Heat sink under $60 with an emphasis on silence with a mild OC

[Guest]

my current heat sink is biting the dust when it comes to playing BF3 and I am really displeased with its all around performance and every once in a while I get blue screens from the CPU passing my BIOS set temp max (set it lower to protect the CPU from reaching its Max temp)

I am running an i5-2500k at 4.2 or 4.4 ghz, can't remember which right now. my current heat sink is a zalman, not sure which one I have.

I have a fractal define r3 case with noise dampening and I have my fans typically set to a barely audible level, I have my heat sink set to high and I can noticeably hear it plus its performing very poorly at full speed. its time for something that performs better and is more quiet

I'm thinking about getting an antec kuhler h20 620. I have read a few benches on it and read reviews with similar set ups and it seems like it'll perform on par with an h-70 for less and it uses higher level components over corsairs all in one series. it seems like its on par at stock settings with many high end air coolers, but were it shines above them is OCing. I'm sure I could drop the temps even more with a fan shroud and different fan and possibly a push pull config.

well any feed back on whether to go with this cooling setup or not will be appreciated. the price is right for me as I can pick it up on Amazon for just under my budget and I can get it for $50 on micro center

 

[TheBigTroll]

i would have recommended a noctua nh-c12 but it is 10-25 over your budget. it is a very quiet cooler and has great performance. i prefer you not to get a liquid cooler as they can get outpreformed by a 30$ hyper 212 evo.

oh yeah you can do this: get a hyper 212 evo and slap either 2 fractal design slient pro fans or throw in a noctua nf f12 fan.

 

[Guest]

I really can't break my budget because I have to replace my head gasket and I need a few tools and misc other things to do so

 

[bigcyco1]

If you can get over the color of the fans, this is about the best bang for buck http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5592441&CatId=493 and will run circles around any other heat sink air coolers as far as water goes it's definitely better then all those pre packaged liquid closed loop solutions the H-100 struggles to run on par with it and only can on max fan speeds otherwise it's no match it cools even on a high overclock this thing is ridiculous and wisper quiet even on a 4.7ghz overclock hottest core was 59c full Prime 95 load.tested it for 12 hours 24 isn't necessary imho after 100 passes intel burn test 63c . http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2301991 i can't hear it unless i stick my ear next to the case or take the side panel off i bullshit you not .If you can't afford it or don't want to invest in it here get it's little brother http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5391735&CatId=493

 

[Guest]

www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/antec_kuhler_h20_620_review/4.htm

for the same price, or less the antec 620 beats the lower priced noctua in every bench. obviously it can't touch the big daddy noctua but for $30 less I don't mind

 

[hellfire24]

my current heat sink is biting the dust when it comes to playing BF3 and I am really displeased with its all around performance and every once in a while I get blue screens from the CPU passing my BIOS set temp max (set it lower to protect the CPU from reaching its Max temp)

I am running an i5-2500k at 4.2 or 4.4 ghz, can't remember which right now. my current heat sink is a zalman, not sure which one I have.

I have a fractal define r3 case with noise dampening and I have my fans typically set to a barely audible level, I have my heat sink set to high and I can noticeably hear it plus its performing very poorly at full speed. its time for something that performs better and is more quiet

I'm thinking about getting an antec kuhler h20 620. I have read a few benches on it and read reviews with similar set ups and it seems like it'll perform on par with an h-70 for less and it uses higher level components over corsairs all in one series. it seems like its on par at stock settings with many high end air coolers, but were it shines above them is OCing. I'm sure I could drop the temps even more with a fan shroud and different fan and possibly a push pull config.

well any feed back on whether to go with this cooling setup or not will be appreciated. the price is right for me as I can pick it up on Amazon for just under my budget and I can get it for $50 on micro center

closed loop coolers are not worth the price tag.they have very thin rads and stock fans,oh my gosh they are crappy an loud.better go with a high end air cooler.for $60,Noctua NH-U9B SE2 would be my choice.it's a dead silent heat sink and will easily take you to 4.5ghz.it's very highly rated on both of these review sites-
http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/cooling/heatsinksfans/5108-noctua-u9b-se2-cpu-cooler-review?start=11
and-
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/noctua_nh-u9b_se2_review/4
i hope i convinced you

 

[Guest]

if I had the cash I'd do a water cooling setup, but I don't have the kind cash right now, can't even afford an xspc cooling kit

 

[hellfire24]

^in fact you don't even need watercooling.

 

[Guest]

id do it more for just wanting to than anything

 

[hellfire24]

^then start collecting $$ for a heavy watercooling setup my friend.

 

[AlexS_32817]

Hands down: Corsair H60. They run for $60; I just paid $60 - $10 mail-in rebate that I am waiting for. And if you really want to push it, spend an additional $10 and get another 120mm fan and do a push/pull setup for even cooler temps. I reversed my fans to have it pull cold air from my room into the radiator, to then have another fan pull the air from within the radiator into the PC. I added another fan on the top of the case ($10) to pull the hotter air from inside the case to through the top of the computer. Also, my case already had a fan in the front pushing cold air into the system. So my air flow goes into the computer via the front and the rear, which is then pulled out through the top. My system idle's at 31° C and I can Prime95 for 5 mins and it won't go past 55° C. The M/B temp is around 28° C.

The system is the following:

Mainboard : Asus P8Z68-V LX
Chipset : Intel Z68
Processor : Intel Core i7 2600K @ 3400MHz
Physical Memory : 8192MB (2 x 4096 DDR3-SDRAM )
Video Card : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti
Hard Disk : OCZ-VERTEX3 ATA Device (120GB)
Hard Disk : Seagate ST3160811AS ATA Device (160GB)
DVD-Rom Drive : ATAPI iHAS324 B
Network Card : Realtek Semiconductor RTL8168/8111 PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
Operating System : Windows 7 Ultimate Professional Media Center 6.01.7601 Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
Windows Performance Index : 7.4 on 7.9

Processor has been Overclocked to 4.3Ghz (100x43 @ 1.32V)

The system was idling at around 48-50° C with the original Intel fan. Dropped to 31° C as soon as I installed the Corsair H60. Very easy to install. Very clean.

Good luck!

 

[hellfire24]

Hands down: Corsair H60. They run for $60; I just paid $60 - $10 mail-in rebate that I am waiting for. And if you really want to push it, spend an additional $10 and get another 120mm fan and do a push/pull setup for even cooler temps. I reversed my fans to have it pull cold air from my room into the radiator, to then have another fan pull the air from within the radiator into the PC. I added another fan on the top of the case ($10) to pull the hotter air from inside the case to through the top of the computer. Also, my case already had a fan in the front pushing cold air into the system. So my air flow goes into the computer via the front and the rear, which is then pulled out through the top. My system idle's at 31° C and I can Prime95 for 5 mins and it won't go past 55° C. The M/B temp is around 28° C.

so you spent $60 on a fake liquid cooler,then spent another $10 to add another fan on it.And once more you added a $10 fan on the top your case.total cost?
let me do this for you,60+10+10=$80.No offence sir but this one of the worst suggestions i have ever seen.OP has 60 bucks to spend and wants to have a quiet and cool setup and you are suggesting to spend 80 bucks for some fake liquid cooler(FYI a high end air cooler beats HXX coolers ),no offence meant take it easy.Just wanted to correct you.

 

[Guest]

I dislike the corsair h series coolers, they are inefficient, costly and pump failures are common and have a few bad quality parts, the antec 620 beats a h70 and it costs less than a h60. the only all in ones I would get are from antec

 

[hellfire24]

Antec 620 is rebranded astek.

 

[Guest]

i know it is

 

[hellfire24]

please read this review-
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cooler-Master-Hyper-612-PWM-CPU-Cooler-Review/1398

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Well, first, I don't understand why you set the shutdown temp to a lower setting in the BIOS. There's literally no reason to do that. Second, a 212 Evo with two silent fans in push/pull should be just fine.

Set the max temp back to default in the BIOS and don't worry about it. The CPU will throttle WELL before any damage occurs, and it shouldn't get that hot anyway, at only 4.4Ghz (Throttling happens at around 98C core temp). If it does, you're doing something wrong.

 

[Guest]

I reset the shut down temp because it is intelligent to do so and it is less likely to cause damage because of a bad OC or heat sink failure, its free insurance if you will

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

I reset the shut down temp because it is intelligent to do so and it is less likely to cause damage because of a bad OC or heat sink failure, its free insurance if you will

You're right, I guess, but I think it's just being WAY too cautious. CPU's (Intel CPU's especially) can take a beating when it comes to temps. Shortened lifespan is caused by too much voltage more than it is high temps. Running a 2500K at something 70-75C 24/7 365 would have a negligible impact on longevity. Yes, it's good to keep it cooler if you can (and I like to as well. Below 70 is my personal goal), but people seriously stress out WAY too much about it.

As far as heatsink failure goes, that's what the default BIOS shutdown temp is for. And you should be careful enough to not have a bad OC in the first place. Like I said above, it'll throttle well before anything bad happens.