Question How to decide the minimum viable cooler for a processor based on wattage and space?

[Nav9]

I'm not asking for someone to suggest an air cooler for the i5 11400 (PL1: 65W, PL2: 154W) I plan to buy.
I'm asking how one determines the minimum range of CFM, fan size, number of heat pipes and cooler size (so it doesn't obstruct RAM slots), when given a max room temperature, motherboard form factor and knowing that the processor will run in turbo mode for hours together?
Something like how the table here helps decide fan positions and the table here helps decide RAM.
I know there are many more factors to consider, but a basic graph or table should help.

 

[Math Geek]

you look at reviews of the cooler and see what it is capable of and if it fits in the case. the rest are just numbers and don't mean anything. in the end how well it works is all that matters.

so you filter based on what fits and then from there chose what will do the job and is priced right.

there are plenty of well known quality coolers at each price point and various sizes. no need to spend forever considering every single option from every single oddball brand out there

but i don't know of any place that catalogs every stat of every cooler. but something like pc partpicker has plenty of filtering options to help narrow down options and price ranges.

 

[Math Geek]

and of course if you need some advice, we are here and pretty much exist to share what we have spent many many hours reading and learning

for instance the published power numbers from the brands are usually false and pretty much useless. so you need to check out some reviews of the cpu as well to see what power draw was really like. especially with intel the last few gens. their power draw has gotten insane on many of their chips despite publishing "125w" they can hit 250w+ depending on model and use case.

 

[geofelt]

Noctua maintains a data base of supporting coolers for various processors.
Here is the list for the I5-11400:

Intel Core i5-11400 | CPU Compatibility | Noctua Compatibility Centre

Series: Rocket Lake-S, Socket: LGA 1200

ncc.noctua.at

Coolers with at least a NSPR of 129 like the NH-U12s would seem to be appropriate.
Here is more on NSPR:

Noctua’s Standardised Performance Rating (NSPR) and compatibility classification for CPU coolers

Designed in Austria, Noctua's premium cooling components are renowned for their superb quietness, exceptional performance and thoroughgoing quality.

noctua.at

Any cooler of interest will have a detailed diagram of dimensions and clearances.
In general, low profile ram such as the corsair lpx series will not impact any cooler.

The height available in a case may be an issue, but cases with 160mm headroom will fit the best of coolers.

 

[hotaru.hino]

My general rules of thumb are:

• Single tower 120mm air coolers are suitable for up to midrange CPUs like i5s and Ryzen 5s, though in a pinch they can work on something higher end.
• Single tower 140mm air coolers are suitable for up to i7s and Ryzen 7s
• Dual tower 140mm air coolers are the bare minimum for i9s or Ryzen 9s, otherwise get a 360mm AIO water cooler.

Obviously though, whatever you pick, see if there's a review on it to make sure it actually can handle what you want.

 

[Nav9]

Thank you. I have a humble request/suggestion. Tom's hardware is well respected in the tech community, and many of the articles that evaluate motherboards and processors are referred by PC builders across the world. However, in the entire tech community, the one metric that is missing and at least Noctua has tried addressing (as geofelt pointed out above), is the cooler metrics. Not just about its capability to cool the CPU, but also whether it'd fit into a cabinet and whether it'd block RAM slots or anything else.
The suggestion:
Noctua's standardization does not account for higher ambient temperatures and cabinet fit. Besides, Noctua named the standard with their own brand name, which can make others uneasy about adopting it. Could Tom's Hardware take initiative to connect with processor and cooler manufacturers and create a standard or a software which caters to the questions that PC builders would have about selecting the right cooler? (like pcpartpicker made things easier for us). This will be a milestone in PC building history. I know there are a lot of parameters, but still, it'd help to start with a minimalist guide.

Meanwhile, the person at the store said an after-market cooler probably wouldn't fit into my standard ATX cabinet, and I had to settle for the Ryzen5 5600G's stock cooler (Wraith stealth). The noise is annoying. However, when I place the cabinet on its side, such that the fan faces upward, the noise is almost inaudible. This means there's a lubrication problem (because I once fixed a noisy SMPS fan by opening it up and applying some grease on the shaft). I opened the fan sticker, and didn't understand how to open the fan for lubrication. Besides, this post says the Wraith Prism can't be lubricated, so I wonder if that applies to Wraith Stealth too.

 

[geofelt]

All cooling(both air and aio) starts with ambient temperature.
Yes, peltier is an exception.
And, ambient temperature is not room temperature, it is the temperature of the cooling air source.

Cooler specs will have dimensions, and case makers will provide their dimensions. It is up to the buyer to check for fit.
One might hope that ram height would not be so hard to find.

Cooler reviews will have effectiveness comparisons as well as the noise tradeoff.

If cpu cooling is an issue, then, it really is up to the buyer to consider the factors before buying.

 

[Deleted member 2838871]

My general rules of thumb are:

• Dual tower 140mm air coolers are the bare minimum for i9s or Ryzen 9s, otherwise get a 360mm AIO water cooler.

Good advice. I've used AIOs for years but with the new AM5 build I went with an air cooler for the first time... based on Noctua's reputation and the fact the chip doesn't heat up like Intel 13th gen.

Getting solid performance here... even on an all core burn test for 30 mins the CPU peaked at 86C. I consider that a win.