How should you keep your CPU cool? The more powerful your CPU is, the bigger and better cooler you'll need, but rest assured our guide will cover many great options at every size and price point.
The Best CPU Coolers - Holidays 2022
- Thread starter Amir Shoam
- Start date
The NH-U12S Redux may be a good cooler, but overpriced most of the time. There are many under $40 coolers that match the performance of the Redux. The only advantage of the Redux is you may get a free bracket if Noctua kindly decides.
The SE-224 is better than the 214 for $5 more.
The SE-224 is better than the 214 for $5 more.
Adhmuz
Posts: 2,293 +1,124
I find most of Noctua's products are in the overpriced category these days, with so many products that achieve similar performance in the mid-range segment for sometimes half the price it's hard to justify, then going to their highest performing option you're now into closed loop territory.
Lately my go to mid range cooler of choice has been the be quiet! Pure Rock 2 Black or FX if you want some flair, both can often be had on sale. If you're really looking to save as much money as possible Deepcool has always been a good choice in my experience, fans, heatsinks and AIOs all seem to be good quality and have surprisingly good life spans. I have several of their fans in a 24/7 usage home server, been going for many years now and still no sign of failure.
BigMeatyClackers
Posts: 34 +34
I recently completed a build that used a Noctua U12A (chromax) and it is easy to recommend if you want a high quality cooler that isn't as large as the D15. Certainly not a cheap part but it's one of those things I expect to hold up over the life of the system
godrilla
Posts: 682 +377
Got my 7700x on all core one click ai overclock at 5.65 ghz on air with Noctua NH-D15 FYI. The Noctua NH-D15 already lasted second build and will probably be there for many builds to come.
Why care about name when they do such great job. They are among teh cheapest yet very nice looking and very effective air coolers.
I got one myself for my next PC.
CapNemo72
Posts: 34 +64
3 (or 4 years ago) when I bought Threadripper 1950x, they did not had any watercooler in stock for it. There was only "some" Arctic Freezer 33TR. So I bought it as temporary one. For 32 bucks.
And it is still there, never bought a water cooler. It is silent, powerful, never saw cpu above 80C, most of the time when at 100% usage, was staying at 68C with fan just humming. Incredible.
And it is still there, never bought a water cooler. It is silent, powerful, never saw cpu above 80C, most of the time when at 100% usage, was staying at 68C with fan just humming. Incredible.
wujj123456
Posts: 81 +50
The Noctua tax is partially the brand, but a lot of it are the service and accessories. They have all kinds of accessories included. Noctua provides free mounting kit when new socket comes out. From my experience, coolers don't deteriorate over time, including other brands I've used. So it comes down to how long the fan lasts, and how long you hold onto the same cooler to take advantage of the free upgrades and accessories.
All my Noctua coolers have seen two or three CPUs at this point and likely would see more. I got my AM4 kit for NH-D15S I bought years ago. Recently I was also able to use up all the low-noise adapters accumulated over the years because server motherboards don't expose fan control and I had to physically cap fan speed. The extension cable saved my build once for some awkward positioning of fan headers. Then those flexible rubber anti-vibration mounts turned out to be helpful in custom mods when holes are not perfectly aligned with the fan. I've never imagined many of these accessories to be useful but somehow found perfect need for them occasionally.
On the other hand, for cheaper builds, I've used alternatives just as good while costing much less. They don't come with the perks and accessories but get the job done equally well, both temperature and acoustics. If you have multiple builds, I feel a wise strategy is to buy one Noctua cooler, keep all accessories but use cheaper alternatives afterwards. If the accessories and perks turn out to be useful, now you know you aren't paying more for nothing and can make future decisions accordingly. Otherwise, you'd be perfectly fine saving tens of bucks each time.
All my Noctua coolers have seen two or three CPUs at this point and likely would see more. I got my AM4 kit for NH-D15S I bought years ago. Recently I was also able to use up all the low-noise adapters accumulated over the years because server motherboards don't expose fan control and I had to physically cap fan speed. The extension cable saved my build once for some awkward positioning of fan headers. Then those flexible rubber anti-vibration mounts turned out to be helpful in custom mods when holes are not perfectly aligned with the fan. I've never imagined many of these accessories to be useful but somehow found perfect need for them occasionally.
On the other hand, for cheaper builds, I've used alternatives just as good while costing much less. They don't come with the perks and accessories but get the job done equally well, both temperature and acoustics. If you have multiple builds, I feel a wise strategy is to buy one Noctua cooler, keep all accessories but use cheaper alternatives afterwards. If the accessories and perks turn out to be useful, now you know you aren't paying more for nothing and can make future decisions accordingly. Otherwise, you'd be perfectly fine saving tens of bucks each time.
Last edited:
BrwPCnrd87
Posts: 29 +31
I have an SE-214 on a 1600 AF @ 4.2Ghz in my daughters PC. Great performance for <$20. Very nice temps. Also picked up an AssassinX120 SE ARGB for <$18 and it has similar performance. Some great budget tower coolers out there now.
BrwPCnrd87
Posts: 29 +31
Double the price for the same performance as the $20 coolers.
This is no longer the best bang for buck cooler. There are quite a number of alternatives that are cheaper and do better. For instance, I've tried some ID-Cooling air coolers that are bigger, cools better, and still cheaper than the Hyper 212 Evo. Cooler Master have been increasing the prices of Hyper 212 just because its black, its got ARGB fans, etc... Cooling wise, not much of an improvement.
NumberSix
Posts: 198 +307
So sorry the humour of the post passed you by, hope you manage to get over it.
Similar threads
Latest posts
-
Radeon RX 7900 XT vs. GeForce RTX 4070 Ti: 50 Game Benchmark- godrilla replied
-
Fears mount that E3 will be canceled after more publishers pull out- pcnthuziast replied
-
Motherboard software bug can accidentally kill AMD Ryzen X3D CPUs- Athlonite replied
