• Happy holidays, folks! Thanks to each and every one of you for being part of the Tom's Hardware community!

Low Profile CPU Coolers

XFA24

Distinguished
Dec 4, 2012
330
0
18,790
So I was wondering what's better among these two low profile coolers because currently im using the stock cooler and my i5 is reaching about 70 degrees when playing watch dogs on medium settings

CM Vortex Plus(about 27 USD in my area)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103084&cm_re=cooler_master_vortex_plus-_-35-103-084-_-Product


or Noctua NH-L9i(about 35 USD in my area)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608029&cm_re=noctua_l9i-_-35-608-029-_-Product

well the price for the noctua in newegg is very far off from the price here in one of the local PC shops

so anyway, I would like you guys to judge those coolers based on their overall performance

ohh and will these coolers hit any of my other components?(you know like ram or GPU or even the PSU perhaps)

or if you guys can suggest a better low profile cpu cooler then that would be great(in the 35 USD and below range if possible)

If it matters, my specs are:
CPU: Intel Core i5 4690
MOBO: ASUS Z97M-Plus(mATX Form factor)
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x4GB DDR3
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD7770 Ghz Ed
PSU: Seasonic M12II 620W
CASING: CM Elite 343
^yes I know, my casing is good enough for a bigger cooler but I just prefer smaller ones

I mainly use my computer for gaming(such as playing watch dogs on medium settings or CS:GO)

thanks in advance!
 


like maybe about 20% better?

well mainly because most of the big ones dont fit like the hyper 212x
 
Well, the Noctua would be the better choice, as in the specifications you can see that it does have a higher CFM, and also because Noctuas are normally at the top of ranks of the air coolers. About the size, you should take a look at the Noctua website and check its size, then measure if it will fit properly in your computer, also there you can see a list of compatible hardware.
http://noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=50&lng=en&set=1
http://noctua.at/main.php?show=support&lng=en
 


too bad, those are not available in my country 🙁