212 EVO or D14 or U14S Bitfenix Prodigy

[AlainL]

Hi,

I am currently looking to buy a new cooler/case fans for my Bitfenix Prodigy build and i have got 3 favorites but cannot decide on the exact one/config. With around £80 i can do things such as a 212 EVO and replace heatsink and case fans but with more expensive heatsinks such as the Noctuas i will have a smaller choice of case fans to choose from or replace one of the stock fans only to keep within my budget. With this i am intending to do a mild overclock and reduce noise so please take the noise factor into consideration.

My favorites in no order are:
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO with Noctua NF-F12 on heatsink + replacing both case fans
or
Noctua NH-U14S or D14 + replacing 1 case fan with a Noctua Fan A15 or Spectre 200mm
or
Noctua NH-U14S or D14 + replacing both case fans with Corsair SP 120mm

Any other suggestions on fans, heatsinks or cooling configurations are much appreciated.
Thank you

 

[A_Goat]

If only a mild overclock is what you are shooting for, then the 212 evo will be perfectly capable.
What is the CPU you plan on cooling?

 

[AlainL]

If only a mild overclock is what you are shooting for, then the 212 evo will be perfectly capable.
What is the CPU you plan on cooling?

The reason i thought of the Noctua heatsinks is because i was thinking they might be better in terms of sound or maybe a evo with a Noctua Fan and replacing case fans will be the same amount of sound. What do you think?

The CPU is a i5 3570k.

Also apparently the Noctuas are really easy to install whereas the evo is a bit harder. (if you have experience with the evo is it difficult to install?)

Thank you for your responce

 

[A_Goat]

It is not difficult at all.
You can use this video as reference; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n47WBQI31eE

The D-14 will be quieter than the evo, as it will not have to work as hard (Fans will not have to spin as fast) to cool the chip.
But the 212 evo even with the stock fan is pretty quiet... by my standards anyway. How quiet are you trying to get?

 

[AlainL]

It is not difficult at all.
You can use this video as reference; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n47WBQI31eE

The D-14 will be quieter than the evo, as it will not have to work as hard (Fans will not have to spin as fast) to cool the chip.
But the 212 evo even with the stock fan is pretty quiet... by my standards anyway. How quiet are you trying to get?

Do you know if replacing stock case fans with noctuas will make a difference?

 

[A_Goat]

For the evo? Yes it will be more quiet with a noctua fan.
The question is if that extra quietness is worth $20.... but again, how quiet are you trying to get?

If you are wanting to add a noctua fan to the evo, i'd say just buy the D-14 instead. Be sure to check ram clearance

 

[AlainL]

For the evo? Yes it will be more quiet with a noctua fan.
The question is if that extra quietness is worth $20.... but again, how quiet are you trying to get?

If you are wanting to add a noctua fan to the evo, i'd say just buy the D-14 instead. Be sure to check ram clearance

I think you made a very good point about my mild overclock and the evo is only £25 so i think i will go with that and replace all my case fans. Any fans you can advise? (noctua, corsair, bitfenix etc)

 

[TheMagicalWallaby]

Get a Noctua NH-U14s. This cooler is great if you want to do some mild overclocking while keeping the noise down.

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=64&lng=en