*120mm) & it's very quite, I'd imagine the DRP2 (with 1 120mm & 135mm) makes less noise.

[Marc_92]

I would go with the silver arrow, its arguably the best air cooler on the market . If you can afford to go with a cooler that has 2 heatsinks vs 1, always go for 2 just for the increased surface area.

[Willzzz]

I've got a Dark rock pro 1 (2*120mm) & it's very quite, I'd imagine the DRP2 (with 1 120mm & 135mm) makes less noise.

Somewhat amazingly the NH U12S is cooler, quieter and cheaper than the Dark Rock Pro 2 while being half a kilo lighter and less than half the size.
Amazing but true.

Doesn't look anywhere near as good mind

[YEHBABY]

Yes the Dark Rock Pro 2 is a nice looking cooler, but it's a pain to install.

[YEHBABY]

I would go with the silver arrow, its arguably the best air cooler on the market . If you can afford to go with a cooler that has 2 heatsinks vs 1, always go for 2 just for the increased surface area.

I've got the Silver Arrow. Great cooler, but it is massive. I think next time I'd be tempted to go for one of corsair's closed loop coolers.

[Bonebreaker777]

Xigmatek's Thor's Hammer is a right pain to install as well.
Wonder how it would work with one or two fans installed against the above mentioned coolers.
Nothing on the web,the cooler is too old :-(

[Phage]

I've got a Dark Rock Pro 2 in an R3. It's absolutlely silent and it's OK to install when you know a few tips. happy to share if you go that route.
For comparison purposes I'm running a 3570k at 4.5Ghz and my temps are exceedingly low. This is partially due to the chip being a good clocker (low volts), but I can vouch for the ability of the DRP2 to be very quiet and cool even in an resricted case like the R3.

[Scainer]

I'm now wondering how the NH-U14S compares with the D14, being able to use tall RAM could twist my arm.
Got to admit the Be Quiet stuff looks epic, but i'll have no window so looks not that important.

[Phage]

Yep. No tall RAM with the DRP2. I bought it for it's silence and performance, there's no window on mine either.
I think the conclusion here is bang on.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/coo...pro-2-review/3

[Willzzz]

I'm now wondering how the NH-U14S compares with the D14, being able to use tall RAM could twist my arm.
Got to admit the Be Quiet stuff looks epic, but i'll have no window so looks not that important.

Even the U12S beats the D14, albeit very slightly. The U14S will affect the first PCIe slot.



That is the DR Pro 2 btw, the full name just doesn't fit.

[Scainer]

The U14S will affect the first PCIe slot.

Hopefully its the Compatibility list FTW.
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=c...lng=en#LGA1150


The performance results from that review do show that the dual tower is not needed which is good (for RAM), and the difference between the u12s and u14s is small that we might have a winner. Nice one Willzzz