Question What options for a AM4 CPU Cooler with less then or equal to 150mm in height do you all suggest?

Question 1: What AM4 CPU Air Cooler <= 150mm in height do you recommend? Budget: $60/USD.
Question 2: What thermal paste do you like for under $12/USD.



I have an AMD Ryzen R5-1600 CPU on an ASRock AB350 PRO4 ATX Motherboard with all 4 DDR4 slots occupied with 32mm height low profile DDR4 memory modules. I have a Corsair 100r ATX Case with <= 150mm in CPU Cooler clearance. What CPU cooler(s) do you all recommend for this scenario. I do tend to overclock moderately. I live in Northern Ohio where summer temps and humidity are moderately high. They are not high enough to warrant
the expense of using the air conditioner most of the time. As such this computer will be used in an environment that is 1. Above the standard 72ºF/22.2ºC office temperature and 2. Humid.

So what CPU Cooler options do you all recommend? There does not appear to be any clearance for AIO CPU Coolers of any size. I do not like RGB or other LED's but don't mind it if I can disable it. The current color scheme is Black, White and Grey but I am open to all solid color's as a little hint of color is acceptable. My preference would be Green I suppose. But keep in mind RGB and other LED light sources are not something I want due to this PC being where I sleep.

I think a reasonable budget for this computer is around the $60/USD price point and I will accept Used (Good/Like New/Refurbished) and Open Box parts as well. If you have a favorite CPU paste for less then $12/USD I would
be interested in those suggestions as well. I usually use Arctic Silver 5 and ArctiClean products for my TIM and cleaning solution.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor (Purchased For $169.99)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard (Purchased For $120.00)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (Purchased For $120.00)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (Purchased For $69.99)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $39.99)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 950 2 GB FTW ACX 2.0 Video Card (Purchased For $179.99)
Case: Corsair - 100R ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $59.99)
Power Supply: Thermaltake - TR2 600 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $60.00) *
Optical Drive:
Asus - DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer (Purchased For $18.89)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (Purchased For $109.99)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus - PCE-AC55BT PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter (Purchased For $54.99) **
Case Fan:
Noctua - NF-S12B redux-1200 PWM 59.1 CFM 120 mm Fan (Purchased For $14.99)
Monitor: AOC - e2752Vh 27.0" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor (Purchased For $243.79)
Keyboard: Logitech - K310 Wired Standard Keyboard (Purchased For $59.99)
Mouse: Logitech - MX Anywhere 2 Wireless Laser Mouse (Purchased For $53.38)
Headphones: SteelSeries - Siberia V2 Headset (Purchased For $60.85)
Speakers: Logitech - Z623 200 W 2.1 Channel Speakers (Purchased For $129.99)

* The Thermaltake - TR2 600W will be replaced with a brand new Seasonic S12 II 520W 80+ Bronze unit I have available with the next major maintenance I do.
** The ASUS AC WiFi card will be replaced soon with a Gigabyte AC WiFi card soon due to the Gigabyte card having better Bluetooth performance.
 
Last edited:

CDepner

Prominent
Apr 29, 2019
4
3
515
The Cryorig M9a has a solid reputation and would fit in your case.

The Noctua NH-U9S would probably outperform the Cryorig but the color scheme is... unique.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JQB45
I do like the Noctua coolers and have been recommending them for years. But I'm not familiar with their smaller CPU Coolers. Do you have a link(s) to a review of the Cryorig M9a and/or NH-U9S.

EDIT2:

I found some reviews I have to say the Cryorig M9a looks decent for the price as I can get it at newegg.com for $31.50/USD + Free Shipping (Cooler is $25.00USD and the mounting kit is $6.50USD). Obviously the NH-U9S outperforms it but unless anyone has any other suggestions I'll probably get the M9a in the near future.
 
Last edited: