Which would you choose?

MeltingPoint · Feb 4, 2014

Hey guys,

I might get a used 2500K in the near future to upgrade my very old E7500 computer and I need opinions on which cooler to get.

I am down to three choices: CM Hyper 212 Evo/ Hyper 212X, Silverstone AR01 and Thermalright True Spirit 120M.

I plan to do only a mild-moderate overclock if I need to because I live in the tropics and temps here can stay at 30C all day.

I've read reviews of the coolers but I can't come to a decision because the tests weren't direct comparisons.

So which one would you suggest I get? You could also suggest other coolers for the same price range but I am limited to a max height of 160mm.

Thanks.

Schmuckley · Feb 4, 2014

Mugen3

Thermalright makes good stuff.

MeltingPoint · Feb 4, 2014

Unfortunately, I can't buy that one. It's not available from where I buy stuff.

Schmuckley · Feb 4, 2014

Silver Arrow?

MeltingPoint · Feb 4, 2014

Not availabe either. I'm limited to a max height of 160mm and I would want a single tower cooler. Case is Thermalrake V4. I'm limited in budget so I will reuse this case.

So guys, which of the three on the first post would you suggest? Or something similarly priced and with similar dimensions.

Schmuckley · Feb 4, 2014

link to where you're shopping?

MeltingPoint · Feb 4, 2014

eBay.

Schmuckley · Feb 4, 2014

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SilenX-EFZ-...?pt=US_CPU_Fans_Heatsinks&hash=item461a4200ea

I have one of these.They work good.

MeltingPoint · Feb 4, 2014

Thanks for your suggestions.

The reason I said some of those are not available because some sellers don't ship internationally.

I would like to hear from others as well.

MT Alex · Feb 4, 2014

Just get the cheapest one of the three you listed. 2500K chips run pretty cool with only a 95W TDP, and with a moderate OC any of the listed ones will perform just fine. If you want to get more discerning, I'd go for whichever is the most quiet. The AR01 is quiet, but the rubber fan brackets look nasty. The Hyper 212X has a redesigned fin shape that is supposed to make it quieter than the older 212s.

MeltingPoint · Feb 4, 2014

Yeah the fan of the AR01 looks bad. I think I'll just grab the 212.

Just a quick question, what uATX boards would you guys suggest I get that can can do mild-moderate OC that are under $100? I have been out of the computing world for a while now and I lost track of the current stuff.

theo2021 · Feb 4, 2014

Not thinking about artic cooling ?

Jetster · Feb 4, 2014

Just get the 212 and be done with it

ne6togadno · Feb 4, 2014

MeltingPoint said:
Yeah the fan of the AR01 looks bad. I think I'll just grab the 212.

Just a quick question, what uATX boards would you guys suggest I get that can can do mild-moderate OC that are under $100? I have been out of the computing world for a while now and I lost track of the current stuff.

z-series the one with heatsinks on vrms

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3962#sp

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3974#sp

MeltingPoint · Feb 4, 2014

How about an Asrock Z77M? Would this be a good choice?

MT Alex · Feb 4, 2014

It would be fine, but you have to make sure it has the bios P1.10 or newer, some Z77 boards with the initial bios only supported Ivy Bridge out of the box.

Deleted member 24505 · Feb 4, 2014

I'm using a corsair h55 on my 2500k which is at 4.6ghz 1.3v ish. Just a suggestion.

I guess it depends on your ambients though, it may not cut it were you are.

MeltingPoint · Feb 4, 2014

I've heard those 120mm closed loop coolers are not worth the money except for the H80i. Better stick with an air cooler for my purpose. Besides, ambient temps here hover between 26-30+ deg C.

Thanks for the help everyone.

Deleted member 24505 · Feb 4, 2014

MeltingPoint said:
I've heard those 120mm closed loop coolers are not worth the money except for the H80i. Better stick with an air cooler for my purpose. Besides, ambient temps here hover between 26-30+ deg C.

Thanks for the help everyone.

My h55 is doing a fine job with my 2500k at 4.6ghz, idle is 20-30 and load is max 60c, it is a tad chilly in the UK atm. I wouldn't say not worth the money myself though.

xvi · Feb 4, 2014

With ambient temps hovering around that, cooling will be fairly important if you plan any OC. If money is tight, it might be worth nabbing a stock cooler off eBay (should be inexpensive) for now and then worrying about an OC later once you can pick up a decent tower cooler.

If temps are really bad, you might have to try undervolting it.

MeltingPoint · Feb 4, 2014

It's double the price of the 212. I get my stuff mostly from eBay since local shops do not carry many items.

From what I've read, the newer 212s can perform par and sometimes even better than 120mm thin rad liquid coolers. So it's a no brainer in my case.

brandonwh64 · Feb 4, 2014

MeltingPoint said:
I've heard those 120mm closed loop coolers are not worth the money except for the H80i. Better stick with an air cooler for my purpose. Besides, ambient temps here hover between 26-30+ deg C.

Thanks for the help everyone.

Here is my review on a VERY nice water cooler in which I used a 2600K for testing at OC.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/thermaltake-water2-0-performer-review.166616/

rtwjunkie · Feb 4, 2014

I vote for the 212. Very good air cooler for the money, and definately good enough for 2500k with a mild OC.

xvi · Feb 4, 2014

A good, custom built water cooling loop paired up with a very high heat load will typically give you better temperatures than any air cooler.
AIOs are neither good cooling loops nor would I call a mildly clocked 2500k a high thermal load. All you'd get with an AIO is an empty wallet and a slightly quieter computer (although that didn't stop me). If a CM Hyper 212 is in your budget, I'd say it's a great choice and would likely be on par with any mid-range AIO.

Deleted member 24505 · Feb 4, 2014

xvi said:
A good, custom built water cooling loop paired up with a very high heat load will typically give you better temperatures than any air cooler.
AIOs are neither good cooling loops nor would I call a mildly clocked 2500k a high thermal load. All you'd get with an AIO is an empty wallet and a slightly quieter computer (although that didn't stop me). If a CM Hyper 212 is in your budget, I'd say it's a great choice and would likely be on par with any mid-range AIO.

My wallet is empty and my PC quiet, but my H55 is doing a grand job on my chip.

System Name	Some computer stuff
Processor	Mostly Intel or AMD
Motherboard	ATX or mATX
Cooling	Bong Cooler
Memory	DDR2-4
Video Card(s)	A few
Storage	Plenty Platters or SSDs or USBs
Display(s)	Samsung 23"
Case	5 on the floor
Audio Device(s)	There's one for my M7 Gene, Oh I have 3-4 PCI 5.1 ones.Sabrent! lol
Power Supply	750-1000W
Mouse	cheap
Keyboard	Used ps2 from garage sales
Software	Yeah
Benchmark Scores	http://hwbot.org/user/schmuckley/#Hardware_Library http://valid.canardpc.com/rbjpbg

System Name	Some computer stuff
Processor	Mostly Intel or AMD
Motherboard	ATX or mATX
Cooling	Bong Cooler
Memory	DDR2-4
Video Card(s)	A few
Storage	Plenty Platters or SSDs or USBs
Display(s)	Samsung 23"
Case	5 on the floor
Audio Device(s)	There's one for my M7 Gene, Oh I have 3-4 PCI 5.1 ones.Sabrent! lol
Power Supply	750-1000W
Mouse	cheap
Keyboard	Used ps2 from garage sales
Software	Yeah
Benchmark Scores	http://hwbot.org/user/schmuckley/#Hardware_Library http://valid.canardpc.com/rbjpbg

System Name	Some computer stuff
Processor	Mostly Intel or AMD
Motherboard	ATX or mATX
Cooling	Bong Cooler
Memory	DDR2-4
Video Card(s)	A few
Storage	Plenty Platters or SSDs or USBs
Display(s)	Samsung 23"
Case	5 on the floor
Audio Device(s)	There's one for my M7 Gene, Oh I have 3-4 PCI 5.1 ones.Sabrent! lol
Power Supply	750-1000W
Mouse	cheap
Keyboard	Used ps2 from garage sales
Software	Yeah
Benchmark Scores	http://hwbot.org/user/schmuckley/#Hardware_Library http://valid.canardpc.com/rbjpbg

System Name	Some computer stuff
Processor	Mostly Intel or AMD
Motherboard	ATX or mATX
Cooling	Bong Cooler
Memory	DDR2-4
Video Card(s)	A few
Storage	Plenty Platters or SSDs or USBs
Display(s)	Samsung 23"
Case	5 on the floor
Audio Device(s)	There's one for my M7 Gene, Oh I have 3-4 PCI 5.1 ones.Sabrent! lol
Power Supply	750-1000W
Mouse	cheap
Keyboard	Used ps2 from garage sales
Software	Yeah
Benchmark Scores	http://hwbot.org/user/schmuckley/#Hardware_Library http://valid.canardpc.com/rbjpbg

System Name	Red Babe
Processor	i7 2700K
Motherboard	Asus ROG Maximous IV
Cooling	Custom Water Cooling
Memory	16GB 1600Mhz Corsair Vengeance
Video Card(s)	Asus GTX 679 DCII
Storage	1TB Black 1TB Green 120GB GT SSD
Display(s)	ASUS PB278Q
Case	Obsidian 800D
Audio Device(s)	Creative SB Z
Power Supply	Enermax MODU87+ 900W
Software	Ubuntu + Windows 7

Which would you choose?

MeltingPoint

Schmuckley

MeltingPoint

Schmuckley

MeltingPoint

Schmuckley

MeltingPoint

Schmuckley

MeltingPoint

MT Alex

MeltingPoint

theo2021

Jetster

ne6togadno

MeltingPoint

MT Alex

Deleted member 24505

Guest

MeltingPoint

Deleted member 24505

Guest

xvi

MeltingPoint

brandonwh64

Addicted to Bacon and StarCrunches!!!

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

xvi

Deleted member 24505

Guest

System Name	Juliette // HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard	Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software	Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Red Radiance l under construction
Processor	5800x
Motherboard	x470 taichi
Cooling	stock wrath
Memory	TridentZ Neo rgb 3600mhz (2x8 kit)
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Vega 64 nitro+
Storage	970 evo nvme
Display(s)	lc27g75tq
Case	tt core x5 tge
Audio Device(s)	sennheiser's pc323d usb soundcard
Power Supply	corsair AX860i
Mouse	roccat burst pro
Keyboard	roccat ryos mk fx
Software	windows 10

System Name	Rainbow
Processor	Intel Core i7 8700k
Motherboard	MSI MPG Z390M GAMING EDGE AC
Cooling	Corsair H115i, 2x Noctua NF-A14 industrialPPC-3000 PWM
Memory	G. Skill TridentZ RGB 4x8GB (F4-3600C16Q-32GTZR)
Video Card(s)	ZOTAC GeForce RTX 3090 Trinity
Storage	2x Samsung 950 Pro 256GB \| 2xHGST Deskstar 4TB 7.2K
Display(s)	Samsung C27HG70
Case	Xigmatek Aquila
Power Supply	Seasonic 760W SS-760XP
Mouse	Razer Deathadder 2013
Keyboard	Corsair Vengeance K95
Software	Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	4 trillion points in GmailMark, over 144 FPS 2K Facebook Scrolling (Extreme Quality preset)

System Name	Bayou Phantom
Processor	Core i7-8700k 4.4Ghz @ 1.18v
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax T40F Black CPU cooler
Memory	2x 16GB Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Xc
Storage	1x 500 MX500 SSD; 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 4TB WD Black; 1x400GB VelRptr; 1x 4TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	HP 27q 27" IPS @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black w/Titanium front -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic X-850
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)