Comparing three cpu coolers for an i5 6600k in a mini-itx build

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pikachujpr

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May 16, 2015
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G'day, I've recently been working on my first small form factor build with a mini-itx board in a Bitfenix Prodigy and I've come to decide upon my cpu cooler to cool the i5 6600k I'll be using, hopefully at an overclock somewhere around 4.2Ghz, thought I'm not too fussed with how high I manage to get that overclock.

Now I'm not looking for anything overly expensive like an AIO liquid cooling or huge air cooling tower so I've wittled down my choices to three coolers. But I'm having a hard time comparing so I thought I'd ask you guys.

Out of the CM hyper 612, the Cryorg H5 Ult or the Phanteks PH-TC12DX, which one will perform better in raw cooling? All of these are the exact same price at my local retailer.
Right now the 612 is the frontrunner for me due to my (good) experience with the hyper 212, but I know very little about the other two.
So what do you guys think?

Thanks.
 
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Ecky

Ecky

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Food for thought: I use the tiny Noctua NH-L9i on my i5 3570K, which is a more power hungry CPU than yours (due to 22nm process), and at 4.2ghz my peak temperature under extended AVX torture testing (Intel Burn Test) is only 73c. I'm actually able to take my chip up to around 4.5ghz on a heatsink that is 1/8 the size of any of those listed. They're all massive overkill.
 
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pikachujpr

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Thanks, that's definetly interesting. I'm hoping I'll be able to go fairly high on my overclock with any of those heatsinks, though my ambient is pretty bad.
Funnily enough where I am that noctau cooler is pretty much the same cost as the ones I'm considering.
 
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Ecky

Ecky

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The Noctua cooler is only a marginal upgrade over the stock cooler Intel provides with non-K chips. They charge a premium for their products because they come with a ton of accessories, some of the best thermal paste on the market, and their fans are second-to-none. I have a Hyper212 EVO that sits unused in my closet because the fan has audible bearing noise even at low RPM, and thus had a worse noise signature than even Intel's stock cooler.

Not that I'm recommending that cooler in particular, it's just that cheap coolers tend to come with cheap, noisy fans. Not everyone is particular about acoustics. If I were to pick from those, though, I would pick based on the quality of the included fan, because any will be more than capable of keeping a 14nm Intel CPU's temperatures low enough that you'll enter unsafe-voltage territory before it ever comes close to overheating.
 
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refillable

refillable

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Didn't have that problem with 212 EVO... Perhaps, just a bad fan. I'll try to use my warranty if I came across that issue. I haven't tried any Noctua fans but they're good too (from what I've heard). Honestly, if a NH-L9i cost the same as these coolers I'd never buy the Noctua.
 
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pikachujpr

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Yeah I'm thinking the 612 is the best choice out of my options, I've loved my 212 evo and didn't have any noise issues though I admit the included fan isn't the best it could be.
To be honest this build is for a good mate of mine for his birthday, hence why I'm putting in the effort to figure out the best cooler.
Thanks for the advice everyone.
 
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