Good Air cooler for mild OC'ing of i7-4790K

[bking]

I've backed off on the idea of using a Corsair AIO for this new rig, as it is starting to seem like overkill for my needs.  At MOST, I might OC my setup by 10%, but my thought is that I'll take stability and longevity over a few percentage points any day.  So, I've switched gears to looking at aftermarket air coolers, but TBH I'm more than a little afraid of hanging a huge cooler on a vertically mounted MB.  I'm looking for recommendations of a rock solid, mid-range cooler that's not too heavy but can provide a good mix of low noise and good cooling. Looked at the 212 Evo, but it seems a bit cheap to me, as I;ve seen some reports of inconsistent quality.

 

Not looking to spend a ton on a cooler, but anywhere south of $100 for the right cooler is fine.

[Coaxialgamer]

I've backed off on the idea of using a Corsair AIO for this new rig, as it is starting to seem like overkill for my needs.  At MOST, I might OC my setup by 10%, but my thought is that I'll take stability and logevity over a few percentage points any day.  So, I've switched gears to looking at aftermarket air coolers, but TBH I'm more than a little afraid of hanging a huge cooler on a vertically mounted MB.  I'm looking for recommendations of a rock solid, mid-range cooler that's not too heavy but can provide a good mix of low noise and good cooling. Looked at the 212 Evo, but it seems a bit cheap to me, as I;ve seen some reports of inconsistent quality.

 

Not looking to spend a ton on a cooler, but anywhere south of $100 for the right cooler is fine.

NH D15 from noctua in push/pull

 

Best air cooler on the market and cost about 80$ .

Also very quiet.

[Elardoven]

I've had no troubles with the 212 evo, but I've had little experience with other coolers so I can't really recommend anything else

[Benji_w]

212 for a mild clock, you could put your balls on it and overclock it mildly.

 

I've backed off on the idea of using a Corsair AIO for this new rig, as it is starting to seem like overkill for my needs.  At MOST, I might OC my setup by 10%, but my thought is that I'll take stability and logevity over a few percentage points any day.  So, I've switched gears to looking at aftermarket air coolers, but TBH I'm more than a little afraid of hanging a huge cooler on a vertically mounted MB.  I'm looking for recommendations of a rock solid, mid-range cooler that's not too heavy but can provide a good mix of low noise and good cooling. Looked at the 212 Evo, but it seems a bit cheap to me, as I;ve seen some reports of inconsistent quality.

 

Not looking to spend a ton on a cooler, but anywhere south of $100 for the right cooler is fine.

[guitarboy012001]

212 evo is basically the best air cooler not a lot of money can buy.... get it, you wont be dissapointed

[Xenift]

If you want > good overclocks.

NH D14

[mikat]

I've backed off on the idea of using a Corsair AIO for this new rig, as it is starting to seem like overkill for my needs.  At MOST, I might OC my setup by 10%, but my thought is that I'll take stability and logevity over a few percentage points any day.  So, I've switched gears to looking at aftermarket air coolers, but TBH I'm more than a little afraid of hanging a huge cooler on a vertically mounted MB.  I'm looking for recommendations of a rock solid, mid-range cooler that's not too heavy but can provide a good mix of low noise and good cooling. Looked at the 212 Evo, but it seems a bit cheap to me, as I;ve seen some reports of inconsistent quality.

 

Not looking to spend a ton on a cooler, but anywhere south of $100 for the right cooler is fine.

i got 4.5 (also 4.6 but that is 80C) Ghz out of my i7-4790k with a hyper 212 evo

but i'm not running it 24/7 since i dont need it to run that and it's louder..

[bking]

NH D15 from noctua in push/pull

 

Best air cooler on the market and cost about 80$ .

Also very quiet.

 

3 pounds scares me a bit. Is that really any cause for concern for a solid MB like the Z97-Deluxe?

[Coaxialgamer]

3 pounds scares me a bit. Is that really any cause for concern for a solid MB like the Z97-Deluxe?

It shouldn't be a problem as long as you don't screw it in too tight .

 

No one would recommend it if it broke motherboards.

If you really are concerned you could get something made to prevent components sagging

[bking]

It shouldn't be a problem as long as you don't screw it in too tight .

 

No one would recommend it if it broke motherboards.

If you really are concerned you could get something made to prevent components sagging

 

Yeah, my concerns are largely a matter of inexperience with large coolers and not based on any real data or experience.   Thanks for the reassurance.

[winningsince1337]

NH D15 from noctua in push/pull

 

Best air cooler on the market and cost about 80$ .

Also very quiet.

Got one of these not to long ago and it's absolutely excellent. Best CPU cooler there is. Getting temps better than my 240mm AIO and it's way quieter

[bking]

Hmm, just ran across the following while checking MB and memory compatibiity at Noctua site.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhu12s

 

A little cheaper than the NH D14, and pretty much matches it on the 2-3 tests I looked at.  Narrower so that it doesn't have ANY memory heatsink concerns.

 

 

Anyone familiar with it?

[ThomasD]

The stock cooler can handle turbo type speeds (4.4 GHz.)  That being the case, practically any decent aftermarket cooler should be able to manage upwards of 4.6 GHz without major thermal issues.

[bking]

The stock cooler can handle turbo type speeds (4.4 GHz.)  That being the case, practically any decent aftermarket cooler should be able to manage upwards of 4.6 GHz without major thermal issues.

 

Your're probably right, but I haven't had the balls to use a stock cooler since my first Celeron build. 

 

Final verdict - bought a NH-U12S . Fantastic noise/cooling numbers from all the reviews I read, yet no memory heatsink issues.  Also, much easier to swap out the included fan, or add another one if the colors end up driving me nuts.