I'm after a very quiet cooler...

mrbios

mrbios

mrbios

Soldato
Joined
7 Jun 2003
Posts
16,200
Location
Gloucestershire
Processor: i7 860
Motherboard: P7P55D Pro

I'm after a cooler that is first of all compatible with the above :p and first and foremost a quiet one!! I'm currently using some akasa jobby but it's turned around back to front as my rams heatsinks are too tall so they block the fan from being on the correct side.

Currently CPU temps hit 78oC with a hammering from OCCT which i obviously don't like! (running at stock settings too)

I don't want to spend stupid amounts of money like the £70 noctua - although i'd love to have it - so any recommendations for something less than £50, very quiet, compatible with the above and yet still give me a bit of overclocking room?

EDIT: while i say up to £50, the cheaper the better!
Could someone show me a best buy over £40 and a best buy for under £40?

EDIT: must admit i like the look of the BeQuiet ones but i can't find any information regarding motherboard compatibility - overlying ram slots and so on which is my major issue.
 
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The Noctua NH-D14 always performs very well in all the group tests that I've seen. It's pricey, big and ugly - but it's also a top of the range cooler that's very quiet. And if noise (or lack thereof) is your primary concern, you might want to consider one of those closed loop WC sets - or even a kit like the ones XSPC and EK do. They're a bit pricier than your budget, but let's be honest, if you want to overclock than you have to go the extra mile on cooling.
 
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^Really, so its nowhere near the pain made out in that review? Which one have you got, the advanced or the pro? If that review isn't accurate, then these coolers might just be back on my radar. :)
 
A Corsair H50 is over £50 and he asked for something cheaper. With the stock fan, it can be loud compared to good air coolers and getting two other fans on top doesn't make the whole package a cheap one.

Something like the Venomous X will come close to matching an NH-D14 with the right fan setup and won't have the same RAM compatibility issues. It might overhang the slot closest to the CPU (it will still allow modules as tall as 46mm) but as long as that one isn't populated, there should be no problem.
 
To make things easier i've purchased 8GB of corsair XMS3 to replace my patriot sector5 ram so no more lanky heatsinks :D any recommendations now that i can have heatsinks going over the ram?

Also i don't like those H50s and the other make shift watercooling things, plus if i wanted to spend over £50 i'd do it properly and buy a decent custom watercooling loop :p
 
I have the BeQuiet Advanced, didnt fit it right first time round, i would say that it takes 7-10mins to do it.

Reseated the cooler used some arctic silver 5, now idle at 30/31c and prime 95 small ffts 47/48. Large ffts 50/51c

This is with a 2500k at 3.3Ghz, lovely quiet cooler, having spent a bit more time fitting it seems to perform well,

When i took the cooler off to clean/reseat and apply AS5 the contact looked to have been poor from first fit.

Pea method used. temps look a lot better.
 
Gelid Tranquillo is virtually silent and is pretty cheap compared to other coolers.
 
Think i've decided on what im going to do, having graphics card trouble at the mo so im going to RMA it and replace it with a cheaper model (from 3GB GTX580 to a 1.5GB version) and use the £60 from that to get a noctua DH-14.

So long as OcUK allow me to do that anyway :) seeing as my card was faulty on arrival and needs to go back, don't see why they wouldnt let me change it for a different one.
 
Good choice IMO, even with both fans at full tilt unresisted, I can barely hear any noise coming from the PC with the nh-d14 fitted. With just 1 fan running full and the other varied through voltage by the motherboard, I really can't hear the PC at all once my head is more than a foot away from it.

The paste it comes with was 'good enough' for me too (about on par with MX-2, better than AS5) though I supposedly could shave a few more degrees off with something better. I'm peaking at 70 degrees max under prime95 blend after a few hours (estimated delta of about 53 or so), on an OC'd 2600k that's running at 4.6GHz, at its stock of 3.4GHz I would probably see mid 50's maxed out, and that's with only a mediocre attempt at mounting it on the CPU.

Considering getting another now just to shut my other PC up.
 
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