Haswell aftermarket cooler?

[AD-15]

Hello,

I am looking at building a mid-range Haswell system and am searching for an appropriate aftermarket CPU cooler that would be compatible.

I've become accustomed to full blown water cooling in my main system and have been using the same Zalman CPU cooler on a family member's system (which is going to be replaced by this new build) for 6/7 years (Zalman CNPS9700 NT I think). Therefore, I'm completely lost with the huge choice of coolers available. I can't stay with the current Zalman one due to not having the LGA115x backplate (came as part of another pre-built system from Scan).

I'm looking for something that would simply be more efficient in terms of cooling power over noise than the stock cooler that comes with Haswell CPUs. I don't plan to overclock the i5 4440 I'll be using. Preferably, it wouldn't be more than about £35, would leave RAM slots available to use (am planning on using typical finned memory as opposed to low profile), and would use some sort of backplate for assembly if it is particularly bulky/heavy.

If anyone has any input as to what might be suitable I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!

[AETAaAS]

I'd probably go for the CM Hyper 212 Evo. It's £27 on Amazon (Scan don't have any till 6th October) and it's a very competent cooler. It is clear of the RAM in a majority of builds including those with tall heat spreaders on RAM. I have seen some users put the fan on the rear for a pull config to open even more space up but I doubt you would have to go that far.

[ChinesePate]

at this pricetag I don't think there's anything better than 212 Evo mentioned above

there's a similar (price wise) one from Arctic, it's called i30.

[Listy2021]

I'll third the Evo 212 recommendation, cracking bit of kit for the price

[tonkins]

Evo212 was nice and quiet and did a good job of cooling in the last build I did with it. Make that a 4th recommendation

[Macadee]

I used one of these on a build recently, usual Thermalright high quality, offset for RAM clearance and a very quiet fan.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...30&subcat=2352

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/therm...d-amd-heatsink

[AD-15]

Many thanks for the advice guys!

Any chance there is a performance comparison between the Evo212 and the Thermalright 120M out there? They seem to be very similarly built, but I'm still wondering if there is any significant difference in performance.

I was also looking at the Coolermaster's scissor style retention mechanism - it looks very cheap/flimsy. Just how safe is it to mount coolers of this size/weight on a motherboard with such a mechanism? I have to admit, I am very concerned that the cooler could come loose, which would obviously cause a catastrophic amount of damage to the PC. Apologies if this seems like a silly question - I really have very little experience with air-cooling.

[Ginettor]

The hyper 212 attachment mechanism is sturdy enough to hold it and should be as good cooling wise as the thermalright

[qazzaq2004]

The Hyper 212 is a bit fiddly to install but nothing too hard. Haswell runs really hot though, this cooler will probably only net you 4.2ghz before the temps get out of control.

[karl751]

The corsair H80 (£36) and H100 (£40) are on today only if you fancy a refurb AIO cooler

[kweiming]

The corsair H80 (£36) and H100 (£40) are on today only if you fancy a refurb AIO cooler

Corsair H100 refurb from Scan: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsa...ator-plus-2-fa

[Dalem25]

Hyper 212 is very good go with cheap and very good!

[Kaelan]

Apart from the usual Hyper 212 evo recommendations (which IS very good!), Zalman do some very good value for money coolers. They start a little higher, but damn they're good for what you pay.

They're also one of the few manufacturers that still does proper full copper heatsinks.

[chohan01]

I'd go with a Hyper 212 EVO, it's around at £25 and it's one of the most popular budget CPU coolers around.
I've got one in my system right now!

[Bonebreaker777]

I may suggest Xigmatek Thor's Hammer.

Looks cool, cools passively and if not enough, add a fan . Or two.

[Phaydze]

+1 for the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO. If you do plan to extreme overclock, use a Corsair Hydro series water cooler ;D