What's the Best CPU cooler?

[Mattiie]

Hi, 

I'm looking to build my first PC soon and will hopefully be getting a 3080 and the new AMD Zen 3 5900 cpu, so will need some good cooling in my case, I've been thinking about a Nh-d15, but saw that it struggles if the GPu puts out a lot of heat like a 3080 will, so what would be the best cooler I could get?  

[boggy77]

well, a good case with good airflow would help with that.

the nh-d15 is the best air cooler.

if you want more cooling power, go for big AIO, like a 280 or 360 arctic freezer II cooler.

[Stahlmann]

The best air coolers are the Noctua NH-D15, be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 and Arctic Freezer 50.

Especially the Arctic Freezer 50 is a great deal for the performance you get. And it even looks good with RGB accents if you're into it.

 

Then, like @boggy77 said, go for a good airflow case aswell. For example:

Phanteks P400A, P500A

Cooler Master H500, TD500

be Quiet! Pure Base 500DX

Corsair 4000D Airflow

Lian Li Lancool 2 Mesh

 

Also: The 3080 dumping heat in front of the CPU cooler is not a problem, as many youtubers already adressed. In fact the extra airflow sometimes even helps.

[Drama Lama]

if you want an air cooler nhd 15 , dark rock 4 pro , and deepcool assasin 3 are all very good aircoolers. In my opinion aircoolers are better because they are more reliable and often as good as all in one liquid coolers.

 

Here's a helpful list:

 

[jones177]

I have Nh-d15s with 2080 tis that use up to 387 watts with no issues.

 

The down side to the Nh-d15 is fitment. I have 2 in computers using only one fan since the rear fan is over the ram and sits higher than the cooler itself. 

One has a i9 9900k at 5ghz all cores and the other has a i7 8086k at 5.1ghz. Both run in the low 30s at idle and bench in the 80s.

 

The other large cooler I use is the bequite Dark Rock Pro 4.  It has fitment problems as well but I looks nicer in a case.  I even keep one as a spare.

 

[DeepCool zer0]

8 hours ago, Drama Lama said:

if you want an air cooler nhd 15 , dark rock 4 pro , and deepcool assasin 3 are all very good aircoolers. In my opinion aircoolers are better because they are more reliable and often as good as all in one liquid coolers.

 

Here's a helpful list:

 

Hello, 

 

As a some one that works at DeepCool, I can confirm that the 280W TDP rating for the Assassin III makes it an excellent choice if you are looking into a twin tower high performance air cooler. It has tested quite well in just about every application we have tried it in. The NHD-15 is one of the top rated air coolers out there, but Noctua doesn't list the TDP for it, but I have seen vendors mentioning that it is at 220W TDP. Just a little information that this thread might find useful.

 

DeepCool Support

[oldandwornout]

Hi, Sorry if you've already finished your build, but i'm also doing my 1st build soon and have just found out that my case (Phantecs P400a) won't allow me to fit any air coolers over 160mm in height so thats something to check out if you haven't already. Looking like for this case options are BE QUIET Dark Rock 4 (Not pro) at pretty much the full 160mm in height, Scythe Fuma 2 coming in at 154.5mm, and the Arctic Freezer 34 at 157mm not sure about any others out there. 

 

 If cooler height isn't an issue for you then go with whatever you fancy, Just putting this out there for those who may not be thinking of cooler clearance (Like i did when buying the case >.<).

 

In any case, enjoy your new rig

 

[freeagent]

D15 isn't the best air cooler guys, cmon now. Just because you bought it doesn't make it the best

 

IIRC D15 is rated to 260w, since DeepCool came in and started throwing TDP around.. Thermalright has several coolers rated at 320w, and one rated for 360w.

 

I'm not sure if I believe those numbers, but I do own a couple of Thermalright coolers that perform a little better than my old D14 did.

 

I didn't come in here to start anything.. just throwing that out there!