Best budget CPU cooler, please help!

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Hybrid7x

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Oct 30, 2013
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I'm looking for something really cheap around 35$ that's NOT a Hyper 212 Evo. My PC has a red/black theme, so I'd like it to fit at least a bit.

It just has to be silent, doesn't matter how silent just less loud than the shitty Intel stock cooler and of course it must be good at keeping the CPU cool. I'm not going to overclock, I just do a lot of gaming.

The CPU in question is a Intel Core i5 4690K (honestly I don't even know why I went with the K version...)
 
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L
Since noise is also an issue.... http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=103632&vpn=BK009&manufacture=be%20quiet! I'd say Noctua but they're a bit pricey, but this BeQuiet is pretty reasonable.
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Hybrid7x

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Sadly Phanteks coolers are over my budget, I've got 20$ left after building my PC, and I could invest an extra 15$, I'm really short on money right now as I have to buy GTA 5 too.
 
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LetsPlayThisBro

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If your budget is that tight I'd sooner run the stock cooler and save up a bit. Is there any reason other than looks that makes you want to get a non-stock cooler? It doesn't seem like you'll be overclocking any time soon.
 
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Hello man

Hello man

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Shoot. I just sold my H50, otherwise I would gladly have given it to you for $10 bucks or something. Someone literally gave me a $140 water block once, so I try to do the same when I have old stuff laying around.
 
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Hybrid7x

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I can't save up, that's the problem. I don't make any money and all of my savings were spent on a new PC (and soon GTA 5). Yeah, the main reason is the sound it makes, then the looks, then the performance. I'm not going to overclock, maybe in two years but I'll probably have a better cooler by then.

@Hello man
Shame.. no problem though, I'd go with air cooling over water cooling any day.

@geofelt
The H7 doesn't seem to be availible anywhere and the Phanteks was what I wanted to go with originally, but went with a 4gb version of the GTX 960 and no custom cooler thinking the stock one would be enough.
 
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Hybrid7x

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It's a NZXT S340 which is funny because it's a case made for water cooling, I got it because its almost completely made out of steel. I think most coolers will fit in there...

 
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Hybrid7x

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The real question is... which one is recommended by you because I've seen a lot of these are worse than the 212 Evo itself.
 
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Hybrid7x

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The Rajintek Themis is the cheapest and available, but I'm not sure about the brand. It doesn't have quite a reputation, and again the heatsink is silver which I hate...

I've been looking around the internet and have found this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dj__1QW-vE and a few threads on other forums saying they painted the top fin of their 212 Evo. So could I do this with Plasti dip or a black car rim spray? Will it affect my cooling performance (just painting the top)? If this is a good idea, I might even go with the Hyper 212 Evo...

Other than that are the Hyper 212 and the Rajintek Themis a good upgrade over the Intel cooler sound-wise?
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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Raijintek are pretty much eocjing the cooler market IMO nowdays - they're better & cheaper than the competition.

Absolute quality products IMO - nickel pipes - absolutely flawlessly polished nickel base on every one I've used.

The Pallas if you really must have it looking black from above would be a better option.you can barely see the silver sink through the fan.

130413.58917452064e80abe79f9692b77caa63.e1c4ec93f4e6038525663cfd8964e338.256c.jpg


About twice as good as the stock intel cooler & pretty much silent below 1000rpm - I use one myself on a over clocked 6300 - max temp of 50c under prime testing in a minimally cooled htpc case.


 
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Hybrid7x

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Okay, this is final (I hope). I decided to paint the top fin of the heatsink black because all of these cheap coolers have silver ones. Which one of all these should I get?

BQ! Pure Rock
Rajintek Themis
CM Hyper 212 Evo

Again, I'm looking for silence, then cooling. The CPU cooler must keep the processor cool, at least cooler than the Intel one does.
 
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Hybrid7x

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Question is, how loud is it?

EDIT: Alright, this one seems good too but currently the BeQuiet Pure Rock looks like the best option. It's almost as quiet as the Dark Rock 3 which is one of the most quiet coolers out there and the performance seems to be the same as the Hyper 212 Evo. This one is as cheap as the Evo too.
 
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Hybrid7x

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A problem is it covers the RAM... everything else seems good.
 
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Hybrid7x

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Would've gone with the Rajintek Pallas but with shipping it goes over my budget. The BQ! Pure Rock is as cheap as the 212 Evo and it's available in my area so I'll go with it. It's also the most silent.
 
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Hello man

Hello man

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Good choice. Just make sure the other fans in your case are also silent, or you basically are achieving nothing!! I recently bought some Bitfenix Spectre fans and they actually rock. For $8 per it's and awesome deal.
 
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Hybrid7x

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Gonna look into it, the included NZXT fans are pretty good, but I need an intake fan anyway.

 
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