What is the absolute best CPU air cooler?

[jcorqian]

I am curious as to what heatsink is the best out right now. Price and size are not considerations, just absolute performance. Noise IS a consideration, however. Thanks.

 

[Physicz]

sunbeamtech corecontact- freezer edges in front of the xigmatek S1283 Rifle by a few degrees for 10$ more.

you just need to mod the fan and install a quiter fan if noise is an issue.

otherwise they run at max around 53 dBa

 

[jcorqian]

Right, you looked off Frostytech's reviews for that. Not that I don't trust them, but most review sites are differ quite significantly from each either as far as I've seen. I currently own the Xigamatek S964 and I am not very satisfied with it, although it is 9 on that list I believe. What do people out there who have had multiple coolers firsthand choose as the very best?

 

[V3NOM]

isnt the tuniq tower better than the TRUE? shove two of the fastest fans in the world on it and OVERCLOCK!

 

[E3210]

There is no "best" heatsink (I wish I had a stamp for every thread like this...).

Do a forum search next time. This one works well for the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003

You will need a fairly big case and getting the retention bracket with it (sold seperately) is recommended.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-cooler-charts,1967-9.html

 

[V3NOM]

^wtf how can there not be a "best" heatsink?? the one with the best design will win... its not completely random... you can't get an intel stock cooler to perform even closely to the TRUE. not like processors mate.

 

[E3210]

Well how about most high quality heatsinks perform within a few degrees of each other? How about the fact that case size, noise level, price, weight, and ease of installation are all as important as cooling performance depending on the person, motherboard, or rig in question? How about the fact that two reputaible websites can classify the same heatsinks differently in their own "charts" as well as find marginal differences in performance? Are you ******* serious when you say that?

The xigy is cheap but its loud and doesn't cool the best. The thermalright IFX has the best performance but it is huge and expensive. The artic cooler 7 pro is cheap and easy to install but doesn't cool as well as the xigy or the thermalright.

If I wanted a quite case I might get the thermalright or the artic cooler. If I wanted best performance for my dollar I would get the xiggy. If I had case limitations I would get the artic cooler again. If I didn't care either way then maybe the thermalrigth would be right for me.

And that is just considering 3 heatsinks and their abilities and strong suites. Now multiply that by all the heatsinks out there and all the benefits each can bring and you have no all around ******* best heatsink.

You find a general consensus, across the web, of the "best heatsink" with one model coming ahead in a noticeable margin and I will eat my monitor and leave these forums forever.

 

[fantom-feltpen]

probably one of the best out there:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835101018

 

[V3NOM]

^ROFL! sure it looks cool but it is waaaaaaayyyyy too old to match it with the latest coolers...

 

[iluvgillgill]

the best cooler is TRUE with 2 high speed Delta fan.

 

[marshmellow1991]

xigmatek S1283 Rifle. E8400 oc`ed to 3.6, intelburn test, max temp was 55c

 

[dagger]

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

 

[kaboooom2000uk]

Any computer heatsink with a known (Degee's Celcius per watt) rating given by the manufacturer is to be trusted, and you want a heatsink with very low figure.

For example, a really poor heatsink with a rating of 2'C per watt will effectively reach 240 degrees celcius if mounted to a CPU with a thermal design of 120W, excluding ambient.

But it we managed to find somthing around 0.1'C per watt, then it works out to be 12'C on the same thermal power. of course including the ambient temp 20'C, its looks more like 32'C

So in turn the BEST cpu heatsink is the one that has the least temperature rise for a given power.

You will need to study the manufacturers data for the heatsinks, if they dont provide it, then you buy it at your own risk, unless you know people of friends who have had good results that you have actauly seen.

 

[kaboooom2000uk]

seems the Thermalright Ultra 120 faired quite well for 775 cpus. 150W test the final temp was 17.5'C but quite noisy 53.7DBa

 

[eklipz330]

wait till the liquid metal cpu cooler called danamic lm10

its coming out in q3 of this year... gonna blow yo mIND, looks real promising

and to jcorqian-
when they get the heatsink for review, they get it from the company, and the company makes sure its handpicked... the ripest apple from the bunch if not mistaken.. or the least rotten in this case

 

[sportsfanboy]

^ I'm interested in checking that thing out, looked pretty cool, no pun intended.

 

[hellzlegend]

As E3210 said, Thermalright IFX is the best air cooler but is pricey and big.

 

[darksied]

The Xigmatek HDT-S1283 worked well for me. It reduced my cpu temps from 80C -> 27C at idle. Make sure you get the retention bracket and some Artic Silver 5.

I'm not sure it's the best though.

 

[sportsfanboy]

A 53c drop in idle temps with air cooling?

 

[iluvgillgill]

YES! but clearly that was a mismounted cooler before.

i guess....

 

[darksied]

YES! but clearly that was a mismounted cooler before.

i guess....

Ya, it could have just been the pushpins, but they seemed like they were in all the way. It could have also been that bad thermal paste that came with the stock HSF.

 

[dagger]

Lol, 80C idle is more like no cooler before.

Anyway, idle temperature doesn't matter. It's full load temperature that's important.

 

[eklipz330]

idle temp could matter if your ambient temp is high...

 

[dagger]

idle temp could matter if your ambient temp is high...

The the load temperature would be even higher. No matter what, the higher load temperature is the cpu breaker, and thus, more important.

 

[spathotan]

I have the S1283, i took it off and replaced it with a AC7, temps went down a few degrees c with the AC7. I have the backplate for the Xiggy, remounted it 12 times using proper and improper paste applying techniques, and temps sucked every time. I eventually just gave up and thew it in my storage cabinet. Since im not using it I might try lapping it for the hell of it, just to see if I can get a nice polished reflection off it, then try again.