What's a good aftermarket cooler for OCing an i5-2500k?

M

Mizugori

[H]ard|Gawd
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Mar 25, 2004
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I am building a 2500k system and will OC it a bit, I am looking for a good hsf for it but I do not want something huge that's going to barely fit in my case or cover slots or make my gpu hotter. I also do not want something insanely loud. Price is not really an issue.

Suggestions?
 
Not loud and not big, lol. I'd pick one or the other. I have a Noctua NH-D14, and it's a beast. Can get 4.9-5.0 on my 2500k, stable. If I wanted something small, I'd probably get a Corsair H100 watercooled solution, but I hear the fans on the radiator can be somewhat loud a times. Don't have much experience beyond these 2 but quite frankly they are the "best".
 
Cosair H60/H80 or an Antec Kuhler 620. Compact water cooling units that work well and look good.
 
No. The corsair units are self contained and require no maintenance. You just screw the radiator into the top of your case and mount it on the cpu and go.
 
Mizugori said:
also, what about this setup: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118223 Is this thing actually huge and I just can't tell from the pics?
Click to expand...

It's bigger than it looks, and it's not any better than the much cheaper CoolerMaster Hyper 212+, which is pretty much the gold standard for cheap but effective cooling.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master...YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328207587&sr=8-1
 
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If you want small, convenient, and great cooling, then the H100 is probably your best bet. It will cost you though compared to doing something like the 212+ which does a good job of cooling and is much cheaper. It all depends on what you value more, clearance or budget.
 
Antec Kuhler 920 if you can find it on sale. Mine was only $70.

On idle, my 5.0GHz 2500K sits at room temperature. At load, it's in the 60s.
 
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Man I am almost tempted to try the 212 it's practically free if its too big I can always get one of the others, I am just gun shy after I had a nightmare trying to fit a huge cooler in my case on my last build... It was such a PITA because it literally touched the side of the case and got in the way of everything, and naturally it gets very hot so I didn't want anything resting on or near it...
 
Mizugori said:
Man I am almost tempted to try the 212 it's practically free if its too big I can always get one of the others, I am just gun shy after I had a nightmare trying to fit a huge cooler in my case on my last build... It was such a PITA because it literally touched the side of the case and got in the way of everything, and naturally it gets very hot so I didn't want anything resting on or near it...
Click to expand...

That's why I don't buy big coolers anymore. It's a giant piece of metal that may block components on your motherboard and it's also a huge weight to hang off your motherboard.

All-in-one watercooling is cheap and effective and takes the weight off your board.
 
Mizugori said:
Man I am almost tempted to try the 212 it's practically free if its too big I can always get one of the others, I am just gun shy after I had a nightmare trying to fit a huge cooler in my case on my last build... It was such a PITA because it literally touched the side of the case and got in the way of everything, and naturally it gets very hot so I didn't want anything resting on or near it...
Click to expand...

Sometimes trial and error is the way to go. I only use watercooling right now because I don't have the clearance for the larger heatsinks. But if you want to judge how much space you might have, frosty tech keeps measurements on heatsinks. For instance you can see the measurements and review for the older 212+ here:

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2419

also on the main site:

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6603

Just have to check if you have aprox 161mm of space above your processor to fit it in.
 
If you want to go pretty far on overclocking (4.5 GHz or more) and value low noise get the Thermalright TS120. For $41 shipped it is a beast.

You can get it here: http://nansgaminggear.com/

You can read [H]'s review here: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/11/17/thermalright_true_spirit_cpu_air_cooler_review/

If you are going to be doing a "light overclock", around 4.2 GHz, I think the 212+ will be fine. Don't get me wrong, you can do high overclocks with it too, but it will make more noise. Honestly, just get the Thermalright, you won't regret it.
 
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