Which cooler should I get? The Noctua NH-14D or the H80i? I'm planning to overclock to 4.8 on the asus maximus v gene on a i5 3570k let me know!
There are so many considerations when choosing a cooler, eg raw performance, noise, size, air/closed-loop, price, compatibility etc Outright air coolers simply cannot compete with closed-loop coolers in performance, but they absolutely destroy them in price - eg Thermalright's "TRUE" Rev.C is still a very good heatsink and costs only £29 at Scan. You will need to put a good fan on it (like a Gentle Typhoon) but even then you've only spent £45 and have a cooling solution that should easily cope with 4.8GHz on the 3570K. If you have money to burn, then yes the Corsair H series coolers are a cut above. One terrible blunder that a lot of reviewers make (including bit-tech, I hasten to add) is that they pair these amazing coolers with the crappiest, inane, run-of-the-mill PISH fans you could possibly imagine. A Sharkoon 1000rpm fan? What a joke... get a real fan on it! If you want really good cooling performance, make sure you carefully consider the fans that you use; even a good cooler will perform poorly if the fans are poor (naturally).
Hmm I didn't think using air would even come close to handling 4.8 but if your sure? The rev c and the typhoon? Any better combination? Let me know
There are better coolers than the TRUE but they are so expensive it's hard to justify the premium... well, at least that's how I see it. I have yet to get myself a Rev.C, but I have three of the original ones (one standard, one black, and one copper). And believe it or not, 5GHz air cooled (and Linpack stable) was quite common with the 2500K, certainly in the enthusiast realm. You should easily get 4.8GHz if your CPU will do it, because the cooler certainly will.
I know that it's expensive, (for that price I'd spend a little more for a h100) but if you want to stay on air and have the space to fit one try a Phanteks PH-TC14PE, it'll happily keep you cool and quite even at 4.8ghz, especially if you add a third 140mm fan
I have a TRUE, and it can barely handle my 3570K at 4.5GHz (1.26V). Though I have to admit I have quite a crappy fan on it.
@mm vr, shame on you!! What fan are you using? And, curiously, what thermal paste? I use MX2 and will never use anything else (I have a 30g tube of it ). Also I have a plethora of fans and nothing comes close to push/pull 1850rpm Gentle Typhoons for noise vs. performance. I'm seriously considering buying a Rev.C TRUE just to compare the performance between the older and newer ones... some reviewers claim that the Rev.C is as good as the copper version, which is quite a claim! @OP, the H80i is an excellent choice.
From the reviews I have seen of the H80i and the experience I have had with the H80 vs. the Frio (on my 980x @ 4.2), I would be purchasing the H80i without a doubt.
I have a single Antec Tricool that came with my case mounted on it, on low speed. Using the thermal gunk that came with the TRUE.
What of temps/speeds are you getting with your H80i Enfluence? I have my I5 3570k at 4.5 with the Intel RTS2011LC and while blend testing under Prime the temps on all cores jump to about 76. I can't get it past the 4.5 mark without a good voltage bump and the temps go beyond 90. I'm thinking about getting a better cooler and was looking at the H80i - did you get a stable 4.8? Cheers!
Sorry for the late reply Si, Yeah everythings going fine even got the h80i mounted on the top back fan which others said was impossible :/ Was a bid fiddily but runs fine and the performance is very good. I've just bumped it upto 4.6ghz at the moment and the temps are between 20-30 idle and then 70-78 max on Prime 95 which I'd say is damn good! I recommend this cooler without a doubt.
