Hi all, I'm contemplating finally waving goodbye to my trusty s775 gear and getting onboard the Skylake train with a 6600K. I seem to recall that this processor doesn't come with a cooler, and my current Arctic Freezer isn't s115x compatible. As such, I'm on the lookout for a suitable cooler and was hoping to pick your brains! My requirements are more focused on silence rather than superlative cooling, and the case I'm using is a Fractal R3. I'll probably be overclocking at some point but not immediately. Budget is pretty flexible - upgrading to s1151 is going to be quite expensive anyway and I'd rather spend a few quid extra to get something properly suitable rather than skimping. I wasn't sure if an AIO cooler would be particularly quiet, and might be overkill in any event if I'm not clocking the nuts off the CPU. On the other hand, I'm not a huge fan of mammoth 1kg lumps of aluminium and copper hanging off (and bending) my motherboard so an AIO appeals on that score. Principally, though, I want something that's a quiet as possible. Does it make much difference fitting different fans to an AIO rather than using the stock fans? I'm totally out of touch when it comes to modern hardware Any recommendations from you fine chaps? Cheers Bawjaws
I've yet to have any motherboard bend with a big cooler installed. That's in the past and due to poor mounting methods. I would say you need to give us a budget; or else we could just say get the Noctua D15 which while it is absolutely amazing, and quiet, it's damned expensive.
Sorry, the bending comment was tongue-in-cheek Maximum budget is probably £50 but I'd need very good reason to go this high. I realise this is a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question so any suggestions are welcome.
Well, the bending did happen when too much pressure was applied. It was a thing in the past with water blocks as well. Uhm, okay, so for that budget, you could either buy a new cooler or try to source a second hand NH-D14 or D15 which would be the best option (in my opinion). I picked up a D14 a year and a half ago for £40 (from this very forum) and it is a stunning bit of kit. As for new, I can't really recommend anything there as I am way out of the loop when it comes to coolers. I only have the one on air, a water loop and then my extreme OC gear. Hopefully someone else will be along shortly to give you some pointers.
The Cryorig H5 is very good for around £35. If you want to save a few quid, the Evo 212 is still a good performer.
Thanks for the suggestions, James. I wasn't sure if the 212 EVO or Hyper were still good options these days.
Probably the best value with good performance is the Alpenfohn Matterhorn Pure at £29.99. There are black and white models for £10 more. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/show...d=google/pla&gclid=CLuoiO_qpcgCFSWw2wodRF0JGQ Here is a half decent review http://www.nikktech.com/main/articl...n-matterhorn-pure-cpu-cooler?showall=&start=5
