Best HSF under 30 dollars

[ryohei]

im looking for the best HSF for 775 under 30 dollars. the main thing im loooking for is quietness. it has to be quieter than the stock intel core 2 duo fan. im looking at the cooler master hyper 212 plus and the sunbeamtech core contact freezer, are there any others that are better?

 

[MadAdmiral]

The Hyper 212 is one of the best. It's hard to find one that's better at that price.

 

[mavanhel]

I know this article is discussing 1156 sockets, but it shows that the Hyper 212+ is the best bang for your buck by far at around $30. The noise is supposed to be a maximum of 32dB, but it's very likely that you won't be able to hear that over other background noise.

 

[capt_taco]

I'll just add that if noise level is your top priority, Thermaltake makes a couple of really quiet CPU coolers that have produced excellent results in my experience with them.

http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1148&ID=1551#Tab0
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1148&ID=1867

I have the second one in one of my machines, and have been pretty damn happy with it. For some reason, they list it as $59.99 on their site, but I have no idea why, since I was able to find mine for like $25.

But if 32dB doesn't bother you, the Hyper 212 has more cooling power ... although any of these ought to cool your system fine unless it's unusually prone to overheating for some other reason.

The Intel stock cooler looks like it tops out at around 37dB ... the Hyper 212 should be slightly quieter, while the first Thermaltake model goes down to 21dB and the second to 16dB.

 

[ryohei]

on frosty tech though, it says the core contact has a lower temp at low settings, and its quieter at low. is it possible to keep it at low all the time using some sort of controller?

 

[MadAdmiral]

Yes, but it's not recommended. You really want to have the fan speed up as the CPU increases its activity level. If you don't, you could make the computer unstable by running it too hot.

 

[ryohei]

Best answer selected by ryohei.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey