Best air cooler for OC'ing i5-2500K to 4.5GHz?

[kullmar]

Hi, I'm looking for an air cooler for my i5-2500K. At first I was considering the NH-DH14 but I think it would be a bit overkill for my needs. I haven't overclocked before so I'm not going to go over 4.5GHz. I'm looking for a cooler that can keep the CPU under 70 degrees Celcius under load and preferably quietly. It seems the CM 212 Evo is a really good cooler (at least for its price, I could get it for 30€ whereas the NH-D14 costs 80€), would it be a good choice for me? If yes, do I need to buy thermal paste separately or is it included?

If you for some reason need to know my computer specs they are as following:

ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
Intel Core i5-2500K
MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II
Ripjaws-X 8Gb(4x2Gb) 1600MHz

Thanks

 

[catatafish]

I have a very similar set up. I'm using the 212, I'm OCed to 4.5 and the highest temps I have seen playing BF3 for hours are upper 50s. I MAY have hit 70 once or twice during stress testing using Intel Burn Test. I have 2 front fans, 1 rear, and 1 200m top fan. Turning all fans to low had no change in temps on the CPU.

I don't think you can beat the 212 for value, noise, temps for anything 4.5 or below.

I used the stock paste that the 212 came with. I think getting in to other niche aftermarket pastes is a waste of time and money for a 4.5 or lower OC.

 

[J_E_D_70]

^ yes.

 

[Guest]

For 4.5 GHz, you don't really need anything more than Hyper 212 EVO.

I got my 2500K overclocked at 4.3 GHz and it doesn't go over 65 °C on the hottest core after 12+ hours in Prime95. And that's the highest temperature, it usually sits at 62-63 °C.

In games (several hours of Crysis or Battlefield 3) it doesn't even go over 55 °C on the hottest core.

If it means anything, my rig is similar to yours. We have the same motherboard, I also have 8 GB of 1600 MHz RAM (Corsair), but I have HD 7850 (though it's also MSI Twin Frozr).

 

[kullmar]

Thanks for the fast replies, you've convinced me into buying the 212

 

[dragonsamus]

I've got the 212 Evo and an i5 overclocked to 4.5. My highest temp is 63C (package temp using HWMonitor) after one hour of prime 95 on torture test. I'd recommend this cooler as well.

 

[bigcyco1]

212 Evo is fine for 4.5ghz overclock it's when you overclock to 4.7 and up that you need NH-D14 I'd recommend the 212 Evo cooler as well for what your trying to do.