Quiet but good CPU cooler for overclocking

heywhatsup

Commendable
Jun 28, 2016
23
0
1,510
Hey there guys, I currently have an i5-3570k CPU with a 212 Evo cooler. My 212 is just far too loud right. It's always been somewhat loud but bearable, now its just horrible.

The 212 evo makes a fair bit of noise even without overclocking, and once I overclock even a tiny bit and launch any game/demanding task, the fan goes insane.

I'm looking for a liquid or air cooler that's both quiet and good for overclocking. I looked at a few liquid coolers but didn't know what to get, then others told me to go for air cooling. I really don't know what's best in this situation. I'd like to overclock but the noise in unbearable, and having the fan being near silent while idle would be amazing.

I live in Canada and would appreciate the best CPU cooler for a decent price. Money isn't a huge issue but I'd rather not drop >$150 or so, any suggestions are appreciated though.

Thank you very much in advance.


Edit: I have a H440 case so most coolers will probably fit.
 
If going with a large(r) air cooler it's best to check and see what kind of ram you have. Is it lower profile or is it tall like corsair dominator? If your existing ram is fairly tall it may not be compatible with a lot of larger air coolers which tend to hang over the ram sticks. Knowing which ram you have brand/model would be helpful in guiding you to a better cooler. Also which case you have to be certain of cooler height clearance.

This is a decent price in Canada (it's much more expensive in the u.s. vs the nh-d14), cools very similarly and I'm not sure of a cooler that's much quieter. The same stipulations apply though about case and ram clearance though it has a bit more clearance than the nh-d14.
http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/9bFPxr/be-quiet-cpu-cooler-bk019

 


Oh you're right, I completely forgot about ram. I actually had an issue in the past with my 212 evo because the fan didn't fit due to my ram because too tall. Completely forgot about it. I don't know how tall it is exactly but for my 212 evo, I had to move the fan clip a bit higher on the radiator, making the fan/radiator not meshed. So I dont think this "Be Quiet" cooler is going to fit :/ Same with the d14.

Edit: Tried using a few programs like Speccy but can't find the ram model. Showing me Ram that I know I didn't buy. The only way I got my evo to fit was to move the fan up, having a second radiator most likely won't work. So is my only choice to get a liquid cooler?
 
I would try using something a bit more informative than speccy, I just downloaded it to see what it says about my ram and it just lists it as generic ddr3 800mhz. No name or anything given. By contrast hwinfo64 tells me exactly what I've got installed, g.skill f3-12800cl8-4gbxm. It will make a difference and the case will also make a difference though chances are you should have room if running the 212 evo with the fan raised up.

The nh-d14 has 44mm of ram clearance and that's not the fan, that's to the underside of the cooling fins. If the ram is taller than that it won't fit.
http://noctua.at/media/catalog/product/n/h/nh_d14_measurements_1.jpg

Either of the coolers (assuming they fit) would be plenty for overclocking. My i5 4690k is oc'd to 4.6ghz and the dark rock pro 3 barely spins above idle. Under normal conditions the fans never spin up to full speed so it's all but silent. I had to run prime95 and disable all my case fans to get it to spin up max rpms. The nh-d14 is similar and though it doesn't specify a tdp rating I'd say it's got to be close to the drp3 which is 250w tdp capability.
 
For some reason the model it gave me led me to a different looking RAM completely, but I believe I managed to find my RAM. Seems like it's 1.827" from bottom to top. So 46.4 mm:/ And I'm not even planning on overclocking THAt much, the max I brought my 3570k to was 4.1 or 4.2ghz and my 212 evo fan made an insane amount of noise. Went straight to full speed.

Also here's the specifications link to my ram: http://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/KHX16C9T3K2_16X.pdf
 
A friend of mine has an extra Corsair 120mm SP quiet version fan or something so he's letting me borrow it to see if it makes a good enough difference. My main issue is just sound, not just cooling abilities. So I'll see how that fan works the 212 evo, if it's not good enough I'll get the nh-d14. Thanks a lot for the help :)