Are there any coolers the same size as a stock i3 cooler, that cool better?

Soldato
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Hi guys
Just to preface this I'm looking for something that covers the same area roughly as a stock i3 cooler, but cools better, whether that be fin density, better metal core etc. It must fit inside the same rough dimensions, including height. This is for an ITX case where space is limited. I want to fit an i5 but am wary the i3 cooler won't be up to the job.

I did look at the Arctic 11 low profile but it seems to be a bit taller and wider unfortunately or it would have been perfect.
 
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The i3 and i5 range are supplied with the same cooler. I assume you won't be overclocking?

Good range here. It's worth knowing exactly how much height you have available in your case.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/air-cooling/coolers/cpu/low-profile-and-stock-heatsinks

No overclocking, just worried about dissipating the heat from a Haswell i5 in such a small environment as at the moment the PSU is directly mounted above the CPU fan. This could potentially be moved but I prefer it in it's current location to other ways I could relocate it for a few reasons.

I'm just trying to work out the exact clearance I've got, as I might be able to fit the Cryorig C7, or maybe something a little larger, but just trying to work it out as I also don't want the new cooler and the PSU to be touching :)

OK the PSU would only cover about half the CPU cooler, but I'd still prefer at least a few mm clearance all the way so even the partially covered part is still effective.
 
Don
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Would help if we knew which case you were using?

The stock intel coolers are actually pretty good given their size/cost and it's difficult to get anything much better without spending a fair amount (e.g. for a Noctua as mentioned).

Might be easier to increase the airflow through the case, making sure that the temperature gets effectively carried away from the stock cooler.
 
Soldato
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The case I have is very restricted in terms of fan mounts, it's an Inwin BM-639 with a upgraded PSU. Now the stock PSU is a tiny custom form factor, so I managed to get an FSP 270/300W 1U unit to replace, however the places I can fit it in the case are very limited.
I have the choice of putting it at the bottom of the case, but this blocks any airflow to the GPU (not at all ideal), try and balance it where the original PSU on its side, but this completely blocks the drive bay/side brace and also doesn't sit nicely due to the metal lip that originally held the original PSU, or, alternatively as I have it now, the PSU is mounted into the drive bay essentially, so it sits above the motherboard, and RAM, and partially goes across the CPU cooler.

It's not perfect, but it does the job, and actually allows airflow to the GPU. Looking at the options, I think the Silverstone AR11 is looking like a pretty good option, although I'll probably grab some Kryonaut or MX4 to go with it. Form factor appears good, its seems to be around the same height as the Intel cooler, and appears to have better thermal performance versus the Cryorig C7/Noctua NH-N9I i had been looking at previously, whilst having enough heat dissipation that it should be able to handle an I5/I7 Haswell, at least a stock clocks :)

All this being said, given the relatively tiny size of the case, an i5-4590 and 1050ti will give it plenty of grunt as a backup PC/light gamer/HTPC.
 
Soldato
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I believe the unit I have now is Flex ATX, unfortunately the stock psu turned out to be even smaller, almost like a thinner TFX, and I could just not find anything that seemed to match it/with a decent power output at the time.

Stock psu:

https://www.in-win.com/en/pc-power-supply/ip-ad-series/APAC
All a balancing act :) seems to kinda be produced for these inwin cases however.

Am not really looking to replace the psu I have now just trying to find the right cooler to balance CPU heat output vs available space.
 
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Soldato
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Hi guys
Just to preface this I'm looking for something that covers the same area roughly as a stock i3 cooler, but cools better, whether that be fin density, better metal core etc. It must fit inside the same rough dimensions, including height. This is for an ITX case where space is limited. I want to fit an i5 but am wary the i3 cooler won't be up to the job.

I did look at the Arctic 11 low profile but it seems to be a bit taller and wider unfortunately or it would have been perfect.
Small tower coolers almost always give lower temps with less noise simply because they move their heated exhaust back and out of case. Stock downflow coolers move air down to motherboard where it turns back up along side of cooler and is drawn back into cooler .. and we know that whatever degrees warmer the air into cooler is translates almost exactly to the same degrees hotter the CPU is.

As said, tell us what case, motherboard and RAM you have and we can suggest a good little tower cooler. Cryorig H7 is very good, probably the best cooler in it's class.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cryorig-h7-single-tower-heatsink-with-120mm-fan-hs-008-cy.html
 
Soldato
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As above, it's an Inwin BM-639 (which has a small outtake fan at the top, with little room to fit a bigger one), with a Flex ATX PSU stashed in the optical drive bays; which unfortunately makes it rather unsuitable for a small tower, or I'd perhaps look at something like the Raijintek.

Motherboard is a B85n-Phoenix, RAM is Corsair Vengeance (so taller than usual).

Cooler I'm looking at at the moment is the Silverstone AR11 which appears to be new as of last year; it seems to be slightly more potent than the Noctua NH-N9i and Cryorig C7 and slightly cheaper than both.
 
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Soldato
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I used to run a Noctua L9i (https://noctua.at/en/nh-l9i) in my old Fractal Node 202 build. As silent as a cooler with a fan could possible be (given the size) but I don't know if it is technically better than the stock cooler at cooler (did ok with a i7 4770s at the time).

TBH you might be worth simply trying the stock cooler to begin with and then changing if the temps are a little high. Generally speaking they are ok at stock settings (if a little noisy).
 
Soldato
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None of the stock coolers I've used or seen test results of were as good as aftermarket. In fact, I have never seen a review test list of coolers that stock cooler was not the worst / hottest and noisiest cooler tested.
 
Soldato
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None of the stock coolers I've used or seen test results of were as good as aftermarket. In fact, I have never seen a review test list of coolers that stock cooler was not the worst / hottest and noisiest cooler tested.
They probably don't bother reviewing the ones that are basically stock cooler clones. Or the Arctic passive one rated for 35W, that's just a sliver of aluminium.
 
Soldato
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They probably don't bother reviewing the ones that are basically stock cooler clones. Or the Arctic passive one rated for 35W, that's just a sliver of aluminium.
True, I should have clarified it by saying something like 'any half decent cooler.' But I don't think many users are buying those garbage coolers anyway. :p
 
Soldato
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True, I should have clarified it by saying something like 'any half decent cooler.' But I don't think many users are buying those garbage coolers anyway. :p
You'd hope so. I went and had a look after I posted that, OcUK have got about 10 coolers I wouldn't trust with a Celeron! Relic of the bad old days I guess :p
 
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