Best Heatsink for i5 2500k

Moodle · 29 Apr 2011 at 10:21

Hey guys,
I was wondering if you could recommend some heat sinks for a intel i5 2500k. Now by "best" I dont mean the best you could possibly get, I mean one that will do the job well for the money. I plan to overclock to around 4.5 to 4.7 .
Thanks guys!

munz · 29 Apr 2011 at 12:23

im using hyper 212 plus on my i5 2500k 1.3V@ 4.4ghz max load temps (prime 95 for 2-3 hous) 62C, idle round 30-32

good cooler, good bang for buck, around 20 quid

the best cpu air cooler some say is NH d14 around 60-70 quid

only really know about low end or top end not sure on middle area maybe the Venom cpu cooler (one with yellow fans)

i could'nt get mine stable at 4.5ghz even at 1.35V so for 24/7 use left it at 4.4ghz @1.3v

From what i can tell the actual over clock you get depends on :

luck fo draw with which chip you get +
how much your motherboard lets you tweak different settings +
how high you are willing to push the voltage +
cooling

edit: i read a lot about people hitting 5ghz etc. but for 24/7 use theres maybe only 1-2% of all chips sold that can hit 5ghz at < 1.35v, a lot of people kick up volts to do benchamarks etc at 5ghz but then knock the voltage down for 24/7 usage.

TNA · 29 Apr 2011 at 12:37

I can do 5GHz, but it takes a lot of vaults to do it. For 4.5GHz after 9+ hours of prime blend with a TRUE push/pull cooler my temps were under 70C

Get either a Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme, Megahalems or Noctua NH-D14. Will be a few C diference between them if that, but a Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme costs a lot less these days, can be had for under £30. I say get one of those and do a push/pull, easily best price for performance cooler, specially if you already got 2 fans sitting around for the push/pull. I have been using mine for like 4+ years. Lovely heatsink

Helios1234 · 29 Apr 2011 at 12:46

Thermalright Ultra Extreme and VX are very good for their prices.

postmanfw · 29 Apr 2011 at 15:13

Not cheap but the TR Archon is good. Similar design to the true.

Had mine prime stable at 4.9GHz at 1.4v and it kept it under 80c and my case isnt the best for air cooling (800D)

djkav · 5 Oct 2011 at 11:51

Can anyone recommend a HSF for a i5 2500k on a Extreme 4 Gen 3 MB.

My case is a Fractal Design R2 and I have a warm GTX 480 SoC gfx card.

I'm not too fussed whether its air or closed water (H80 etc). Would like to OC to around 4.5ghz

david_129 · 5 Oct 2011 at 12:45

My vote, silverarrow - thermaltake, immense

allday247 · 5 Oct 2011 at 12:47

I've just built a build with a 2500K + ASRock Extreme 4 Gen3.
I'm using a Noctua D14 and all seems fine atm.

only running at stock right now just to get the build going but temps yesterday were 25/27°C at idle. (havent stressed it yet as i didn't have the time)

nerobart · 5 Oct 2011 at 13:37

Moodle said:
Hey guys,
I was wondering if you could recommend some heat sinks for a intel i5 2500k. Now by "best" I dont mean the best you could possibly get, I mean one that will do the job well for the money. I plan to overclock to around 4.5 to 4.7 .
Thanks guys!

Best cooler for the money for this overclock is Silver Arrow £54.98 @ Overclockers or Noctua NH-D14 68.95 @ bay

I have Noctua NH-D14 - 4.6 GHz @ 1.32 and tems at prime 95 (8hrs) 60-75

Temps at IBT 2.52 about 75-80 depends on room temp

, my room temperature never goes below 24.0 :mad:

ReAPeR101 · 5 Oct 2011 at 16:28

I have just built my new mobo and CPU using a Themaltake Frio.

Currently running 4.2Ghz, idle temps are late 20s 30max, after running 3D Mark11 and Heaven 2.5 plus a very extensive BFBC2 session, temps have not risen above 55 yet, i have been using the latest Real Temp to measure my temps.

I think the vcore was set at 1.33.