Best Available CPU Air Cooler for I5?

TheBillyBumbler · 24 Nov 2009 at 13:05

Dear all,
Indecisive as I am, I am now opting to go for AC rather then WC (was going to get the Corsairs H50). Now am at a loss as to what cooler to get for my rig. The case is going to be a antec 300.

Any reccos will be appreciated.

Sorry forgot to add I don't intend to spend over £60.

Thx

cmndr_andi · 24 Nov 2009 at 13:13

A Prolimatech Megahalems would be my pick - one of the best air coolers around. Add a Noctua P12 fan (or two) to it and you will have an excellent cooling system.

TheBillyBumbler · 24 Nov 2009 at 13:43

Will I need to have a fan with it if i don't OC?

cmndr_andi · 24 Nov 2009 at 13:45

TheBillyBumbler said:
Will I need to have a fan with it if i don't OC?

I suppose it depends on your CPU, so it may well be possible to run it passively. But as fas as I know, the heatsink is designed to be used with a fan.

TheBillyBumbler · 24 Nov 2009 at 13:50

I take it then it does not come with a fan?

cmndr_andi · 24 Nov 2009 at 13:52

TheBillyBumbler said:
I take it then it does not come with a fan?

That is correct, but it means you can decide how it runs - get a 3000rpm super fan for uber cooling or the 1300rpm noctua I linked above for whisper quiet cooling.

faugusztin · 24 Nov 2009 at 13:55

1) i5 is pretty much near impossible to cool passively in load, the 45W CPU's from AMD (Sempron 140, X2 4850e) were around 50C in 50% load with Scythe Ninja 2 (which is probably the best passive cooler). It is better to get a cooler which is effective at low RPM, where the noise is still small, yet the cooling effect is much better.
2) with most coolers, you must be aware of one simple fact - don't buy Dominators or comparable RAM modules with high heatsinks. Or you are going to have a big problems due the cooler/fan conflict with memory heatsink. I was pretty much lucky with my TRUE-120 Black, where i got maybe 1-2mm between the fan and 2nd slot from CPU.
3) You will not mistake with any of Megahalems/Mega Shadow, TRUE-120, Noctua NH-U12P SE2, Noctua NH-D14 or many comparable coolers. We are talking about <5C degrees difference at best.

TheBillyBumbler · 24 Nov 2009 at 14:11

Thank you guys for the input. Now i'm befuddled as to what memory modules to buy. I was going to opt for the Corsair dominator/G. Skill Ripjaws.

Any ideas as to what memory to get? I have a budget of around £80-100?

faugusztin · 24 Nov 2009 at 14:26

Corsair XMS3 ? All you need to watch out are those fancy high memory coolers.

To give you a better idea - look "how much" space i got between the TRUE-120 fan and memory (Corsair Dominator 1600MHZ CL8) :

Other angle :