Recommendation for after market cooler?

[Snow_FOx]

So building a rig with nzxt hades and the Corsair H50 has been highly recommended on a few other forms.

I will be using a 955 BE as my choice of processor.

From what I've gathered this will cool as well as anything else.

 

[davidrees]

I have heard mixed reviews:

(take this as more or less hearsay and do your own research)

1. Pump is grindy/noisy sounding
2. Thermal performance is not on par with high end air coolers
3. Failure could be catastrophic (and these kinds of things do fail occasionally)

The main advantage of these seems to be in applications where space around the CPU is limited.

 

[MisterDonut]

Failure would be catastrophic, yes, but the chances of that are insignificant, IMO. Nothings made perfect, but I haven't heard of a broken H50 yet, so that should be ok. HOWEVER, I also agree with #2. It's entry-level h2o, but if you want h2o, you should go all out. Otherwise, an air cooler can do just as well, if not better (e.g. Megahalem, VenX, etc.)

I've toyed with a 955BE on a rig, and I know it is not an easy overclocker (or I had a bad chip). AT has also had problems toying with the voltages and clocks of the processor past about 3.6 on stock volts and pushing to 3.8-3.9 <1.5v. I've managed to get 955 OCCT stable at 3.8, using a Mugen 2 with temps around 50c on load. With that said, I'll throw out my #1 heatsink recommendation. Get the Mugen 2 . It's enormous though, but that wasn't an issue. If you're not running any OC's, the Hyper 212+ would be the cheaper option, if you're not overclocking but still looking for aftermarket. The stock should cool non-OC chip just fine though. Those two are the best value, imo. Other ones would include CNPS10X series, NH-U12P, etc. I wouldn't go into high end (TRUE, Megahalem, NH-D14, etc).

 

[sandorski]

Here's another similar Cooler

Was tempted to get one of these, but didn't want to spend $ on a Case too, since my case only has space for 80mm Fans.

 

[MisterDonut]

Might've been tough luck, and I know that I said the chances of breaking are insignificant, but this exception proves the rule . I actually have heard of one instance where the pump on the ECO ALC stop working. Again, probably just bad luck though.

AFAIK, the ECO ALC doesn't bench much better than air coolers do.