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Best CPU cooler for mostly 24/7 use.

J

jedi treasley

Junior Member
Hey guys, I just ordered the Fractal Design Define Mini case
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811352011)
And now i'm looking for a cpu cooler, that a) is quiet and b) is great for mostly 24/7 use. There will be a lot of idle time but also some gaming time/movie time. It will be cooling a i7-4770s

My biggest concerns are AIO liquid cooling vs large 140-165mm air coolers. Also this is going to be a 4 year build.

Thanks in advance 🙂
 
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Arctic i30. Quiet and covered by 6 year warranty. Same applies to any Noctua cooler but they are more expensive.
 
Except that the stock cooler isn't that quiet at load. It's exactly not loud either but can definitely be heard, and will be annoying if you care about silence.
 
I'm using a Hyper 212+ in my Fractal Design Define Mini on an AMD FX6100. It's my 24/7 server and is completely silent in that case and the BIOS has never reported the fan running more than 600RPM with a CPU that is TDP 95W. Less than $30 and fits juuuuust right. The EVO version spins a little faster, is slightly louder and cools a little better.
 
lehtv said:
Noctua cooler but they are more expensive.
Click to expand...

Noctua coolers aren't that bad a value when you consider everything; the mounting system, the low noise adapters, and especially the fans. I used to buy $50+ coolers and then swap the fans to a $25 Gentle Typhoon. If you go Noctua understand that some models come with PWM fans and others (if not most) are 3-pin.
 
Yes, all things considered, you get what you pay for. But if you just look at what is the cheapest way to achieve what the OP wants - a low noise cooler for long term use - you don't need Noctua's mounting systems, attention to detail, high tech SSO2 bearings etc. You probably don't even need Arctic i30, but it's the one I would buy (mostly since Scythe isn't available in the US) 🙂
 
One word. Thermalright (not to be confused with thermaltake) They have top notch build quality and performance, are very quiet, at very reasonable prices.
 
Thermalright is indeed top notch in price per performance and they're not spoiled by noise output either. Unfortunately, few places sell Thermalright in North America. One of them of SuperBiiz and the other is Nan's Gaming Gear (through their own website and through Amazon).

True Spirit 120M $38 shipped is not a bad pick. Not sure I would pick it over Arctic i30 for $40 shipped from newegg... Arctic i30 runs at slightly lower RPM and is covered by 6 year warranty as opposed to 1 for Thermalright (IIRC).

Though awesome coolers both, the HR-02 Macho will not fit inside Define Mini perfectly (the heatpipes contact the dampening foam), and the True Spirit 140 has no chance of fitting in.
 
I've been using several Noctua coolers over the past years and I never had a problem, they're worth the price (you just have to double check that it will fit in your case).
 
Hyper 212+ and 212 EVOs are my workhorse coolers. They have never failed me and aren't that loud unless you are overclocking or something. i7-4770s is locked so that is, um, unlikely. 😉
 
blastingcap said:
Hyper 212+ and 212 EVOs are my workhorse coolers. They have never failed me and aren't that loud unless you are overclocking or something. i7-4770s is locked so that is, um, unlikely. 😉
Click to expand...

I'd have to add my voice to the Hyper 212 recommendation.

Almost always in the past, I'd done a month's research to find the heatpipe cooler with the lowest thermal resistance rating -- or best comparison scores on the same testbed. This -- because I had the intention of over-clocking.

The Hyper 212 units are the best compromise for the performance and the money. Seems that for the money, they OP might have picked the K chip instead, but if it didn't matter to him, they Hyper 212 is more than enough.

Frankly, the Hyper 212 would be a decent cooler for a lot of over-clocking projects -- just not as good as (say) a Noctua D14 or something similar.
 
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