Roundup: Six Sub-$40 Performance CPU Coolers Compared

[Caffeinecarl]

What? No Freezer 7 Pro Ver. 2?

 

[tpi2007]

[citation][nom]CaffeineCarl[/nom]What? No Freezer 7 Pro Ver. 2?[/citation]

I asked the same question. The author (Crahsman here in the comments) already answered it. Look it up a few comments above yours.

 

[dEAne]

thanks for that crashman.

 

[adso69]

This roundup, added to the overclocking on air for lga 1156, helps a lot. Even if I'd prefer noctua nh-d14, HUGE size and high budget don't help. Thanks for thinking of average users.

 

[adso69]

[citation][nom]youssef 2010[/nom]very interesting but soooooo much hassle[/citation]
Mmmmm... Yes, but then it's a very well thought over solution. Even so it must be bizarre? funny? (at least, different) to have the air flow frontwards and push pens out of the table

 

[tomskent]

THE CM 212 plus is currently on sale for $14.99 AR at NEWEGG! Buy up to 3 and still have the rebate apply.

The CM 212 Plus is the best bang for the buck bar none.
The mugen 2 rev b is more expensive ($45 in cali) way larger in size, and harder to find.
the little difference in performance is not worth the extra cost

 

[mariushm]

Xigmatek is spelled several times throughout the article as Xigamtek, on the first page in the cooler description and in the page 10 graphs for example. Fix it...

 

[tentaxlbunga]

I've made the right choice buying 212+ almost a year ago, that old bastrad still kicking in 4 place according to this test.

 

[cyric_74]

Ugh! This is the Exact article I was looking for 2 or 3 days ago. I didn't want to spend $50+$10 delivery on a fan but couldn't find any decent articles detailing whether it would even be worth picking up a $20-$30 fan vs stock cooling. Now I've already bought the $60 option. Sigh.

 

[compton]

This is another quality review. Thanks for the info. I wish there were more heatsinks and PSU reviews. I'll take what I can get, but more quality articles (like this) are needed.

Word up (it's the code word)

 

[knifearefun]

[citation][nom]TheRockMonsi[/nom]Well, I have the PERFORMA on a Phenom II 965, and it's pretty good. It keeps my CPU under 62 degrees with 1.5875v@19%LLC@2.8VDDA while running Prime95 - it's the only way I can get a 4GHz OC. With that being said, I don't know if I'd recommend it to anybody, mainly because it wasn't this good when I first got it - it was actually pretty terrible. I couldn't even achieve a 3.7GHz OC@1.4v without going over 62 degrees just playing games. When I got the cooler there were some black marks on it, and a good amount of scratches too. I ended up having to pay an extra $10 at an auto shop to get some sand paper and lap it up to 2500 grit.[/citation]
here something to try before you get your sandpaper out, i lay my computer on its side so that the heatsinks are facing towards the sky. Seeing as how there is liquid(water) in the heat pipe by using gravity it pulls the condensed liquid back down faster to supply cooling faster. Basically it makes it cool better. I have a xiggamatek darknight cooler on its side cooking my 955 @ 18x225 or @4.05ghz running only 1.4875 cpu vid and 1.52 vddc(all stable i might add running prime95 64bit for 6 hours) the highest temp at the end was only 61c in a 100 degree room(i live in az and my a/c is broken plus we have no insulation for some reason) its something to try before you get upset over temps and whatnot

 

[brandenjaffri]

well guys i own the rosewill cooler and have tested it on four differnt applications i can tell you that it performs horrible without sanding the base on a piece of glass. the base is NOT FLAT; this article is a horrible "fluff" review and did not lend incite on any of the strengths or weakness of the rosewill cooler.

HORRIBLE ARTICLE

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]brandenjaffri[/nom]well guys i own the rosewill cooler and have tested it on four differnt applications i can tell you that it performs horrible without sanding the base on a piece of glass. the base is NOT FLAT; this article is a horrible "fluff" review and did not lend incite on any of the strengths or weakness of the rosewill cooler. HORRIBLE ARTICLE[/citation]Since I've been castigated for calling people out on dishonest posts, I can only say that the cooler tested in this article was as-described, and that the photo of the cooler's base backs up that description. The only way for both of us to be right is if Rosewill's supplier has horrific inconsistency...though I guess that's a possibility.

 

[4Ryan6]

Good article Crash!

I personally would love to see more attention to detail regarding mounting, both heat sink to socket and cooling fans to the heat sink.

Most of the units that mount the fan to the heat sink with the rubber isolation mounts are a great cheap way out for the manufacturer, but totally sucks for the end user. Sometimes tracking down and finding replacement mounts is almost impossible or at least has been for me regarding Xigmatek, so it makes me extremely cautious even considering purchasing a cooler with those type fan mounts, no matter how good it performs.

Also the mounting assembly of the heat sink to the socket has it been seriously designed and thought through enough to allow either horizontal or vertical mounting, and does it possess the ability for increased pressure if needed.

Just a couple of things I'd like to see covered more in depth. Ryan

 

[cobra5000]

No Artic Cooling? AC puts out the BEST and quietest CPU coolers on the market, hands down! They are also a great value and for them not to be included in this article is quite puzzling.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]cobra5000[/nom]No Artic Cooling? AC puts out the BEST and quietest CPU coolers on the market, hands down! They are also a great value and for them not to be included in this article is quite puzzling.[/citation]Not puzzling if you read this thread...

 

[WR2]

Useful review. Thanks for putting it together.

 

[Computerrock1]

You guys should go for the sub $30 range for those of us on a strip cash diet!

 

[adso69]

[citation][nom]Crashman[/nom]Since I've been castigated for calling people out on dishonest posts, I can only say that the cooler tested in this article was as-described, and that the photo of the cooler's base backs up that description. The only way for both of us to be right is if Rosewill's supplier has horrific inconsistency...though I guess that's a possibility.[/citation]

The review is fine, crashman. I guess personal experiences show the way: VERY likely postproduction quality controls are somewhat lenient -even in something in full sight (before install) for anyone to see. After all if the company seeks economical profit in not-so-expensive articles, with all the financial crisis going on, then... One less employee in QC, one more article for sale. Or it might just be bad luck for brandenjaffri.

I got to like the results on several of these coolers. But i live in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. Wich means frequent minimum ambient temps above 30ºC (86ºF) at night during summertime. Right, this is Europe, but it was fun when a british foreign student (back at '92, remember Barcelona Olympic Games?) told me after luch "Now I see why you spanish sleep siesta"-mid-july, above 40ºC (104ºF) . So, I understand when my PC surrenders sometimes. Besides buying some good air conditioner, should I go for higher priced coolers for an i7?
What is the maximum recommended temp for CPU/GPU/... in your opinion? If 30ºC (ambient)+ result of thermal test = New computer components demand summer holidays I guess...

 

[bounty]

The Xigmatek Gaia and Cooler Master Hyper 212+ trade blows in noise and performance (CPU & VRM), with both being good values. On that note, are the "Cooling Value" charts relative between the previous article and this one?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-cooler-heatsink-roundup,2788-11.html
and
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/lga-1156-heatsink,2535-15.html

-Bounty

 

[Guest]

I saw this Q asked--not answered--in the comments on the referenced test of 2009 coolers, so ask it again here:

What thermal paste was used? Would be nice to see a dual test on these--the paste supplied with the HSF, and a 'gold standard' such as AS 5.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]bounty[/nom]The Xigmatek Gaia and Cooler Master Hyper 212+ trade blows in noise and performance (CPU & VRM), with both being good values. On that note, are the "Cooling Value" charts relative between the previous article and this one?http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 88-11.htmland http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 35-15.html-Bounty[/citation]Unfortunately, those value charts are only good for about a week after they're created (sometimes less) due to changing prices.[citation][nom]Pixel13[/nom]I saw this Q asked--not answered--in the comments on the referenced test of 2009 coolers, so ask it again here:What thermal paste was used? Would be nice to see a dual test on these--the paste supplied with the HSF, and a 'gold standard' such as AS 5.[/citation]No gold standard, just a silver one...

 

[Guest]

Where is the price list?

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]fakename666[/nom]Where is the price list?[/citation]Page 1

 

[h2o_skiman]

Great review.
For me the thing that was missing was noise levels for the 2500rpm reference fan. Since three of the coolers were are at 60 degrees above ambient with the reference cooler, one could take the cheapest heatsink of the three and attach the reference fan.

Noise levels for each cooler with the reference fan would also provide an indication of noise induced by the cooling fins of each design.