Question What CPU Cooler should I buy?

kimroar90

Commendable
Apr 25, 2018
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Hello. Recently I have been having issues with high gaming temps. It goes up to 80ºC sometimes. Usually from 65-75. And this is without no overclocking, just turbo mode on. CPU: i7-3820 Intel - I want to be able to overclock it abit, not much.. from 3.9 -4.4 ghz. I do not have a 240mm space for water cooling, only 120mm. I currently have the old h60 corsair, but it's very old now.. about 7-8 years old. And I have not changed thermal paste on it sinse this neither.

So my question is, do you think problem could be solved with only new thermal paste? or do I need to buy a new cpu cooler?

I have been looking at h60 (2018 model) and the h80i v2. Both 120mm water coolers. And the CRYORIG H5 wish is normal air cooler.. what do you guys recommend? Don't take in consideration the price of none of them.. and if you have other suggestions, I'm open for it.

PS! GPU tempratures is running good so that is not the reason for high temps.
If I try to put all cores to run at 3.8ghz, suddendly tempratures in idle while not doing ANYTHING goes up to 45-50.

Motherboard: P9x79
GPU: GTX 1060
RAM: 16gb Hyperx Fury 1866mhz DDR3
Idle temps: 35c if not doing anything (on a good day!). Right now it's on 46c, keep in mind this is no overclock.
 

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator
If this is a newer occurrence and due to how long you've had the AIO for I would just clean out the radiator/fan and reapply the thermal paste. If temps continue to be high then I would consider a newer cooler. Personally I'm not a fan of 120mm AIOs as you'll get better results from a larger air cooler. The Scythe Mugen 5 is a good dual fan cooler for the price.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Scythe - Mugen 5 Rev. B 51.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($51.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $51.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-03-02 20:21 EST-0500
 

kimroar90

Commendable
Apr 25, 2018
38
1
1,535
We do not have The Scythe Mugen 5 currently in any availble shops were I'm from (Norway). Could you recommend anything else for oc?
I'm all for a air cooler but I'm abit afraid it's gonna be so big I cant fit my ram in it (have no experience with this).
 

kimroar90

Commendable
Apr 25, 2018
38
1
1,535
WildCard999 90-100$ max from this site
That is around 700-800Kr on that site. It's a norwegian webpage.
I can't go 240mm radiator water cooler, only 120mm.

I want to be able to push 3.9-4.4 ghz with decent tempratures from my old i7-3820 Intel.
Motherboard: P9x79
 
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kimroar90

Commendable
Apr 25, 2018
38
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I'm tilting towards Noctua NH-U12S at this point. It's cheap, I've read it's abit better then the NH-U9S, can anyone confirm this? Also, it doesnt look big like all the others, so it will probably not be a problem with the ram slots. Any feedback on this would be awesome, does it fit my motherboard?

Will Noctua NH-U14S or NH-U12S work for my motherboard and cpu?
I dont know what tower case I got, bought it aloooong time ago. But I usually keep the side open anyways on the tower.. maybe that's bad?
 
Last edited:

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator
I'm tilting towards Noctua NH-U12S at this point. It's cheap, I've read it's abit better then the NH-U9S, can anyone confirm this? Also, it doesnt look big like all the others, so it will probably not be a problem with the ram slots. Any feedback on this would be awesome, does it fit my motherboard?

Will Noctua NH-U14S or NH-U12S work for my motherboard and cpu?
I dont know what tower case I got, bought it aloooong time ago. But I usually keep the side open anyways on the tower.. maybe that's bad?
I can't seem to find a review for each using the same parts to test but from the looks of it that NH-U12S will keep your CPU cool and would handle a moderate OC.
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Noctua/NH-U12S/6.html
 

kimroar90

Commendable
Apr 25, 2018
38
1
1,535
Will my motherbord handle it? I mean is it enough space to not hit the gpu? I'm not worried about the rams as it only has fan on one side. Is it width I gotta look at when measuring if it's enough space between gpu? or depth? abit confusing to me.

ASUS P9X79