Help Choosing CPU Air Cooler

Strudul · 28 Jun 2010 at 18:29

Title pretty much says it.

I have been having trouble with my stock cooler. I sit quite close to my pc and the noise is a real problem. All my other fans are reasonably quite, but my CPU fan is getting really annoying.

I havent overclocked yet and I am getting idle temperatures of about 34 to 35 and when my CPUs are at 100% temperatures go up to about 50.

I am looking for a quiet CPU cooler. I would prefer air, but im not sure why. Also I would really like it to have (blue) LEDs because I think how a computer looks is just as important as how it performs.

AM3 motherboard: ASRock 890 GM Pro3 890GX
Case: NZXT Tempest EVO - its pretty big
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition
GPU: ATI Sapphire Radeon 4650
RAM: Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz Ballistix, CL8(8-8-8-24) 1.65V Unbuffered Non-ECC
HDD: Western Digital 640GB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache - OEM Caviar Black
Cooling: 2 x 120mm fans, 2 x 2 120mm blue LED fans, 2 x 2 140mm fans
Lights: Dual 12" Blue Cold Cathode & Nexos Blue LED Light Strip
PSU: 450W akasa

My room is at about 20C to 25C mainly because my TV gives off so much heat.

I am looking to spend under £40, but i can be easily persuaded to spend more if needed

Any help and recommendations would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance

Guitarman0 · 28 Jun 2010 at 18:34

I have just upgraded from stock cooler to this (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-076-TR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395) and blimey what a good cooler it is. You will need to take into account you will need to buy separate fans for this (and that is where you can get your blue LED fans) but it is only just worse by 0.75 of a degree compared to the Noctua NH-D14. It is possible to get an AMD mounting bracket and that is just what I have done and mounted it to my Phenom II 955. I idle at 27 degrees on stock and load at 35 max and at 3.6GHz I idle at 38 and max out (p95) at 45 degrees. Well worth a look

Helios1234 · 28 Jun 2010 at 19:17

If you want your own fans, then +1 to the Venomous X as long as you get the AMD mounting bracket.

Strudul · 29 Jun 2010 at 21:03

The venomous X is a bit expensive...

I was looking at a few other fans:

-Thermaltake Blue Orb FX ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8u82_rpGPg
-Zalman CNPS9500 LED
-Zalman CNPS9700 LED
-Thermaltake SpinQ

Can anybody give any advice on these?

Helios1234 · 29 Jun 2010 at 21:34

Ah I didn't see your £40 budget.

Those ones will still be pretty rubbish so get something like the Thermolab Baram.

Eclectic · 29 Jun 2010 at 22:32

For the sake of an extra tenner or so delivered. You should really consider the Venomous, it will be worth the extra.

s452 · 29 Jun 2010 at 23:57

the TRUE may be worth looking at