Air cooling rankings right now

[DF is BUSY]

what is the top 5 kings of air cooling as of right now?
i been googling and searching around and always see such mixed results or results from a year or two ago.

i know the silver arrow sb-e extreme with the orange and red fans is #1
but is there a consensus on #2, #3, #4, and #5?


I wanna get the phanteks tc14 but a review (guru3d) had the noctua dh14 beating out everybody (even a corsair h100i) by over 3-4c yet another review had the dh14 well below the phanteks. then i also read about some dh14 successor coming out soon

all this has got me .




more specifically, i guess for the same price and with a budget of 80USD max,; phanteks or noctua?

 

[sneekypeet]

my advice is to find a reviewer you trust is testing things on equal grounds and start there. Then cross check against other charts. I'm sure at some point like 4 or 5 various sites charts later, there will be 5 that stand out across the board.

 

[entropy13]

Cross-check from these reviews:
TPU
Hardware Secrets
Frostytech
Hardocp

 

[Norton]

Tweaktown too!

http://www.tweaktown.com/cat/cases_cooling_and_power_supplies/index.html

 

[Bugler]

Pretty much everyone recommended me a Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus for my i5-3570. Seems to be very popular CPU cooler.

 

[Ed_1]

Pretty much everyone recommended me a Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus for my i5-3570. Seems to be very popular CPU cooler.

for best bang for buck you can not go wrong with 212 line , they are great for stock clocked 3xxx/4xxx and fine to with mild OC, just don't expect good temps if you try like 4.5+ ghz out of it .

 

[Bugler]

No, I'm not OCing but I have it locked in turbo mode (3.8 Ghz) so I think I'm gonna get it.

 

[Delta6326]

I have the Phanteks tc-14 great cooler keep my Q6600 at 52 or less when gaming.

This after gaming(granted it was just Torchlight2)

Ok here is a better example, cpu ran intel burn test, gpu did Furmark, Case fans set at 50%.
Room is 19c

 

[Kursah]

I love my Noctua U14S.... amazing cooler. Only running single fan, but I have a Corsair SP120 for the rear exhaust...a very effective combo. Keeps my OC'd 4770k in check. But for a stock CPU running Turbo clocks all the time, a CM 212+ Evo would be more than enough imho. In all honesty the stock cooler would be sufficient too...but I'd still run at least a 212+ Evo. Just personal preference, then if you decide to push up to or past 4.0 you have some decent cooling capabilities already implemented.

 

[Bugler]

Yes the stock cooler's doing fine. The hottest just over 50C average 42C but one core is always at least 7C hotter than the rest which stayed in the high 30s. Also my CPU is not a K and the mobo B75 so no OCing options.

 

[Kursah]

Honestly even with those in mind I see no real reason for you to spend any extra money on cooling. You have no real use for it. One core will always be hotter...I've had some chips where one core was almost 10C hotter but always have one that's around the 3-5C hotter than the rest...even with my $80 cooler. Really just over 50c is barely anything to that CPU. If you were closer to the 80C+ mark I'd be more apt to recommend cooling...honestly don't waste your time or money here. If you had a K chip and planned to OC that'd be a different story. But you don't, and aren't so...really in your situation, if that's where you're loading with turbo activated on all cores....you're well within any kind of thermal specification, well within the green "safe" zone and buying a better cooler will just waste your money imho.

 

[Bugler]

You mean I can't buy it for kicks?

Might come in handy later.

 

[Kursah]

Well sure you can. But remember if sockets change and they drop support for previous mounting methods then you have a paperweight or gotta buy used/old technology. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing when last tech's top end is still competitive to current tech. If you got money burning a hole in your wallet, then by all means go for it. You'd need to change your CPU and board at to even have a chance to utilize that kind of CPU cooler...cool temps are one thing...when you're already running pretty cool at stock and are going to be unable to push any further....it honestly seems pointless. It's your choice and your wallet ultimately...none of us here can control your choices all we can do is offer up our opinions based on experience and knowledge. What you do from there is on you.

 

[Bugler]

Lol, I understand that.

I figured I'm keeping my system for quite a while. I have no need for the state of the art, never did. I find them cheaper buying last year technology so to speak. By the way I measured the temps at idle so I have no idea what it maxed out at but in the BIOS the alarm is set at 60C. So far so good.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

Best performaning AIR cooler is a bit subjective.

Some coolers performance great on AMD but seem to falter on certain Intel setups. A cooler that keeps Sandy-Bridge E or Ivy Bridge -E in check (socket LGA2011) Might fail when faced with Haswell or Ivy Bridge.

What I can say is that

be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 2
Phanteks PH-TC14PE
Noctua NH-D14

are exceptional coolers however the be quiet! is better out of box. While the Phanteks can take a third fan for maximum cooling performance.

The Noctua NH-D14 which while old is still an exceptional cooler as well I have not been able to test one however its a stalwart go to high end cooler for damn good reasons. Quality / Warranty / Support / Performance/ Noise

Again best cooler is subjective. Right now for the price when it comes to air coolers the Deepcool Gamer Storm Assassin if available at the MSRP of $69.99 one of the most cost effective high end coolers available,

 

[micropage7]

phanteks tc14 and Noctua NH-D14 is good
i use deepcool assasin

many aspect that could affect cooling performance, from thermal paste, airflow, contact area, ambient temp
but for me if the difference about 2-3 degrees i think its "x factor" not from the cooler itself

 

[BUCK NASTY]

The Hyper 212's are such a great "bang for the buck", that we adapt them to other sockets as well(G34). Keeps my overclocked Opty's nice and cool. The fans only last a couple of years before the sleeve bearings go out, but still a phenomenal deal.

 

[Digital1]

I've ordered the Thermaltake NIC C5. When it arrives and I install it I'll be sure to revisit this post and give my verdict on it.

 

[micropage7]

The Hyper 212's are such a great "bang for the buck", that we adapt them to other sockets as well(G34). Keeps my overclocked Opty's nice and cool. The fans only last a couple of years before the sleeve bearings go out, but still a phenomenal deal.

I guess fan is not a big problem since we can replace it easily, except they use different type of fan.

 

[de.das.dude]

the hyper 212 will always be the king.

 

[Mr.Scott]

I've ordered the Thermaltake NIC C5. When it arrives and I install it I'll be sure to revisit this post and give my verdict on it.

As a TT reviewer, I think you'll find the NiC a very nice cooler for the money. FWIW, the NiC F3 performs exactly the same as CM's 212+ at the same price point, and doesn't block any ram slots like the 212 does. Food for thought.

The Hyper 212's are such a great "bang for the buck", that we adapt them to other sockets as well(G34). Keeps my overclocked Opty's nice and cool. The fans only last a couple of years before the sleeve bearings go out, but still a phenomenal deal.

I've modded 212's for Slot A / Slot 1, PIII, Socket A, P4, 939, etc.
Highly adaptable and effective cooler.

 

[de.das.dude]

i am using a hyper 212 evo with push pull and its blocking none of my slots.
i suppose you have used a badly designed motherboard for reviewing -.-

As a TT reviewer, I think you'll find the NiC a very nice cooler for the money. FWIW, the NiC F3 performs exactly the same as CM's 212+ at the same price point, and doesn't block any ram slots like the 212 does. Food for thought.

 

[Vario]

I like the Phanteks PHTC12DX. If the two PWM fans aren't enough, throw two deltas on it. I hate CM212's mounting system and the stupid wiggle it does when it never tightens down all the way. The Phanteks is better in every way to the CM212 when you consider you get two high end fans and a tube of Noctua paste with the Phanteks, while with the 212 you get one junk fan and a mounting system that wiggles.

FYI: Phanteks and Noctua products are made by the same OEMs.

 

[DF is BUSY]

I like the Phanteks PHTC12DX. If the two PWM fans aren't enough, throw two deltas on it. I hate CM212's mounting system and the stupid wiggle it does when it never tightens down all the way. The Phanteks is better in every way to the CM212 when you consider you get two high end fans and a tube of Noctua paste with the Phanteks, while with the 212 you get one junk fan and a mounting system that wiggles.

FYI: Phanteks and Noctua products are made by the same OEMs.

hey Vario, you mentioned that cougars will die mounted horizontally, however they have FDB bearings, so is this true for ALL FDB bearing fans? or its just something specific to cougars.

 

[McSteel]

What, no love for Raijintek? They offer fantastic price/performance ratio.