Best CPU Coolers We've Tested (2024): Thermals, Noise Levels, & Value
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Date: 2024-12-17
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Comments and reviews: 20
adriankonig2168
Hey Steve and GN team. This is by far my favorite series! CPU coolers just hit the spot man, be it a block with fans or a brick with fans that cools a liquid, which in turn travels through tubes and cools a block on the CPU, which sucks the heat from the heatsink (or the die if you tinker with ooooool systems). I freaking love cpu coolers! (I hate mounting them though... Oooh I hate it sooo much). On another note, I, personally, am really fond of the products you have for sale on your store. However, as an international buyer (from EU), it is not very easy to buy from overseas and having to deal with customs. So, I was wondering, if there is adequate interest, would you consider selling through E-Bay, where we can deal with customs through the platform directly Thanks for what you're doing for the community mates!
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Hey Steve and GN team. This is by far my favorite series! CPU coolers just hit the spot man, be it a block with fans or a brick with fans that cools a liquid, which in turn travels through tubes and cools a block on the CPU, which sucks the heat from the heatsink (or the die if you tinker with ooooool systems). I freaking love cpu coolers! (I hate mounting them though... Oooh I hate it sooo much). On another note, I, personally, am really fond of the products you have for sale on your store. However, as an international buyer (from EU), it is not very easy to buy from overseas and having to deal with customs. So, I was wondering, if there is adequate interest, would you consider selling through E-Bay, where we can deal with customs through the platform directly Thanks for what you're doing for the community mates!
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Z4KIUS
Noctua may move slowly well, while you are already at the top engineering any improvement is hard enough, and getting it to the level that's marketable is a serious challenge
I'm glad to see 140mm fan of the same class A12x25 is because older generations of Noctua fans were... probably excellent when they launched but severely overshadowed by the greatness of A12x25
sure, at high noise levels cheaper fans have similar or sometimes even better performance, but when you aim for silence these tiny things Noctua does make a difference
though I wish they had a decent 120mm dual tower, U12A heatsink is so tiny it's a miracle it dissipates that much heat
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Noctua may move slowly well, while you are already at the top engineering any improvement is hard enough, and getting it to the level that's marketable is a serious challenge
I'm glad to see 140mm fan of the same class A12x25 is because older generations of Noctua fans were... probably excellent when they launched but severely overshadowed by the greatness of A12x25
sure, at high noise levels cheaper fans have similar or sometimes even better performance, but when you aim for silence these tiny things Noctua does make a difference
though I wish they had a decent 120mm dual tower, U12A heatsink is so tiny it's a miracle it dissipates that much heat
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gamersnexus
looking at contemporary and near future high performance cooling systems used in other applications; current cpu cooling seems very primitive. future cpu cooling is going to have refrigerants or alcohols compressors , modified chip architecture (possibly 1 chip divied up and stacked vertically with radiator structures betwixt), materials that have microstructures for insane increases in surface area, radiator structures that utilize additive manufacturing to create radiator architecture with larger surface areas that wouldn't be possible to create with traditional methods, and perhaps even vacuum chamber structures.
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looking at contemporary and near future high performance cooling systems used in other applications; current cpu cooling seems very primitive. future cpu cooling is going to have refrigerants or alcohols compressors , modified chip architecture (possibly 1 chip divied up and stacked vertically with radiator structures betwixt), materials that have microstructures for insane increases in surface area, radiator structures that utilize additive manufacturing to create radiator architecture with larger surface areas that wouldn't be possible to create with traditional methods, and perhaps even vacuum chamber structures.
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haftarun8
I'm still hesitant to try a liquid AIO cooler due to pump noise. Though the Arctic Freezer 3 wins the noose normalized chart, is it truly quiet enough to NOT hear it whatsoever in normal use cases in an acoustically treated room where voice and music is recorded in I'm using a Noctua NH-D15 with one fan, but I'd also like to not have a giant heatsink in the way of ram and GPU for my future build whenever I want to change parts out. I guess my question is: what's the QUIETEST cooler period in normal turn-key plug-n-play daily operation, even if it isn't the absolute coolest
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I'm still hesitant to try a liquid AIO cooler due to pump noise. Though the Arctic Freezer 3 wins the noose normalized chart, is it truly quiet enough to NOT hear it whatsoever in normal use cases in an acoustically treated room where voice and music is recorded in I'm using a Noctua NH-D15 with one fan, but I'd also like to not have a giant heatsink in the way of ram and GPU for my future build whenever I want to change parts out. I guess my question is: what's the QUIETEST cooler period in normal turn-key plug-n-play daily operation, even if it isn't the absolute coolest
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EduPimentel
I get why GN doesn't feature NZXT products, that's well documented at this point. But why is there no main-brand comparators in these reviews / tables Corsair's AiOs, Cooler Master's hyper and V8 series, Asus AiOs, or other like MSI Really curious because whilst they may be rebranded asatek pumps, they do perform differently. And even if they're not to be recommended, if let's say someone already has one of those, it would be nice to have them as comparisons in like for like environment for future purchasing decisions...
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I get why GN doesn't feature NZXT products, that's well documented at this point. But why is there no main-brand comparators in these reviews / tables Corsair's AiOs, Cooler Master's hyper and V8 series, Asus AiOs, or other like MSI Really curious because whilst they may be rebranded asatek pumps, they do perform differently. And even if they're not to be recommended, if let's say someone already has one of those, it would be nice to have them as comparisons in like for like environment for future purchasing decisions...
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guycxz
Have you ever considered testing coolers with normalized fans It would be interesting to see which of those towers and radiators does best with something like Arctic P12 or P14, or other such fans that people may have lying around. It's not a thing often considered but I reckon this could lead to interesting results, especially with arctic making really good really cheap fans.
I also wonder how much life you can bring to an older cooler simply by upgrading it with some modern fans.
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Have you ever considered testing coolers with normalized fans It would be interesting to see which of those towers and radiators does best with something like Arctic P12 or P14, or other such fans that people may have lying around. It's not a thing often considered but I reckon this could lead to interesting results, especially with arctic making really good really cheap fans.
I also wonder how much life you can bring to an older cooler simply by upgrading it with some modern fans.
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Aldrinkun
I wonder how would it be to have an actual Gamer Nexus Award within a tech con like CES or something like that, delivering trophies or tokens to products that are actually good. Theres good marketing potential for brands and a way to bring companies and consumers (mostly reviewers though) closer together.
That being said, i aknowledge that this could be a total fiasco and would require a huge logistical, legal, and methodology effort from both GN and the con. Mostly GN.
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I wonder how would it be to have an actual Gamer Nexus Award within a tech con like CES or something like that, delivering trophies or tokens to products that are actually good. Theres good marketing potential for brands and a way to bring companies and consumers (mostly reviewers though) closer together.
That being said, i aknowledge that this could be a total fiasco and would require a huge logistical, legal, and methodology effort from both GN and the con. Mostly GN.
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Aloysyus
The Freezer 36 is 20 in Germany, that value is simply bonkers. Lots of people think this is an entry-level-cooler due to the price. But the price really is all that's entry-level here. I can't remember any product in the PC market ever that brought so much value for the money. The only thing where i'd prefer a bigger cooler is for 200W and upwards PPT CPUs, just to have some headroom. I'd get the PA 140 here, sad to hear it has quality issues. So maybe a Phantom Spirit.
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The Freezer 36 is 20 in Germany, that value is simply bonkers. Lots of people think this is an entry-level-cooler due to the price. But the price really is all that's entry-level here. I can't remember any product in the PC market ever that brought so much value for the money. The only thing where i'd prefer a bigger cooler is for 200W and upwards PPT CPUs, just to have some headroom. I'd get the PA 140 here, sad to hear it has quality issues. So maybe a Phantom Spirit.
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discodiffusioner
Love my Thermalright WarFrame 360 liquid cool with fully customizable LCD. It was $80 bucks and you can't hear it, and I never see my CPU get over 60C at full load. Not sure why people are still using huge fans. Going to liquid was a huge revelation and it was cheaper than my last super huge wind tunnel of a fan that did a much worse job cooling. Thermalright is doing everything the competitors are doing for 1/3 the cost.
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Love my Thermalright WarFrame 360 liquid cool with fully customizable LCD. It was $80 bucks and you can't hear it, and I never see my CPU get over 60C at full load. Not sure why people are still using huge fans. Going to liquid was a huge revelation and it was cheaper than my last super huge wind tunnel of a fan that did a much worse job cooling. Thermalright is doing everything the competitors are doing for 1/3 the cost.
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Cristorbius
That ID Cooling Frozn A720 is very impressive. Very close to the Noctua but vastly more reasonably priced, and will fit inside either the Lian-li 011 Air Mini or Montech King 95 cases that I'm considering. Sadly won't fit inside the Antec C5 case i was looking at though, but the Peerless Assassin 120 would if i went with that choice of case (air coolers are okay in fishtanks, but not an optimal match from what I've read).
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That ID Cooling Frozn A720 is very impressive. Very close to the Noctua but vastly more reasonably priced, and will fit inside either the Lian-li 011 Air Mini or Montech King 95 cases that I'm considering. Sadly won't fit inside the Antec C5 case i was looking at though, but the Peerless Assassin 120 would if i went with that choice of case (air coolers are okay in fishtanks, but not an optimal match from what I've read).
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ShroudedWolf51
Not going to lie, those PPA/PPB G2 fans are incredible. I bought a NH-U14S to replace a terrible AiO for a TR4 system. And for funsies slapped another NF-A15 onto it. And the droning resonance of the two fans was very easily noticeable even past the audio of a blower card and two axial cards. Bought the PPA/PPB set and slapped them onto that NH-U14S. Not only is the droning gone, the noise is incredibly quiet.
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Not going to lie, those PPA/PPB G2 fans are incredible. I bought a NH-U14S to replace a terrible AiO for a TR4 system. And for funsies slapped another NF-A15 onto it. And the droning resonance of the two fans was very easily noticeable even past the audio of a blower card and two axial cards. Bought the PPA/PPB set and slapped them onto that NH-U14S. Not only is the droning gone, the noise is incredibly quiet.
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Jomenaa
SilentiumPC Fortis 3 HE1425 is what I have cooling my R5 3600 :D Found this brand years ago when I sidegraded from 6700K to R5 3600 and my old hunk Thermalright HR-02 Macho SE didn't have AM4 brackets. Very budget oriented and was very cheap at the time, like 30 max.
Have set PBOAutoOC (MSI Enhanced 3) in bios and it does a very good job keeping it around 70c while playing BF2042 for example (90-100% load).
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SilentiumPC Fortis 3 HE1425 is what I have cooling my R5 3600 :D Found this brand years ago when I sidegraded from 6700K to R5 3600 and my old hunk Thermalright HR-02 Macho SE didn't have AM4 brackets. Very budget oriented and was very cheap at the time, like 30 max.
Have set PBOAutoOC (MSI Enhanced 3) in bios and it does a very good job keeping it around 70c while playing BF2042 for example (90-100% load).
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TheActionStack
Seems to me, torqueing the Arctic Liquid Freezer intel contact frame down more makes sense; it makes contact with the MB and has foam pads on the bottom contact point, compressing this foam will help it not move around based on the foam compressing differentially. My thermals are notably better with my 14900k & LF3-420. Perhaps I got lucky and mine is flat etc .... but it just makes sense to me.
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Seems to me, torqueing the Arctic Liquid Freezer intel contact frame down more makes sense; it makes contact with the MB and has foam pads on the bottom contact point, compressing this foam will help it not move around based on the foam compressing differentially. My thermals are notably better with my 14900k & LF3-420. Perhaps I got lucky and mine is flat etc .... but it just makes sense to me.
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ninjarmadillo1
I wish DeepCool wasn't banned over there in the US, they have some really good coolers like the Mystique 360 which is probably one of the good quality and high performance AIO's, while also being relatively cheap considering it has a screen on it.
We can still get them over here in the UK and Europe, but I am concerned if it'll get banned here too and then have no warranty for it.
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I wish DeepCool wasn't banned over there in the US, they have some really good coolers like the Mystique 360 which is probably one of the good quality and high performance AIO's, while also being relatively cheap considering it has a screen on it.
We can still get them over here in the UK and Europe, but I am concerned if it'll get banned here too and then have no warranty for it.
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Kreubs
This video couldn't have come at a better time. Yesterday I noticed that I was losing too much performance with my current undervolt on my 5800X3D. Funny thing, the same undervolt had better performance on B350 vs my current B550 board. Decreasing the undervolt got me full boost (briefly), but also thermal throttling.
Oh well, ordered the ID Cooling Frozn A720 on sale.
Thanks, Steve!
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This video couldn't have come at a better time. Yesterday I noticed that I was losing too much performance with my current undervolt on my 5800X3D. Funny thing, the same undervolt had better performance on B350 vs my current B550 board. Decreasing the undervolt got me full boost (briefly), but also thermal throttling.
Oh well, ordered the ID Cooling Frozn A720 on sale.
Thanks, Steve!
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CharlieZenenour
Deepcool sells everywhere else in the world, just as a option as any other else just like last year and it’ll continue to be a available option for the next year to 200 countries across the world.
Americans are too self-centred to realise that deepcool and any other brand aren’t being isolated but rather americans are isolating themselves from the entire world.
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Deepcool sells everywhere else in the world, just as a option as any other else just like last year and it’ll continue to be a available option for the next year to 200 countries across the world.
Americans are too self-centred to realise that deepcool and any other brand aren’t being isolated but rather americans are isolating themselves from the entire world.
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aaronberg221
It makes me smile to know that Noctua models 5 years are consistently competitive with newer designs. The trust and robustness of the product just gives me a good feeling. Also the fact that spending the extra money means that you have a cooler that you can probably put on any builds for a decade or more. I'd love to see an ongoing reliability chart for cooler models.
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It makes me smile to know that Noctua models 5 years are consistently competitive with newer designs. The trust and robustness of the product just gives me a good feeling. Also the fact that spending the extra money means that you have a cooler that you can probably put on any builds for a decade or more. I'd love to see an ongoing reliability chart for cooler models.
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XMG3
I just bought a brand new DeepCool AG400 in retail this weekend for $17 CAD ($12 USD) lol. They are doing well and dominating budget tier here in Canada. According to chatgpt, the AG400 beats the SE-214-XT in cooling performance for a few degrees aswell, but with a slightly louder fan which I don't mind at all from using noise cancelling headphones.
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I just bought a brand new DeepCool AG400 in retail this weekend for $17 CAD ($12 USD) lol. They are doing well and dominating budget tier here in Canada. According to chatgpt, the AG400 beats the SE-214-XT in cooling performance for a few degrees aswell, but with a slightly louder fan which I don't mind at all from using noise cancelling headphones.
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dylans2669
Trying to figure out what is a better idea. My primary concern is noise (and secondary is cost). So do i get one of these cheaper tower coolers or a 240 radiator (e.g., liquid freezer 240) (cooling a Ryzen 7 7700 non-x in a somewhat restricted space). - I will probably be Getting some arctic p12 or p14 fans for the remainder of the case.
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Trying to figure out what is a better idea. My primary concern is noise (and secondary is cost). So do i get one of these cheaper tower coolers or a 240 radiator (e.g., liquid freezer 240) (cooling a Ryzen 7 7700 non-x in a somewhat restricted space). - I will probably be Getting some arctic p12 or p14 fans for the remainder of the case.
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Furcas
No phantom spirit 120 se tested It’s 36-38 usd depending on what day you catch it on and a good bit better than the regular evo or the peerless assassin. What’s weird is some people’s testing shows the PA being worse than either of the ps120 coolers. My mistake it wasn’t beating the d15 just getting very, very close to it.
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No phantom spirit 120 se tested It’s 36-38 usd depending on what day you catch it on and a good bit better than the regular evo or the peerless assassin. What’s weird is some people’s testing shows the PA being worse than either of the ps120 coolers. My mistake it wasn’t beating the d15 just getting very, very close to it.
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