Best rgb air cooler and fans

[Caolan.Kelly]

Hey guys ! 

 

I'm currently want to replace my current wraith cooler with a better air cooler ( i feel safer with air and for longevity). The main reason is the temps are running a little warm for my liking and I'd like to bring it down. My current case is the masterbox mb511( spec sheet quotes a 165 mm clearance) and corsair vengeance rgb ram.

 

Would you recommend air over liquid ?  

 

What I'm looking for is 

A quiet cpu cooler 

Rgb if possible 

Lower temps and possible extra case fans for rgb goodness 

 

Budget around 100£ 

 

 

[Energycore]

Hmm. You have a pretty good budget for a CPU Cooler. I'd buy the cooler and the RGB fans separately since not a lot of air coolers feature RGB (and RGB liquid coolers might be over budget)

 

I have an NH-C14S. It's a downdraft cooler that shows you the fan directly at you. It could be a cool way to showcase your RGB fan.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C14S 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler  (£69.06 @ Amazon UK)
Case Fan: Corsair ML140 PRO 55.4 CFM 140 mm Fan  (£28.99 @ AWD-IT)
Total: £98.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-16 02:32 BST+0100

 

Something like this. This is what the C14S looks installed into a case (picture the RGB fan there instead of the Noctua one, which you can place somewhere else in your case if you want).

 

Spoiler

 

[Caolan.Kelly]

6 minutes ago, Energycore said:

Hmm. You have a pretty good budget for a CPU Cooler. I'd buy the cooler and the RGB fans separately since not a lot of air coolers feature RGB (and RGB liquid coolers might be over budget)

 

I have an NH-C14S. It's a downdraft cooler that shows you the fan directly at you. It could be a cool way to showcase your RGB fan.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C14S 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler  (£69.06 @ Amazon UK)
Case Fan: Corsair ML140 PRO 55.4 CFM 140 mm Fan  (£28.99 @ AWD-IT)
Total: £98.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-16 02:32 BST+0100

 

Something like this. This is what the C14S looks installed into a case (picture the RGB fan there instead of the Noctua one, which you can place somewhere else in your case if you want).

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Thank you for the reply if you dont mind me asking what cpu do you run and what type of temps are you getting ? 

[Energycore]

Just now, Caolan.Kelly said:

Thank you for the reply if you dont mind me asking what cpu do you run and what type of temps are you getting ? 

I run a Sandy Bridge Xeon (Equivalent i7-2600). 65W chip. Never go over 65C (and most of the time the fan doesn't spin at all, that's how I have it configured).

 

This cooler is very high performance. Consistently performs within 1-2 degrees of the high-end dual tower coolers in tests. See our CPU Cooler Tier List for reference.

 

 

I personally love looking at a Noctua fan whenever I glance at the computer, but I realize the Poop and Tan color scheme is not for everyone hehe. It has my blessing in terms of performance though.

[Caolan.Kelly]

3 minutes ago, Energycore said:

I run a Sandy Bridge Xeon (Equivalent i7-2600). 65W chip. Never go over 65C (and most of the time the fan doesn't spin at all, that's how I have it configured).

 

This cooler is very high performance. Consistently performs within 1-2 degrees of the high-end dual tower coolers in tests. See our CPU Cooler Tier List for reference.

 

 

I personally love looking at a Noctua fan whenever I glance at the computer, but I realize the Poop and Tan color scheme is not for everyone hehe. It has my blessing in terms of performance though.

And would this need much lateral clearance because my current ram sticks and wraith cooler are only maybe 2mm spacing 

 

[Energycore]

Just now, Caolan.Kelly said:

And would this need much lateral clearance because my current ram sticks and wraith cooler are only maybe 2mm spacing 

 

RAM compatibility is amazing. Install it with the heatpipes facing away from the RAM, and it clears RAM as tall as 70mm (most tall RAM is lower than 45mm).

[Caolan.Kelly]

16 minutes ago, Energycore said:

RAM compatibility is amazing. Install it with the heatpipes facing away from the RAM, and it clears RAM as tall as 70mm (most tall RAM is lower than 45mm).

I'll definitely look into this so, on the other side ( or orientation) would the hyper 212 with 2x fans or artic freezer 35 with 2x fans work well aswell, and fit ? 

[Energycore]

35 minutes ago, Caolan.Kelly said:

I'll definitely look into this so, on the other side ( or orientation) would the hyper 212 with 2x fans or artic freezer 35 with 2x fans work well aswell, and fit ? 

It would work and fit, but please don't buy a Hyper 212, its performance is so low compared to other offerings (like the Arctic Freezer 33 and 34). Then you can add RGB fans to the tower.

[Caolan.Kelly]

Just now, Energycore said:

It would work and fit, but please don't buy a Hyper 212, its performance is so low compared to other offerings (like the Arctic Freezer 33 and 34). Then you can add RGB fans to the tower.

In that case would you use a splitter off of the cpu fan header on the mobo or just hook one to cpu and the other to a system fan header

[Energycore]

1 minute ago, Caolan.Kelly said:

In that case would you use a splitter off of the cpu fan header on the mobo or just hook one to cpu and the other to a system fan header

I'd def use a splitter. Generally speaking you want them going at the same speed.

[Caolan.Kelly]

1 minute ago, Energycore said:

I'd def use a splitter. Generally speaking you want them going at the same speed.

Cool 

And one final question would the Arctic freezer 35 be the best tower recommendation or would you recommend something else ? 

 

Thank you so much for all you help I really appreciate it 

[Energycore]

2 minutes ago, Caolan.Kelly said:

Cool 

And one final question would the Arctic freezer 35 be the best tower recommendation or would you recommend something else ? 

 

Thank you so much for all you help I really appreciate it 

No probs

 

I don't know the Freezer 35. Searching only pulls up the Freezer 33 and 34 (with their Esports Edition versions which are better performance)

 

Both are recommended for their great performance for the money.

[Caolan.Kelly]

1 minute ago, Energycore said:

No probs

 

I don't know the Freezer 35. Searching only pulls up the Freezer 33 and 34 (with their Esports Edition versions which are better performance)

 

Both are recommended for their great performance for the money.

Ah cool thank you I was looking at the masterair ma410m but was worried about the size its a monster haha 

[Energycore]

4 minutes ago, Caolan.Kelly said:

Ah cool thank you I was looking at the masterair ma410m but was worried about the size its a monster haha 

That one has pretty bad performance. I'd only get it for looks, and even then you can do better. It's not better than a now 10 year old Hyper 212

[Caolan.Kelly]

2 minutes ago, Energycore said:

That one has pretty bad performance. I'd only get it for looks, and even then you can do better. It's not better than a now 10 year old Hyper 212

Oh damn I didnt realise I was going by reviews and people saying it was good 

[Energycore]

1 minute ago, Caolan.Kelly said:

Oh damn I didnt realise I was going by reviews and people saying it was good 

I'm going by our Tier List, but I looked into it and the cooler achieves a good performance level with high noise output, which is probably why it's ranked very low. Any ole cooler can achieve good performance if you slap a super fast but loud fan on it, and while 1800RPM is not the highest RPM, noise levels according to some reviews are high for the cooler anyway.

 

There's other reviews that compare it to noisier coolers and it loses out in temps, so the Tier is actually an aggregate of all reviews generally.

 

There could be an argument to it being one tier higher, but it will not reach the Freezer 33 / 34 Esports Edition.

 

https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/silas-newman/cooler-master-masterair-ma410m-review/5/

https://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/coolermaster_masterair_ma410m_review/8 (the OC3D review shows it on par with coolers in the same tier of the Hyper 212, which is to say not very good)