Best Cooling Options

ExplosiveChaos

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Aug 16, 2016
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I just finished building my computer, and I am really happy with my performance. However, I want to start overclocking. I used Prime95 overnight and saw that my temps were between 60-80C (decent results), but that is just on turbo mode and not even overclocking yet. My room temp is 29C so I of course the temps are higher than average, but why such high temperatures at stock frequency with a Cooler Master 212 EVO? The motherboard also went in the high 70s. I have some questions that need to be answered. Also, here is my build: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/KH4Dqk. I am using only the stock fans the Enthoo Pro has, but they are overall pretty good fans.
Questions:
1) Are the temps here normal with a Cooler Master 212 EVO?
2) Would a Cryorig H5 Ultimate be enough to overclock my CPU at 4.4 or 4.5 and keep my temperatures decently low?
3) What are the best air coolers right now for every price range? I am not sure on my exactly price limit yet, so I would like options.
4) Are "lower end" air coolers (i.e. "only" 100 dollars) better than high end air cooler? If so, which ones should I get for every price range for air coolers?
5) Most important, case fans. I have no idea which ones are now good and which ones are not. How much RPM would be considered good? I need two 140mm that I am going to use in the front of my case as intake to replace the 200mm one and use that 200mm one on top.
I don't care about the noise that much, just quality. Thanks.
 
5) generally a 200mm fan is all you need in the front. also it's a Phanteks fan so it doesn't get much better than this

but of course 2x 140 will push more air
best is to go with Phanteks or Noctua
the Phanteks PH F140SP is a nice fan, F140XP if you want it with PWM

I personally (different case) got a 200mm front, a 120mm at the bottom (max size support unfortunately) and a 140mm side intake at/below my GPU

my 200mm fan is spinning at 500rpm up to 50°C, 640rpm @60°C and I haven't gotten higher yet
my 140mm fan is spinning at 700rpm up to 40°C, 900rpm @60°C (1000@ 70, 1250@100°C)

4) as for "lower end air coolers" - a Noctua NH-D15 is maybe the best air cooler on the market and costs 89$
everything beyond 55$ is high end basically
or did you mean water coolers? generally water coolers for around 100$ are as good as air coolers, worse if they'e below 85$

3) Noctua NH-D15 / Cryorig R1 / Phanteks TC14 (~80$)
Noctua NH-D14 / BeQuiet Dark Rock 3 (~65-70$)
Cryorig H5 / Scythe Mugen Max / Mugen 4 / Noctua NH-U12 / Phanteks TC12 (45-55$)
Cryorig H7 / 212 Evo (up to 40$)
at least that would be my choices, probably forgot some seriously good ones
 
1) Your temps are fine, even when using an AVX2 power virus program like Prime95. Most will recommend you use something that doesn't utilize AVX instructions for stability testing, such as OCCT, because it's more representative of real-world use and doesn't spike the voltage on your CPU.

2) I'm sure you can do that with your current cooler. I've taken my CPU to 4.5 on the stock cooler, and it's adequate for keeping it cool under any kind of load except Prime95.

3) $25-30 - Hyper212, $35-45 - Cryorig H7, $50+ - Noctua D14, D15

4) There aren't really any better coolers than the $80 Noctua D15

5) As long as the air inside your case is not significantly higher than the air outside, you have sufficient case airflow. I run most of my fans at ~800rpm.

That said, I don't think you need a better cooler. Let me make a bad car analogy:

I drive with 75% of my car's front grille blocked. The reason the grille is so big, is that the manufacturer knew it needed to be able to keep up with cooling demands in death valley on a summer afternoon. I don't live in death valley, I live in Vermont, and by covering up part of the grille, my car warms up faster and gets slightly better fuel economy.

Getting a bigger cooler to lower temperatures in Prime95, when what you have is adequate for basically everything else, seems kindof pointless to me.
 

Cole_9

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Jun 4, 2016
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1) Are the temps here normal with a Cooler Master 212 EVO?

Yeah, but I must ask you what you are using to measure those temps.

2) Would a Cryorig H5 Ultimate be enough to overclock my CPU at 4.4 or 4.5 and keep my temperatures decently low?

Based on how large the heatsync is as well as the number of heat pipes, my guess is yes it will. you can probably do that with your current cooler the way it is.

3) What are the best air coolers right now for every price range? I am not sure on my exactly price limit yet, so I would like options.

$20-$40=cooler master and Zalman 40-60= cryoorg and anything above that will probably be a noctua.

4) Are "lower end" air coolers (i.e. "only" 100 dollars) better than high end air cooler? If so, which ones should I get for every price range for air coolers?

Never seen a high performance air cooler above $90.

5) Most important, case fans. I have no idea which ones are now good and which ones are not. How much RPM would be considered good? I need two 140mm that I am going to use in the front of my case as intake to replace the 200mm one and use that 200mm one on top.

It all depends. as long as the temps on the inside of the case are good then you should be ok no matter what the fan speed is.
 
For around the same price as the cryorig h5 I'd go with a thermalright true spirit 140 power. It's around $50 and cools competitively with an nh-d14 both in terms of low noise and temps. The enthoo pro is one of the few cases that can support it since the cooler is 171mm tall. Unfortunately that makes an otherwise good performing cooler out of reach for more standard cases which aren't wide enough to fit it.

The stock fans with the case should be enough to begin with. I added a couple noctua 140mm fans to the top of mine and I like the looks but they honestly don't do a whole lot for cooling. They work, I can feel slightly warm air being vented out the top but if I turn them off I don't see my cpu temps rise more than a couple degrees.

The reason I didn't use additional phanteks fans, the 140mm provided with the case was buttery smooth oriented vertically pushing air out the back. When turned horizontal to vent out the top the fan exhibited a nasty vibration. Maybe I got a fluke but rather than chance it I opted for fans with better bearings and the noctua redux don't vibrate at all oriented as top exhaust. Just my experience. You may run into the same issue with the 200mm on top. If looking for intake fans for the front then the phanteks sp140's like the one that came with the case are nice.

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/qs6BD3/thermalright-cpu-cooler-truespirit140power

This is the same as the fan at the back of the case.
http://pcpartpicker.com/product/nYMFf7/phanteks-case-fan-phf140spbk

This is a pwm variation, around $20.
http://pcpartpicker.com/product/NKW9TW/phanteks-case-fan-phf140xpbk

For about the same price there's the noctua redux. They don't include the low noise adapters or rubber fan corners to isolate vibration. On the other hand they're not the typical earth tones (I'm not fond of personally, I prefer the two tone gray). Neither of mine needed rubber isolators, they're screwed directly to the enthoo pro and they run great. They're also pwm. Compared to the regular noctua's which use an sso2 bearing, these use the older sso but I don't notice a major difference. Still have the same 6yr warranty.

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/8r9KHx/noctua-case-fan-nfp14sredux1500pwm

You said you don't mind if they're a little noisy, if the 1500rpm version isn't controlled either by pwm or a fan controller to reduce speed you'll probably hear some wind noise. I run mine with a fan controller to keep them quiet running them around maybe 40-50% speed. At full speed I can hear a soft but audible 'whoosh' out the top of the case.
 

ExplosiveChaos

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Aug 16, 2016
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Thanks for all the replies! I am using CPUID HWMonitor to record my temps, so I know they are accurate. Should I keep my Cooler Master and try to overclock? Or should I invest in something more expensive like the Cryorig H5 or Noctua DH-15?

4) Are "lower end" air coolers (i.e. "only" 100 dollars) better than high end air cooler? If so, which ones should I get for every price range for air coolers?
This is suppose to actually say: Are "lower end" water coolers (i.e. "only" 100 dollars) better than high end air cooler? If so, which ones should I get for every price range for water coolers?