What is the best cooler for my AM3 CPU that will fit my old motherboard?

[SeriousGaming101]

Hello all,

I recently upgraded my old AMD 1035t 95TDP CPU to a 1100t 125TDP CPU and was reusing my old fan heatsink cooler. The temperatures for my new CPU ranges from 40'C to 65'C on max load.

I want to upgrade my fan heatsink to a liquid cooler but frankly, I don't even know the difference between a liquid cooler and a water cooler. My motherboard model is a DX-4320-19 (Picture here: https://picclick.com/Genuine-Acer-Gateway-RS880M05G1-Rev-10-AMD-Desktop-122979829122.html) and it only supports AM3 CPU socket. I put in a EVGA SuperNova 650 G2 power supply in there to handle any power issues.

If I buy a new cooler, does the cooler have to have a specific dimension size to fit my motherboard? (height x width x length)

Here is a picture of my current fan heatsink cooler: https://ibb.co/nAgUJJ

Here are my questions, if you can answer some or all of them, that would be extremely helpful:

1. What is the best fan heatsink cooler model that will fit my old motherboard and CPU?
2. What is the best water cooler model that will fit my old motherboard and CPU?
3. What is the best liquid cooler model that will fit my old motherboard and CPU?
4. What would the temperature difference be between a fan, liquid and water cooler?
5. Does a liquid cooler consume more power than a fan heatsink cooler?(In terms of wattage)
6. Are all coolers indifferent and interchangeable between different motherboard socket types? (Like, you can put the same cooler on a AM2, AM3 and AM4 motherboard)

 

[scout_03]

am4 wont work on this board so you need a am2 or am3 cooler check the space you have from top of board to case side you might be good to get a aftermarket cooler .and the model you gave is the full system name .

 

[agentnathan009]

Hi! Any liquid cooler that supports AM3, which most all of them do, would work. I would get an AIO (All-In-One) cooler that comes with a fan, radiator, blcok for CPU and hoses all put together and filled with water so it is like putting in a different heatsink without haveing to mess with tubing and cutting and making sure your custom built water cooling system doesn't leak, etc. I would search for a good tower heatsink or AIO cooler and that will provide much better performance than the stock one that you have, or stock looking if it didn't come with CPU. I have a Thermalright Ultima 90 (http://thermalright.com/product/ultima-90/) that has been a stellar cooler and more than adequate for my Athlon X3 435 (Rana core). A Thermalright true spirit 120 would easily cool that CPU and give you some overclocking headroom. You can search for some reviews for AIO water coolers, but I have an Arctic Cooling Liquid Cooler 120 and it works well for my new Ryzen 5 2600X CPU. It is quiet, even with fans at full speed and keeps CPU around 60-65c at 4 Ghz.

The fan wire plug is not permanently attached, it will come out with some wiggling and pulling.

 

[agentnathan009]

I should also add that you have to have a case that supports a radiator at the top or has room to fin at the rear exhaust fan if rear exhaust fan is 120mm. If your case isn't set up for a radiator then I would stick with a good tower cooler.

 

[Karadjgne]

1.2.3.4. All the same. At your level of cooling needs any of the 120mm AIO's or aircoolers are pretty much the same performance, a CM hyper212 is almost identical to a corsair H60. Going bigger won't change much other than lower spinning fans, so less noise when pushed hard.
5. Of course an AIO will use more power. An aircooler only has to run 1 fan. An aio has to run the same fan plus a pump. Mebe 3w difference. So negligible it's not worth considering.

6. That's iffy, dependent on exactly what cooler. Almost all coolers will come with 2 brackets minimim. One to fit AMD sockets, fm/fm2/am2/am3/am3+ and another to fit Intel lga11xx. The spacing on the pinholes for the bracket has not changed in years and is totally different to the actual socket, so the actual socket doesn't matter. For mainstream. It's only in 2011 and AM4 that things are different, but those are generally accounted for, so don't try and use a Noctua NH-D15 2011 on am3 as it won't work or use a cryorig m9i as that's for Intel, you'd need a cryorig m9A instead. Most mainstream coolers include now an AM4 bracket, but on the off chance you get older stock without one, you can request one from the vendor.

Depending on height of case clearance (the only really important factor) I'd recommend either a Cryorig H7 or something like a Scythe Mugen 5 Rev.B. If you really want or need liquid cooling then be prepared to open the wallet, anything from a Corsair H45 to a H90 will be fine or mostly any of the other 120mm/140mm AIO's. A nzxt Kraken x32/42 would be good.

 

[CaptainCretin]

All good advice, I started my watercooling path with the Corsair H45 AIO; the supplied fan was rattly at the rpm sweetspot, so I swapped it out for a push/pull pair of silent fans.

One thing to bear in mind though, the power chips around the cpu socket are also cooled by the cpu fan, so if you go watercooler route, you need to make sure you have a good airflow over those VRM heatsinks.