looking for silent budget cpu cooler.

3071959441 · Jul 17, 2015

I had a P II 1090T, with stock cooler on my wife's rig. I want to upgrade her stock cooler, the stock cooler running really loud.
I'm not planning to overclock her CPU at anytime.
Is there any budget silent decent CPU cooler?
Is Hyper 212 loud?

Thanks in advance

Darkbreeze · Jul 17, 2015

On a system that's not overclocked, the 212 is probably quieter than the stock fan, but I don't recommend it. It has a lousy mounting system. I'd go with something like this for that configuration.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6J32VU3806

The EVO or TX3 would both work fine though as long as the case is big enough. What is the case model? You may need a lower profile cooler. A top down style cooler, similar to the stock cooler in that it isn't an actual "tower" cooler might be necessary if the case is narrow.

geofelt · Jul 17, 2015

No cpu cooler is silent.
Quiet, perhaps.
Noise comes from fans running at high rpm.
You should be reasonably happy with a simple tower type cooler that has a larger, slower 120mm fan.
Expect to pay about $30.

You need to check for two things:
1. Does the cooler have mounting for your socket size and motherboard? Newer coolers support many different mounts.
2. Do you have a height limitation? Many will be 160mm tall.

Darkbreeze · Jul 17, 2015

If you don't mind spending a little more, which is by no means necessary aside from cheaper coolers are generally louder, this might be a really good choice and has very low noise levels even under load.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835856007

Or this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA68V2TR2312&cm_re=be_quiet_cpu_cooler-_-9SIA68V2TR2312-_-Product

3071959441 · Jul 17, 2015

Darkbreeze :

i have this case for her http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146077&cm_re=nzxt-_-11-146-077-_-Product
I think all the above coolers you listed will work with this case.
Zalman vs tx3 vs Evo
which one will perform the best for my not overclocking 1090T.

Thanks again for all the helps!

Darkbreeze · Jul 17, 2015

WHICH Zalman? There are many. In all honesty, none of those coolers is exceptionally quiet. That case supports coolers up to 160mm so as far as that goes just about all but the very tallest coolers will work. If you have an OEM (Dell, HP, etc.) motherboard though it's likely to be rather thin compared to aftermarket boards so the weight of a tower cooler, plus the additional stress of it's geometry having weight that's further away from the board, may be a problem that could cause damage in the form of cracking or warping the board.

If it's an aftermarket board it should be fine. I think the Zalman cooler I linked to above is your best low cost choice.

3071959441 · Jul 18, 2015

Darkbreeze :

For some reason, my reply double posted, and I deleted 1, and both gone.
I will go with the 212 EVO, after doing some research, It seems to have the best performance and the lowest dba on its fan. It is only a few bucks different.
thanks for all your help, darkbreeze

Darkbreeze · Jul 18, 2015

The EVO is fine too. Considering the stock cooler was either a 70 or 80mm model, the EVO is unlikely to ever spin up at all to a level where noise would be an issue. I still have concerns about the motherboard though as the EVO is fairly heavy, much larger than you might think, and if you have an OEM board I'd almost guarantee it's going to damage it. Is this computer a prebuilt or custom build system?

And just for reference, we're talking about a cooler that's this big:

Considering your stock cooler was 70-80mm, it might not be a bad idea to stick with a smaller 92mm cooler that's going to put a lot less stress on your motherboard and CPU socket. If you have an aftermarket board this of course doesn't fully apply. Plus, your case specs indicate it only supports 160mm tall coolers which means the 212 is going to be a very tight fit. Most cases I've seen that say exactly 160mm don't fit the EVO without some slight bulging of the side panel, which you don't want. Anyhow, good luck.

3071959441 · Jul 18, 2015

Darkbreeze :

The EVO is fine too. Considering the stock cooler was either a 70 or 80mm model, the EVO is unlikely to ever spin up at all to a level where noise would be an issue. I still have concerns about the motherboard though as the EVO is fairly heavy, much larger than you might think, and if you have an OEM board I'd almost guarantee it's going to damage it. Is this computer a prebuilt or custom build system?
And just for reference, we're talking about a cooler that's this big:
Considering your stock cooler was 70-80mm, it might not be a bad idea to stick with a smaller 92mm cooler that's going to put a lot less stress on your motherboard and CPU socket. If you have an aftermarket board this of course doesn't fully apply. Plus, your case specs indicate it only supports 160mm tall coolers which means the 212 is going to be a very tight fit. Most cases I've seen that say exactly 160mm don't fit the EVO without some slight bulging of the side panel, which you don't want. Anyhow, good luck.

oh, it is not a OEM, it is a custom motherboard, custom pc i built for her.
ASUS M4A88TD-EVO USB3 motherboard.

Darkbreeze · Jul 18, 2015

So then, with that board and her case, I'd probably go with the Cryorig H7. It's shorter than the EVO which is almost certainly going to come very close to either touching or causing the side panel to bulge slightly since the case spec is 160mm and the cooler is 160mm on paper. Usually that results in a conflict. The H7 is only 145mm, is offset to guarantee no interference with RAM slots, is quieter, is only about 5 bucks more and has a way better base mounting system. Performance is somewhat better too.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.50 @ Newegg)
Total: $34.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-18 13:46 EDT-0400

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