Looking for quiet cooler

[Temuka]

Hello guys,I want to upgrade from my 3 year old Corsair A70 to something new I have Fractal XL R2 and i5 3570k oc-ed to 4.4.(also low profile g.skills) Which cooler should I take? Silence is a must

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Hello guys,I want to upgrade from my 3 year old Corsair A70 to something new I have Fractal XL R2 and i5 3570k oc-ed to 4.4.(also low profile g.skills) Which cooler should I take? Silence is a must

That's a fairly mild OC for the 3570K, I would think -- unless you got one that runs hotter than average. The IB's had a TIM-filled gap between the die and heatspreader, so some were better and some were worse.

Everyone here is going to recommend different but feasible cooling options. If you want to try a heatpipe cooler, I would currently recommend an EVGA "ACX" (formerly "SuperClock") cooler -- the biggest of the two I've seen at resellers. It is not a monster like the NH-D14 or NH-D15, but beats them both in bench tests under ~120 to 140W load conditions by 6C and 3C respectively. I personally verified this performance against a D14, and the comparison to D15 comes from simple deductive logic with several independent review comparisons and rank-order lists.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-004-_-Product

I would be flattering myself that the Egg is "out of stock" for the item because of my review(s), but it's always possible.

For an AiO cooler, I would give the Swiftech H240-X a look:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/01/26/swiftech_h240x_cpu_liquid_cooling_aio_kit

But I would also scrutinize your case with a ruler or tape-measure, to assure you have a place to install the Swiftech.

With the i5-3570K, you could also take a walk on the wild side and de-lid it. But you would likely have done that by now if you had ever entertained taking such a risk.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Hello guys,I want to upgrade from my 3 year old Corsair A70 to something new I have Fractal XL R2 and i5 3570k oc-ed to 4.4.(also low profile g.skills) Which cooler should I take? Silence is a must

What is your budget and what retailers will you plan to purchase from? You usually see the best performance for your dollar at $30-40 at which point diminishing returns in the $50-60+ range start to kick in.

If you're in the US, at the $30-$40 range, both the ACFZ i30 and the Scythe Kotetsu are excellent price/perf.

The new Scythe Mugen Max looks really great if the projected $50 street price materializes soon. I think it is still trickling through the supply chain, though, because I've only seen it at a handful of retailers so far and it's pretty expensive still.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

What is your budget and what retailers will you plan to purchase from? You usually see the best performance for your dollar at $30-40 at which point diminishing returns in the $50-60+ range start to kick in.

If you're in the US, at the $30-$40 range, both the ACFZ i30 and the Scythe Kotetsu are excellent price/perf.

The new Scythe Mugen Max looks really great if the projected $50 street price materializes soon. I think it is still trickling through the supply chain, though, because I've only seen it at a handful of retailers so far and it's pretty expensive still.

There are a "lotta great coolers" out there, and the Mugen Max is no slacker, even if it falls behind the NH-D15. I'd have to look at those other two you linked.

People will be looking for "different things." "Is the cooler too bulky?" "Is it 'quiet'?" "how much does it weigh?" "How much does it cost with shipping and tax?"

I can also say that my ACX rig will match the top-of-the-list Thermaltake Water 3.0 in the overclocked load test, since it will beat the NH-D15 by 3C.

My point here has little to do with the rating(s) [and haven't checked the other two models yet] -- but with the fact that "new stuff" keeps emerging, making it hard to just "keep up." That's why I only discovered the EVGA cooler this September, when it had been "out there" since the September 2011. And that's why I feel duty-bound to myself to check the links and other options you cite. I wouldn't know either way, otherwise.

 

[Ketchup]

Water is good because you can have the fans all the way down. Just make sure to read the reviews and get one with a quiet pump.

Air can be good, but quiet and good overclock typically don't go together. And the ones that are closest to this cost about as much as water.

Air
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...18&ignorebbr=1

Water
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-032-_-Product

$20 difference

 

[Essence_of_War]

also low profile g.skills

I'll recommend one more since you mentioned this. If 50-60 is in the budget, then any of the red white or blue Phanteks TC14PE coolers are currently available for $60 after rebate. They are massive, high-performance, dual-tower coolers similar to the NH-D14/15 and they definitely block RAM slots if you don't have low profile RAM.

 

[ClockHound]

What is your budget and what retailers will you plan to purchase from? You usually see the best performance for your dollar at $30-40 at which point diminishing returns in the $50-60+ range start to kick in.

If you're in the US, at the $30-$40 range, both the ACFZ i30 and the Scythe Kotetsu are excellent price/perf.

2nd or 3rded for the Kotetsu - the best <$40 cooler atm - and performs better than the its bigger bro, the Max.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1443-page7.html

Kotetsu review: http://www.silentpcreview.com/Scythe_Kotetsu

The scythe fan is very quiet and efficient...Not as smooth as a Noc P12, but very good.

$37 at OutletPC

 

[Temuka]

I want to spend something like 50-60$, maybe little more,but I don't want to start selling my A70,than buying something new,installing it etc for something like 5% difference.. too much effort for little difference,but if in terms of silence it will give me something like 20-25% difference,sure I'll do the upgrade

 

[Ketchup]

For something noticeably better that your Corsair, I would push your budget up just a little:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...02&amp;ignorebbr=1

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Water is good because you can have the fans all the way down. Just make sure to read the reviews and get one with a quiet pump.

Air can be good, but quiet and good overclock typically don't go together. And the ones that are closest to this cost about as much as water.

Air
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...18&amp;ignorebbr=1

Water
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-032-_-Product

$20 difference

[I don't dispute that, but this is my own experience with air. The only time you "need" the airflow that brings some "noise" occurs during stress-testing. The motherboard thermal fan-control features I deem reliable. Once the system is set up to handle temperatures in the upper range, gaming won't much take it there, and the fan RPMs are pretty mild and quiet. I'd use the same thermal-fan-control with a water-cooled rig.]