Roundup: Six Sub-$40 Performance CPU Coolers Compared

[Crashman]

Remember when overclocking was all about getting more performance for less money? It's hard to do that when you're spending top dollar on premium heatsinks and fans. Today we round up six true value-oriented coolers that could help unleash hidden speed.

Roundup: Six Sub-$40 Performance CPU Coolers Compared : Read more

 

[amk09]

i wished you included a cooler such as the coolermaster hyper 212, that seems to be a highly recommended cooler and it would have been nice to see how it squared up against these ones.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]amk09[/nom]i wished you included a cooler such as the coolermaster hyper 212, that seems to be a highly recommended cooler and it would have been nice to see how it squared up against these ones.[/citation]We did:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/lga-1156-heatsink,2535-4.html
That's why the same system was used for both tests. It's all mentioned in the article, too.

 

[Twoboxer]

Its incomprehensible that the Hyper 212 was left out of this kind of review. That decision makes this article worthless.

 

[Wolygon]

"Its incomprehensible that the Hyper 212 was left out of this kind of review. That decision makes this article worthless."


Read the article before posting please.

 

[Twoboxer]

Sorry, I read your Opening page, the thermal results page, and the conclusion page. Did I miss how these products compare to the Hyper 212?

 

[dogman_1234]

^ Or water cooling. It was a great article but, How about comparing to Hydro cooling and add an AMD system too. Intel is great at generating heat, AMD is better thought!

 

[duk3]

How did the Zalman CNPS10X Performa get into this review at $35?

 

[sudeshc]

was waiting for this kind of article for some time now, thanks toms. Loved the article, thinking about to go with Zalman's Cooler.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]duk3[/nom]How did the Zalman CNPS10X Performa get into this review at $35?[/citation]It was $35. It went up at Newegg about a week ago, but if you look around enough you might find the launch price elsewhere.

 

[Guest]

Just wanted to say thanks for the article. And I think it's extra awesome that you actually respond to the comments/questions (I just read through the other roundup from earlier this year).

 

[DavC]

good article. it would be nice to see the standard cooler on the charts just for comparison though.

 

[SpadeM]

Great article tackling the budget builder but with an overclocker's heart . There are a few things I would like to mention/request:
- Heatpipe orientation .. I know all about capillary action but since I don't know of any manufacturer that advertises/places the type of wick they use on the box of the cooler, believing that all coolers are the same and therefor heatpipe orientation does not matter, is a bit idiotic. I know that on a open test bed with the motherboard sitting flat/horizontally the heatpipe orientation isn't relevant but inside a PC case it might be .. and here is my dilemma. Did some research about this, but other then forums and "i believe so" arguments I haven't found anything relevant on this subject. The thing is I was looking these past few weeks at reviews for arctic cooling's 13 on different websites and even though the test method (and room temp)is slightly different from one reviewer to the other, the temp values differ quite a bit which is normal but the biggest difference seams to stem from it's orientation in a pc case.

Main point of my rambling ... since this is probably one of the oldest tech websites out there, could you bust/prove this myth? Get a bunch of coolers from all price ranges (i have a feeling that cheaper coolers would turn up a bigger difference in values that the expensive ones) and place them est-west and north-south inside a closed pc case. Run a couple of tests and gives us the results.

PS: i know that case fans matter but since most pc cases now have a psu mounted at the bottom and there is a exhaust fan/grill at the top, you could use that as the "standard case" for this test.

 

[djmik21]

Thanks tom.
Great article.
I wanted a comparison between the CM 212+ and Xigmatek Gaia.
I think i'm going for the Gaia for its easier installation and to use it in a 2-fan setup with a fan that i allready have and don't know where to use it.
It would be even better if you added the performance of the coolers that support 2-fan setups.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]djmik21[/nom]Thanks tom.Great article.I wanted a comparison between the CM 212+ and Xigmatek Gaia.I think i'm going for the Gaia for its easier installation and to use it in a 2-fan setup with a fan that i allready have and don't know where to use it.It would be even better if you added the performance of the coolers that support 2-fan setups.[/citation]
Sorry, but the Hyper 212+ is too old to be part of a "new for 2010" cooler roundup, but that's why the link was provided in the article and the response thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/lga-1156-heatsink,2535-4.html

 

[djmik21]

I knew that and so i went and compared the test results and that's how i decided on the gaia.
thnx again

 

[Guest]

does every page HAVE to have a popup ad/page?

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]tarawa[/nom]does every page HAVE to have a popup ad/page?[/citation]Nah, I have mine disabled.

 

[tsnor]

[citation][nom]Crashman[/nom]Nah, I have mine disabled.[/citation]

funny

 

[Reynod]

Crashman nice article ... seriously.

I can see this time you took your time editing it and the end result is excellent.

On an unrelated note ... any news on whether your "grumpiness" is improving or can I expect a "slap" for my cheeky comment ... heh heh.

Seriously, If this is the new standard required for the other reviewers then the rest (Bar Chris and Don) have some work to do mate.

Well done ... very well done.

 

[-Fran-]

Thanks Crashman for the review.

Are you guys adding a "Coolers P/P rank" anytime soon? That would be so helpful 8)

Cheers!

 

[nevertell]

A good thing to cover would be if you can OC a cpu so much, that you get enough performance to make the cooler repay for itself. Like cpu(0)+cooler=>cpu(1)

 

[ScrewySqrl]

I'm slightly surprise that the Cooler Master Hyper 212+ wasn't included here, as it is the most recommended HSF on the forums.

 

[malnute]

coolermaster hyper n520 is the one to get, i was running my i530 at 4.4 ghz and never went over 70 degrees while playing games, just installed one on a phenom 955 thing is only 55 degrees at 3.8 ghz but haven't gamed it yet.

 

[malnute]

mistype 35 degrees on the the phenom 955