Question Mid-range CPU cooling?

[Reso]

What should I be looking for when researching CPU coolers - below is what will be on my Motherboard for reference (for any compatibility issues etc.)

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor (£299.88 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI MAG B660M MORTAR WIFI DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (£171.49 @ Box Limited)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£69.48 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 980 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (£85.99 @ Technextday)
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 2X 12G GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB Video Card (£379.99 @ AWD-IT)
Total: £1006.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-10-26 08:10 BST+0100

Budget of around £50-70 with no particular preferences

 

[Lafong]

Consider:

Cost

Your dislike of noise and appreciation for less of it. Maybe you don't care?

Width of your tower case. Most "upper level" coolers are 155 mm tall or taller. Your case needs to be wide enough to accept your cooler. "Max cooler height" is a published spec for each case.

Your fear of temps. Some would have a nervous breakdown if temps exceeded say 60 or say 70. Others wouldn't flinch. That's personal. If you believe temps of X are to be avoided at all costs, then you act accordingly.

Lesser factors: cooler weight; vendor return privileges; mounting system; extra goodies included with the purchase, etc.

I don't see your case mentioned.

If it has average or better airflow, I don't see why most upper level single tower coolers wouldn't be fine for a 12600K and that video card. I use Noctua. There's several single towers that would work fine. Other decent brands include Be Quiet and Scythe.

BUT.......if your temperature fear level is high, then go crazy with dual towers, 360 mm liquid or whatever you have to do in order to sleep at night.

Knocking your ambient temps down by 5 degrees would likely knock your temps down by 5 also.

 

[boju]

What's your case? Can it fit tower cooler?

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/HC...lack-6009-cfm-cpu-cooler-nh-u12a-chromaxblack

https://ncc.noctua.at/cpus/model/Intel-Core-i5-12600K-1581

Decent performing and quiet, last life time. No need to worry about aio pump failures (2~3 years life span)

I've always had Noctua coolers, can't go wrong with them.