What's a good aftermarket cooler for the i5 750?

[NTAC]

Also someone told me to use Artic Silver as opposed to the normal thermal compound that the chip will come with, is that correct?

 

[Kenmitch]

It's always a good idea to state things like the case you have, if your gonna overclock the chip etc. when asking advice like this.

 

[NTAC]

It's always a good idea to state things like the case you have, if your gonna overclock the chip etc. when asking advice like this.

My apologies, this will be the setup (should arrive tomorrow):

The case I already had, the CPU, MOBO and Memory are all new.

- NZXT Zero Black/Silver Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811146029

- Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor
- ASUS P7P55D Deluxe LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
- G.SKILL ECO Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory

 

[llee]

Arctic Silver works but I find that sacrificing 2-3º Celsius and getting twice as much compound with TX-2 is more economical.

 

[Maximilian]

Cant go wrong with the corsair H50, its quiet and dosent take up much space. Also ive found my mugen 2 cooler to be excellent, of course theres the current best which is the noctua NH something im sure somone else will mention it.

 

[Kenmitch]

Your case looks like it'll have good airflow. If your not gonna overclock it the stock cooler would probably be fine with the stock compound....But pretty much any aftermarket cooler will work way better than the stock one.

The only downside I see with your case is no cutout for backplate on the MB tray. Not sure how impatient your gonna be once you get your combo as far as putting it together. You might wanna consider modding it once you get your MB and take some measurements for access. That way you could get your setup up and running while you wait for a better cooler.

The Corsair H50 would be a great option as stated above. If you live by a best buy they have them in stock at most stores for the same price as newegg. If you have any gift cards or reward dollars just makes the deal even better.

 

[NTAC]

Your case looks like it'll have good airflow. If your not gonna overclock it the stock cooler would probably be fine with the stock compound....But pretty much any aftermarket cooler will work way better than the stock one.

I'd like to overclock and get it to about 3.4ish if possible.

The only downside I see with your case is no cutout for backplate on the MB tray. Not sure how impatient your gonna be once you get your combo as far as putting it together. You might wanna consider modding it once you get your MB and take some measurements for access. That way you could get your setup up and running while you wait for a better cooler.

I'm not 100% sure I understand what you are referring to here... could you expand please? Are you saying that I will have to mod the case for this MOBO to fit in properly or something else?

The Corsair H50 would be a great option as stated above. If you live by a best buy they have them in stock at most stores for the same price as newegg. If you have any gift cards or reward dollars just makes the deal even better.

Thanks for the best buy tip, that would certainly save me time Lots of people have pointed me to this cooling solution, so I'll probably go that route.

This would be the first time I've ever used a non stock cooler, so I hope I'm not getting in over my head here.

Thanks for all the help so far!

 

[Kenmitch]

If you look at your case without any MB mounted in it. The plate that your MB mounts onto is solid on the newegg pictures I looked at. Alot of newer cases have a cutout area on that tray that allow access to the back of the MB for changing the cpu cooler without taking the MB back out of the case. Your MB will mount in the case without any modification....Other than making sure the stand-offs are in the correct placement.

If you like the H50 then just pick one up before you put the system together. It will be more than enough cooler for the mild overclock that your gonna go for

 

[NTAC]

If you look at your case without any MB mounted in it. The plate that your MB mounts onto is solid on the newegg pictures I looked at. Alot of newer cases have a cutout area on that tray that allow access to the back of the MB for changing the cpu cooler without taking the MB back out of the case. Your MB will mount in the case without any modification....Other than making sure the stand-offs are in the correct placement.

If you like the H50 then just pick one up before you put the system together. It will be more than enough cooler for the mild overclock that your gonna go for

Ohh, I get it, you are saying that if I had installed the MOBO and all that and then I wanted to add the new cooler later it would've been more of a chore.. gotcha.

Yeah I think I'll just pick up the cooler from Best Buy when my stuff gets here tomorrow and do it all at once. Thanks again for your help!

 

[Kenmitch]

No problem....But you might wanna go to bestbuy.com and check if the store(s) around you have it in stock

 

[Dark Shroud]

I'm a big Corsair fan myself but you should see some more options.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103055

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835608014

 

[Markfw]

My favorite ($60 + fan)

http://www.svc.com/megahalems.html

 

[NTAC]

Damn, some good choices here. I'll have to think about this.

How can I check to make sure my case is doing the right think airflow wise... how should airflow travel through a case?

 

[Dark Shroud]

My favorite ($60 + fan)

http://www.svc.com/megahalems.html

Site book marked.That looks looks like a decent deal.

My only personal issue with Prolimatech is that the Megahalems do not come with fans. But my god the Prolimatech Mega Shadow looks slick as hell, if only Noctua fans came in black.

 

[NTAC]

Site book marked.That looks looks like a decent deal.

My only personal issue with Prolimatech is that the Megahalems do not come with fans. But my god the Prolimatech Mega Shadow looks slick as hell, if only Noctua fans came in black.

I was just about to post a follow up question on this... so I'd have to get a fan for this correct? Any recommendations?

 

[Jhatfie]

If you want cheap (under $30) but very good performance, you cannot look over the CoolerMaster Hyper 212+. My i5-750 does 4.0Ghz 24/7 with it with very solid temperatures and the PWM fan is pretty quiet.

Now if you want better performance and have a bit more budget to work with: Prolimatech Megahalem, Thermalright Venomous X or the Corsair H50 are all good choices.

 

[NTAC]

If you want cheap (under $30) but very good performance, you cannot look over the CoolerMaster Hyper 212+. My i5-750 does 4.0Ghz 24/7 with it with very solid temperatures and the PWM fan is pretty quiet.

That might be the winner, especially since I'm only shooting for about 3.5 GHz tops. Thanks for the input!

 

[lothar]

I was just about to post a follow up question on this... so I'd have to get a fan for this correct? Any recommendations?

http://www.svc.com/d1225c12b5ap-15.html

 

[modestninja]

That might be the winner, especially since I'm only shooting for about 3.5 GHz tops. Thanks for the input!

Another one to consider since it's not much more expensive and even gets pretty close to the megahalems, and Ven-X is the Mugen 2:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...&Tpk=mugen%202

The only issues with it, is that it's a little hard to install and it's big and wider than the megahalems and Ven-X.

Also, if you end up going with the Megahalems and the GT, the best price I could find online from a good retailer was at http://www.koolertek.com/

 

[NTAC]

Since my o'clocking goal is not really very ambitious I'm mainly looking for something that is easy to install. I do have a full tower so I have to assume I probably won't have too much trouble, but I'd like to stay away from any questionable setups, and certainly anything that would require me to do any type of drilling or fan removal.

 

[NTAC]

And do you guys recommend AS5 for any of these solutions?

 

[DrMrLordX]

I'm going to throw you a curveball: The CoGage Arrow is probably the best HSF out there for LGA1156, if not every current Intel/AMD socket (haven't seen it tested on AM3 yet). Prices according to Froogle:

http://www.google.com/products?q=Cogage+Arrow&scoring=p

The quality of the base may or may not be sketchy but given your requirements, it may not matter.

The Arrow is a better performer than the Megahalems or H50, and can even edge out the mighty Noctua NH-D14. Jury's still out on whether or not it's really better than the Noctua unit but I'd wager that it can be, or that it as least the equal of the Noctua.

I have the NH-D14, and it is pretty awesome. Definitely worth a look, though it is expensive. But at least it comes with fans (two of them).

There is also the Tuniq Tower Extreme, but not very many people outside of Frostytech seem to like it. Frostytech loves it for Intel platforms.

If you are looking for cheap then I must echo the recommendation of the Hyper 212+. Installation shouldn't be terribly difficult for that HSF.

As far as thermal compound goes, AS5 is a bit dated. It'll work okay, but it isn't great, and it has a lengthy curing time and power-cycling requirements for optimal curing. My favorite "standard" TIM is Shin Etsu x23-7783D, which is a tad obscure, but it works wonderfully and it cures quickly without silly power cycling requirements. Some people like IC Diamond 7 better, but I'm a fan of x23-7783D (just don't confuse it with x23-7762 which a lot of people seem to do, 7783D is a better TIM).

Here's one review where x23-7783D beats IC Diamond 7, MX-2, and AS5 (and loses to Indigo Xtreme which really doesn't belong in any build where "easy to install" is a requirement):

http://vapor.skinneelabs.com/TIM/IndigoX/IndigoX.html

 

[Dark Shroud]

And do you guys recommend AS5 for any of these solutions?

If you already have some then it's fine. Otherwise you can use whatever comes with the cooler* you buy, just follow the instructions.

http://hardocp.com/article/2009/04/07/thermal_paste_shootout_q209/

*This is assuming you buy a cooler that come with actual paste and not thermal tape. Never use the cheap thermal tape.

 

[MagickMan]

Cant go wrong with the corsair H50, its quiet and dosent take up much space. Also ive found my mugen 2 cooler to be excellent, of course theres the current best which is the noctua NH something im sure somone else will mention it.

Another vote for the H50, I love mine. My OC is pretty decent and it handles it with ease.

 

[NTAC]

Wow some of these guys are huge, I had no idea. I assume there is no danger of them snapping off and crashing down into the video card and such

Thanks again for all this info, way more than I hoped for. I'm checking out reviews and what not on all these suggestions.

Perhaps I might raise my overclocking goals a bit, maybe 3.8 or so.