Best CPU Cooler under 140mm height

[ajitesh]

Which among these will provide the best cooling for an Intel i7 3770K?
Please rank them according to their performance.
Noctua NH-L12
Noctua NH-C14
Noctua NH-D9L
Noctua NH-U9S
Will a little bit of overclocking be possible on any of these, around 4.2Ghz stable?
Any other recommendations apart from these which are under 140mm (height) are also welcome.
Thanks

 

[King Kevain]

If you are limited by height, suggest you go to an AIO solution like the X61 or the Corsair H105 if you wish to Extreme Overclock with limited Air Cooling space. For s small OC, you could consider the more compact Corsair H75 - I use it on my i7-4790K with a OC on 4.6Mhz (turbo) and it doesn't get off idle - i.e. cannot hear those Corsair SP fans at all.

Don't skimp on your cooler when Overclocking is my recommendation (I wish I got an H105 in hindsight

Good rankings on Cooler performance here - http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2014/02/07/corsair-h105-review/2

The NH-L12 is one of the smallest and most efficient coolers you can buy - designed for ITX backplateless builds, it performs about the same as EVO212 but is better suited to i3 and i5's rather than i7s that the EVO is designed for.

The d9 is 110mm, the u9 is 125mm tall - performance is about the same (the U edges the D by about 1 degC - you should add a 2nd Fan though to either if you have the room.

But the Winner is the C14 - it out performs the NH-D14 for cooling but is noisier - you'll get 4.6Mhz OC out of your 3770K with this bad boy. - good comparison review here - http://www.relaxedtech.com/reviews/noctua/nh-c12p-se14-nh-c14/7

Personally, I'd still splash the cash and get a nice AIO Liquid Cooler for the same performance, quieter operation and tidier case presentation - but that's just me

 

[ajitesh]

If you are limited by height, suggest you go to an AIO solution like the X61 or the Corsair H105 if you wish to Extreme Overclock with limited Air Cooling space. For s small OC, you could consider the more compact Corsair H75 - I use it on my i7-4790K with a OC on 4.6Mhz (turbo) and it doesn't get off idle - i.e. cannot hear those Corsair SP fans at all.

Don't skimp on your cooler when Overclocking is my recommendation (I wish I got an H105 in hindsight

Good rankings on Cooler performance here - http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2014/02/07/corsair-h105-review/2

The NH-L12 is one of the smallest and most efficient coolers you can buy - designed for ITX backplateless builds, it performs about the same as EVO212 but is better suited to i3 and i5's rather than i7s that the EVO is designed for.

The d9 is 110mm, the u9 is 125mm tall - performance is about the same (the U edges the D by about 1 degC - you should add a 2nd Fan though to either if you have the room.

But the Winner is the C14 - it out performs the NH-D14 for cooling but is noisier - you'll get 4.6Mhz OC out of your 3770K with this bad boy. - good comparison review here - http://www.relaxedtech.com/reviews/noctua/nh-c12p-se14-nh-c14/7

Personally, I'd still splash the cash and get a nice AIO Liquid Cooler for the same performance, quieter operation and tidier case presentation - but that's just me

My situation is a bit complicated to explain. In summary there's no room to mount a radiator.

 

[King Kevain]

If you are limited by height, suggest you go to an AIO solution like the X61 or the Corsair H105 if you wish to Extreme Overclock with limited Air Cooling space. For s small OC, you could consider the more compact Corsair H75 - I use it on my i7-4790K with a OC on 4.6Mhz (turbo) and it doesn't get off idle - i.e. cannot hear those Corsair SP fans at all.

Don't skimp on your cooler when Overclocking is my recommendation (I wish I got an H105 in hindsight

Good rankings on Cooler performance here - http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2014/02/07/corsair-h105-review/2

The NH-L12 is one of the smallest and most efficient coolers you can buy - designed for ITX backplateless builds, it performs about the same as EVO212 but is better suited to i3 and i5's rather than i7s that the EVO is designed for.

The d9 is 110mm, the u9 is 125mm tall - performance is about the same (the U edges the D by about 1 degC - you should add a 2nd Fan though to either if you have the room.

But the Winner is the C14 - it out performs the NH-D14 for cooling but is noisier - you'll get 4.6Mhz OC out of your 3770K with this bad boy. - good comparison review here - http://www.relaxedtech.com/reviews/noctua/nh-c12p-se14-nh-c14/7

Personally, I'd still splash the cash and get a nice AIO Liquid Cooler for the same performance, quieter operation and tidier case presentation - but that's just me

My situation is a bit complicated to explain. In summary there's no room to mount a radiator.

Then go with NH-C14 - it's the best cooler out of the 4 you listed. Alternately, Cases are pretty cheap and seems to be the limiting factor here, maybe you can get one with a bit more room - if you're looking for portability and have a little extra cash and want Liquid Cooling as an option while still being compact, have you considered the Corsair 380T's? They're one of the smallest you can buy but will still take 240mm Radiator like the H105 - http://www.centrecom.com.au/corsair-380t-white-black-mini-itx-gaming-case-perfect-for-lan-gaming

http://www.centrecom.com.au/corsair-hydro-seies-h105-liquid-cpu-cooler