Just looking for a little advice regarding coolers... I am about to buy and build a rig based (predictably) on an Intel 2500K, with which I plan on doing some mild overclocking. Having looked about at many coolers, I have narrowed it down to two coolers as they fit the right price bracket/looks etc. They are the Zalman CNPS10X Quiet and the Zalman CNPS10X Flex. Which cooler would you go for (bearing in mind that I have a couple of spare Gelid Silent 1000rpm fans sitting about)? My concern with the Flex + Gelid fans is their low static pressure, otherwise I'd opt for that straight away. It's all based in an older case - The Lancool K10 (PSU sits above cooler) Any thoughts or other recommendations - my budget for the cooler is limited to below £40. Thanks
Sorry to be vague - edited opening post. I've picked these out based on price/performance/looks combination really. Looked at loads of others and these seem to stand out to me. AFAIK you don't need a wind turbine on top of a 2500K to get pretty decent overclocks. Overclockers and Scan send out prebundled overclocked rigs at 4.4-4.6GHz with coolers that perform worse than these in many tests. I'd go for the Flex straight away if I wasn't worried about my Gelid fans coping...
Zalman nowadays have fallen a little behind with the market tbh, the only cooler i would look at around that price range is the Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro Advanced. Its been tried and tested on the 2500k and keeps things nice and cool. Or pick up a used Corsair H50/H60, i recently sold one quite cheap !
The Zalman fans always looked quite nice to me, especially the copper colored one. But by design they dont really cool the best, so I wouldnt recommend a Zalman. If price is an issue you can get a fantastic cooler for cheap, I like the Coolermaster Hyper212+
I can +1 on the Hyper 212+ (make sure u get the + if u get one). If you cant afford the dark rock pro advanced that would be the next choice.
Thanks for your input... However, looking at the performance reviews on the LGA1156 socket, the Zalman Quiet (high speed) beat the Thermaltake Frio http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2010/07/14/thermaltake-frio-cpu-cooler-review/2 , which in turn can go cooler than the Be Quiet coolers (both advanced and pro) on LGA 1155 in Bit Tech's tests http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2011/04/02/be-quiet-dark-rock-pro-review/2. Now I know that the processors are slightly different, but the mounting is identical. One of the reasons I opted to look at the Zalmans is that many of the slightly older LGA1156 coolers appear to be ignored in new tests, which is why they are seemingly so bargainous I shall take a look at the Hyper also...thanks
