Best Cooling

[Crashman]

Here are the best CPU cooling solutions (air and liquid) for a range of systems, from small form-factor builds to overclocked big-rigs.

Best Cooling : Read more

 

[abryant]

Archived comments are found here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3707693/cooling.html

 

[bit_user]

Thanks for including a down-draft cooler. I feel better having direct airflow on the VRM, which tower-style coolers don't provide. RAM temps also typically benefit.

An interesting test would be to measure the difference that occurs when you reverse the fan direction of such a cooler. So, flip the fan and run it as an updraft cooler. The rationale is that case exhaust fans are often right next to the CPU, in which case they'd be fighting the airflow of a downdraft cooler. However, if you instead run it in the updraft direction, the airflow rate should benefit and more of the hot air should get exhausted.

 

[Carsten_3]

I wonder why you link a 5 month old review, instead of reviewing the latest ENERMAX LIQTECH TR4 II serie?
As the old Enermax LIQTECH TR4 360mm AIO Liquid CPU Cooler got 35% 1 star customer reviews on Amazon.

 

[madymadme]

why is swiftech water cooler included here ?

 

[fredfinks]

Should be stated that gunk builds up on the insides of liquid coolers. Also theres chance of pump failure & leaks.

A big dumb block of metal, combined with a top notch fan (i.e. the noctua - guaranteed for 7 years) will function for a LONG time.
The only thing stopping it being mounting kit obsolescence. (low & behold noctua will send out a mounting kit in future if you ever need it, for free anywhere in world)
Indefinite lifespan. Eff liquid AIOs. (custom loops go ahead)

 

[bit_user]

A big dumb block of metal, combined with a top notch fan (i.e. the noctua - guaranteed for 7 years) will function for a LONG time.

The enemy of air is dust. Of course, this also applies (somewhat) to liquid cooling radiators.

Bigger, slower fan = less dust buildup.

I also run a positive-pressure case setup, with removable dust filters behind the intake fans. This has worked remarkably well at keeping the case clean.

Of course, it also helps not to have pets.

 

[medicjambi]

It would be nice to see stats on how much cooling each one provides. As in how many watts of energy it can dissipate or cool, etc. I've not been able to find the cooling capacity on these coolers. I understand the larger the radiator and more fans equal more cooling capacity, but it would be nice to see how much each is able to cool.

 

[medicjambi]

I have the Liquid Freezer 240 and I was able to find the stats that it is able to dissipate 300 Watts TDP. Information like that should be listed in a review like this. That's quite the oversite there Tom's Hardware. You guys are slipping.

 

[jill.and.molly.bff]

The most important aspect of a cooling system is its heat dissipation capacity, which CPU makers express as Watts TDP. If the cooler's TDP capacity does not at least equal the CPU's, the CPU will overheat under heavy load. Can't even imagine why this important fact is entirely omitted from the article...

 

[Chupacabra69]

Err where are the cooling performance comparisons.. is this an opinion or marketing piece?

 

[Chupacabra69]

nvm found the reviews... very weird how they chose to make nearly every clickable area in the products go to a page to sell it to you. and devoted very little area to allowing you to get to a review to see how it performed. i really hope they do not continue with this format. tom's is all about the reviews and performance tests, and when a roundup like this comes out, you shouldn't have to hunt around to find the review....

 

[stdragon]

A big dumb block of metal, combined with a top notch fan (i.e. the noctua - guaranteed for 7 years) will function for a LONG time.

The enemy of air is dust. Of course, this also applies (somewhat) to liquid cooling radiators.

Bigger, slower fan = less dust buildup.

I also run a positive-pressure case setup, with removable dust filters behind the intake fans. This has worked remarkably well at keeping the case clean.

Of course, it also helps not to have pets.

The cooling capacity is based on the combination of surface area to be cooled and the CFM of air that passes through them.

The reason you don't see filters on rack-mounted servers is because their design is predicated on the assumption they will be racked up in a data-center where the HVAC system has multiple layers of filtration and maintenance is done on routine to replace the filters. Have one at home, and you will be cracking that box open very often!

As for PC cases, absolutely love the washable filters at both the PSU intake and front side of the case. But IMHO this should be standardized with a tab that makes removing and cleaning them as easy at pulling a lint filter from a cloths dryer. I often have to clean mine every 3-4 months in my office (it's not that bad, but very noticeable how much it collects). My case makes it rather a PITA.

 

[jpe1701]

There's a review link at the bottom of each coolers little pros and cons section. It's not immediately noticable because they are in black like the rest of the text. I would love it if Toms would put all the data from previous tests on one chart and I think it would benefit the reader. I'm a little OCD I guess though because everytime I read a new cooler review I am compelled to go back and see how the coolers I use stack up or how the current cooler stacks up against popular ones like the nh-u14s and a big chart would be very useful. And one other point, is this list just the best of the coolers that Toms reviewed this year or overall? Just asking because I have the EVGA CLC 280 so I know that review was last year but it's on the list. Phenomenal cooler and I actually bought it from the recommendation on here.

 

[jd31068]

The link for Amazon for the "be quiet! Dark Rock 4"


Is:
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[junksyougetcheap]

just wonder,,,where is alpenhöhn olymp cpu cooler?

its beat all coolers,also d15 model.also its silent.

wonder also, why its not test anywhere..looks little banned...hmmm

 

[bobalazs]

Best cpu cooler hands down is not even on this list. Look for "snowman cpu cooler" cooler on aliexpress. Cheap and performance is top notch! its like under 20 us dollars lol.

 

[froggx]

The "mid-size" air cooler is bigger than the "big" air cooler...

 

[froggx]

Should be stated that gunk builds up on the insides of liquid coolers. Also theres chance of pump failure & leaks.

A big dumb block of metal, combined with a top notch fan (i.e. the noctua - guaranteed for 7 years) will function for a LONG time.

I think AIOs have been more focused on form over function as time has passed yet people keep buying them. I have a Corsair H60 from 2011, when they still ran the AIOs through all of the QA process. I wish it would build up gunk, leak and/or burn up the pump because I need my desktop to die so I can justify building a new rig. Instead it just keeps my i5-2500K @ 4.4Ghz below 60C full load.
The AIO business model is going something like: introduce shiny product, people like shiny things, sales skyrocket, AIO ppl stand by and look busy while quality goes down, introduce RGB stuff to distract from QA problems and add shiny, people like shiny things, sales skyrocket, everyone begins to get bored (for real this time), introduce"YCbCr" to upgrade RGB and add shiny, people like shiny things, sales skyrocket, an excessive amount of shiny causes AIOs fail catastrophically within minutes of install, computer related electrocutions skyrocket.

"Big dumb block of metal" makes me think "cast iron" for some reason...

Bigger, slower fan = less dust buildup.

I also run a positive-pressure case setup, with removable dust filters behind the intake fans. This has worked remarkably well at keeping the case clean.

Of course, it also helps not to have pets.

If you have both a big, slow fan and a small, fast fan that move the same CFM of air (I'm pretty sure dust gets into computers cause it floats around in the air and fans eat air), then wouldn't the build up of dust be pretty much the same between the 2 fans? Fluid dynamics isn't really my thing.

Dust filters and positive pressure FTW! I had mixed feelings about that arrangement at first. The increased resistance from both pulling through the filters and pushing into a pressurized case killed my air flow and made my temps jump. Adding a second fan in series on each intake brought everything back to where it needed to be.

Pets suck sometimes. I had a big cat charge full speed straight into a comp case's acrylic window, the acrylic moved out of her way explosively, and her momentum carried her straight into the case, which happened to already contain an actively running system. Big cat start freaking out hardcore, things got critical real fast, and my life briefly got super intense. That was a sad day.


It just occurred to me the site says this article popped 5 days ago, but the comments responding to it started up over a year ago. The chronology seems unusual.

 

[bit_user]

Best cpu cooler hands down is not even on this list. Look for "snowman cpu cooler" cooler on aliexpress. Cheap and performance is top notch! its like under 20 us dollars lol.

Okay, I see a generic-looking direct-touch heat pipe tower cooler. I'm struggling to see how that's the "Best cpu cooler hands down". It might be good value for money, but there's no way it's beating models with more heat pipes and more fans.

 

[bit_user]

If you have both a big, slow fan and a small, fast fan that move the same CFM of air (I'm pretty sure dust gets into computers cause it floats around in the air and fans eat air), then wouldn't the build up of dust be pretty much the same between the 2 fans? Fluid dynamics isn't really my thing.

But the surface area is different, since the big fan is moving air over more fins. So, even if they're moving the same amount of air (and presumably the same amount of dust), the dust gets spread out over a larger area and therefore takes longer to build up and block the airflow.

The main reason to use big, slow fans is about noise. Also, the fan bearings should probably last longer.

I had a big cat charge full speed straight into a comp case's acrylic window,

Sounds odd. Was she trying to play with the CPU fan?

It just occurred to me the site says this article popped 5 days ago, but the comments responding to it started up over a year ago. The chronology seems unusual.

The "round-up" articles, where they highlight "Best SSDs" or "Best GPUs" often update an existing article and must've inherited its comment thread. Sometimes the old comments will be left in a separate thread that gets linked from the new one (i.e. literally a post with a link in it).

 

[cliffro]

Best cpu cooler hands down is not even on this list. Look for "snowman cpu cooler" cooler on aliexpress. Cheap and performance is top notch! its like under 20 us dollars lol.

I looked, lots of reviews of receiving damaged parts. That’s a gamble I wouldn’t take just to save $15-25.

 

[bobalazs]

I looked, lots of reviews of receiving damaged parts. That’s a gamble I wouldn’t take just to save $15-25.

Alright, that's your choice.
Cause might be the post and i'm sure the manufacturer ships in good condition.

 

[thisisaname]

This this a new article shows as 21 hours ago but comments are from 2018 and 19?

 

[bit_user]

This this a new article shows as 21 hours ago but comments are from 2018 and 19?

It's an update to an older article. Sometimes, they also create a new discussion thread & link the old one, but not always.