Best budget water cooler (under $70)?

[goaskalice00]

Hey guys,

I'm upgrading my system, and need a good water cooler. I just received a Corsair H50 that I ordered on Newegg for $60, but have decided not to open it. I did not realize that the H55 was also available for the same price, and the H60 for just $5 more. I feel at the very least, I should go with the H60.

I think I am going to return what I have and order something different. This time around, I'd like to ensure that I make the right decision, haha.

So what do you guys think? Whats the best water cooler available right now for under $70?

 

[photonboy]

QUICK answer: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rls12m24pkr1

(It can drop to 600RPM to stay quiet, and has good customer feedback. Note that most benchmarks for cooling are CONFUSING. What's most important is that it can sufficiently cool whilst staying fairly quiet. A good cooler should be near SILENT in idle which is not the case for some as many have non-variable fans.)

LONGER answer:
Your question can't be properly answered yet since we don't know:

1) CPU, and
2) How much you want to overclock, and
3) Motherboard model

The motherboard model isn't necessary though if it's not designed for overclocking people might give you some recommendations there.

*Best under $70??

I doubt anything in that price will be significantly different from the H50 aside from noise. Better maybe, but not likely buy much and depending on your CPU it might not make a noticeable difference. Plus, you're likely paying some shipping to get this done.

EXAMPLE:
Let's say you got an i5-4690K and did a light overclock. You might end up gaming and hit 65degC (a guess) as a worst-case scenario however the CPU max temp is about 105degC. Maybe you buy a BETTER cooler and get 68degC instead. Was that worth it? Would the noise difference by noticeable? Not likely.

Other:
Older benchmark:
http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/corsair-h50-cpu-cooler-review,6.html

Other cooler:
You said liquid though I'd personally recommend the Noctua NH-U12S or NH-U14S air cooler depending on the setup. I never usually recommend LIQUID unless there's a clear benefit. A good Noctua can often run quieter and is more reliable in many scenarios. Not all though. Small cases, high overclock of Intel, or medium/high AMD is usually where I recommend Liquid.

 

[geofelt]

+1^

My canned rant on liquid cooling:
------------------------start of rant-------------------
You buy a liquid cooler to be able to extract an extra multiplier or two out of your OC.
How much do you really need?
I do not much like all in one liquid coolers when a good air cooler like a Noctua NH-D15 or phanteks can do the job just as well.
A liquid cooler will be expensive, noisy, less reliable, and will not cool any better
in a well ventilated case.
Liquid cooling is really air cooling, it just puts the heat exchange in a different place.
The orientation of the radiator will cause a problem.
If you orient it to take in cool air from the outside, you will cool the cpu better, but the hot air then circulates inside the case heating up the graphics card and motherboard.
If you orient it to exhaust(which I think is better) , then your cpu cooling will be less effective because it uses pre heated case air.
And... I have read too many tales of woe when a liquid cooler leaks.
google "H100 leak"
-----------------------end of rant--------------------------

 

[rubix_1011]

For the price point you've listed, just go with a good air cooler. Closed loop coolers under $100 really don't perform any better, anyway.

 

[goaskalice00]

Thanks for the help guys. This might make me sound a bit superficial, but I'm making the switch to liquid cooling partially for the aesthetic appeal. I currently have a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo, which works fantastically, but is also massive and aesthetically plain (to my eyes, anyways).

CPU: i5-2500k
Mobo: ASRock z68 Extreme3 Gen3

I only plan to overclock a little for increased performance, but wish to stay well within the safe limits.