CPU Cooler recommendation please - i5-8400

Maelgwn42 · February 1, 2018

Hi all,

I am hoping for some advice on a Cooler for up upcoming build. Its nothing too special, but I am stuck on a cooler. The Mrs has given me a Thermaltake Versa N26 case for Xmas with the instructions to fill it with what I want. (to a limited $$ amount). Within the case are a set of Riing 120mm RGB fans, so I would like to continue that theme with a RGB CPU cooler. I was looking at the Cooler Master MA610P but it looks like it is too tall by 6mm. The case has a clearance for a cooler of 160mm.

Could anyone recommend a cooler for my case that looks great but also do the job well? I am not looking to overclock at all. The CPU I am looking at so far is the i5-8400, but I could also consider Ryzen as well.

I have also seen the newly announced Cooler Master G100M flat RGB round cooler, would this be ok? I must admit to not understanding TDP at all.

Besides the space saving benefits in height of a "flat cooler" do they cool any better than a "traditional" tower like cooler?

This might be a good idea for a Linus quick tips video??? Vertical coolers vs horizontal coolers.

Should I get another cooler, say a Noctua that would fit and then put Riing fans on that too?

Thanks for any advice

Jurrunio · February 1, 2018

You can replace the fans on a cooler, no matter it's air or liquid.

There's an air cooler list that ranks them with performance, so check that out

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/891730-air-cooler-performance-tier-list/

LogicalDrm · February 1, 2018

You are getting locked CPU. Meaning that stock would be enough. But as you can't change fan on that, maybe look into CM Gemini II or be Quiet! Daek Rock TF. You can then change fans to RGB.

WoodenMarker · February 2, 2018

Where are you shopping/located? Budget?

The stock cooler is fine for the 8400. If you want to go aftermarket for aesthetics alone, there are plenty of options to go with. You can generally replace the fan that comes with a cooler with an rgb one. That being said, getting a noctua cooler to replace the fan is a bit of a waste since the fan/heatsink combo is part of what makes them great.

Downdraft coolers are good for cooling components on the motherboard besides the cpu. They generally don't perform as well as tower coolers since the heat isn't moved away as efficiently and have less surface area due to constraints around the socket. Some of the heat often gets recycled back into the intake of downdraft coolers.