Best cooling system under $200

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Michael Klump

Michael Klump

Honorable
May 1, 2013
46
0
10,530
Living in Australia some prices tend to be a bit weird so between these coolers and their respective prices which ones would you recommend?

The current build:
CPU - Intel i5 6600k
Mobo - Gigabyte G1 Sniper B7
SSD - Samsung 950 Pro Nvme
Case - Fractal Design Define R4
PSU - Corsair CX750M
G.Card - MSI R9 390X
RAM - Kingston Fury HyperX 16Gb (2x8Gb) DDR4

The coolers I have looked at are:
Noctua DH-15: $109
NZXT Kraken X61: $199
Cooler Master Nepton 280L: $128
Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate: $189

Which of these are the best value and performance OR would you recommend another product? Keep in mind the above prices are in AUD and some products like Swiftech H220X aren't available locally.
 
Solution
photonboy


If that's your ambient, then liquid cooling is a good choice I guess. My issues are really with pump noise/quality and other issues with quality there when AIR for most people works fine.

Run games on HIGH?

Adequate cooling to...
Sort by date Sort by votes
photonboy

photonboy

Titan
Jun 20, 2006
21,567
13
85,015
1) I wouldn't get liquid cooling

2) Any modern Noctua, though make sure there are no top PCIe slot or DDR4 issues.

3) I'd probably just get the Noctua NH-U12S which should cool that well and quiet (setup fan profile to lowest until about 45degC then ramp up so will stay about 300RPM and silent most of the time)

4) You might want to read up on the issues with breaking the CPU, however I don't think you'll have any problems.

5) Can check pcpartpicker for au
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Chayan4400

Chayan4400

Honorable
Apr 12, 2015
1,734
0
12,460
You don't need to pay top dollar to get a good CPU cooler. The Cryrogig H7 is one of the best value oriented coolers you can get, and doesn't perform that different from the NH-D14.

6958_26_cryorig-h7-cpu-cooler-review.png


It's a mere ~2.5C hotter than the NH-D14 on an overclocked 4770K while being half the price.

https://pcpartpicker.com/part/cryorig-cpu-cooler-h7

Some people have had issues with the 6th Gen CPUs flexing, but as long as you don't over-tighten the cooler mounts you should be fine.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Michael Klump

Michael Klump

Honorable
May 1, 2013
46
0
10,530
photonboy I had a look around and was going to settle on the Noctua NH-U14S as it seemed like a pretty viable option (I assume its same as U12S just with 140mm fan) but if what Chayan4400 is true then I might just order the Cryorig H7 which is roughly $30 cheaper. Thanks heaps for the replies and the really handy chart. Keep in mind in Australia, room temperatures do tend to reach around 38 degrees Celsius in Summer. With that said will these coolers still do the trick for running games on high settings?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Chayan4400

Chayan4400

Honorable
Apr 12, 2015
1,734
0
12,460


I'm in Sri Lanka where ambient are no better at around 35-37C at their peak. Here we can only get the Hyper 212 and a few other less well known coolers. On the local forums I've heard of people OCing 4690Ks quite substantially with relatively good temps. The Cryogig H7 is better than the Hyper 212 so I think you'll be fine :).
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
photonboy

photonboy

Titan
Jun 20, 2006
21,567
13
85,015


If that's your ambient, then liquid cooling is a good choice I guess. My issues are really with pump noise/quality and other issues with quality there when AIR for most people works fine.

Run games on HIGH?

Adequate cooling to the CPU and it won't throttle. After that, it boils down to the individual game so you'd still want to tweak if required to achieve 60FPS or whatever your goal is.

Your GPU is going to be more of an issue to keep cool than anything else but even if you lose a bit of performance you still have a great system.

*Removing the CPU heat directly via liquid cooling will help keep the GPU cooler as some of the CPU waste heat isn't staying in the case (other than by heating up the room which will affect temps overall).

Do NOT have the fans set to suck in external air on the rad. Sure that can keep the CPU a bit cooler, but again it heats up the GPU which is going to be your main bottleneck.

Summary:
- go ahead and choose a liquid cooler but.
a) make sure it's quality
b) make sure you can easily control the FAN SPEED (some are always loud)
c) setup a good fan profile (i.e. minimum fan speed in IDLE to keep temps down, but set maximum so you don't go above roughly 80degC)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
photonboy

photonboy

Titan
Jun 20, 2006
21,567
13
85,015
1) Nepton-> *This article is TWO YEARS OLD:
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/5911/cooler-master-nepton-280l-aio-liquid-cpu-cooler-review/index9.html

2) More reviews by year: http://www.tweaktown.com/cat/cases_cooling_and_power_supplies/cpu-liquid-coolers/index.html

3) Corsair H110i (does it fit?)
*Not certain if it fits, or cost, but it is a great cooler:
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/7320/corsair-hydro-h110i-gtx-high-performance-liquid-cpu-cooler-review/index.html

So...
Most should have adequate cooling, so it's really the quality and noise I'd look at after that. Improvements have been made to pumps, and some newer fans are better suited to radiators (direction of forced air, thus quieter whilst cooling better).

So just note that reviews scores are RELATIVE. One from two years may still be a great cooler but could have a few issues.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom