Quietest Cheap Cooler?

[Trav_X]

I'm looking for something to cool a Xeon E3-1231 v3. It's locked, so I don't need water cooling, which saves me some cash. I need a cheaper tower cooler.

 

Im especially worried about ACOUSTICS. Basically, my options are.... (Keepin UNDER $50 USD, hopefully)

 

-Cryorig M9 or maybe a H7 or H5

- 212 EVO

- The be quiet! Pure Rock line

- Noctua stuff. I know not much at all about the Noctua brand, so would appreciate recommendations.

 

Aesthetics are not super important really. I would be willing to buy one and replace it with some other fan but keep the heat sink. Thanks, all recommendations accepted, DOES NOT HAVE TO BE FROM THE LISTED COMPANIES, lol  I'll take anything you guys can recommend. 

[DioOmicida]

I'd get the Noctua Ultra Silent.
Not sure about the 1150 socket support. Lets take a look.

[Stefan1024]

IF you are brave: Zalman FX-70

With reasonable case airflow it should work out well.

[DioOmicida]

2 minutes ago, Stefan1024 said:

IF you are brave: Zalman FX-70

Can't get much more silent than fanless.

[Moonzy]

5 minutes ago, Trav_X said:

 

i would recommend the 212 evo if you dont care about looks

 

but if you want silence, get a large heatsink and run the fans at low rpm (or remove the fans outright  )

 

but to fit a big cooler, you must make sure your case fits

 

what case is it?

[W E S T V I R G I N I A]

I have not yet used a Cryorig CPU cooler but I have 4 of their QF120 fans and I can say that they are very good and quiet for the price. This probably will translate into a quiet CPU cooler with one of their fans on it and could probably save you a few if you buy one of their products rather than going with Noctua and their (slightly BS) prices.

[Imam Ali]

Try Be Quiet CPU Coolers I've heard from many people that they are very quiet.

[Lethal Seraph]

Best acoustics and the top dog performance, go for Noctua.

[itsmyjobtoknow]

Cooler Master Geminii s524 v2

[Stefan1024]

6 minutes ago, DioOmicida said:

Can't get much more silent than fanless.

Active noise cancellation

[Trav_X]

8 minutes ago, Lethal Seraph said:

Best acoustics and the top dog performance, go for Noctua.

I'm just not sure which Noctua to get. I don't really know much about their products, except I know that many people say they are good. Haven't really checked out their website yet. 

 

8 minutes ago, Imam Ali said:

Try Be Quiet CPU Coolers I've heard from many people that they are very quiet.

Yeah, I'm very much considering the Pure Rock line as they are somewhat inexpensive, maybe Shadow Rock if I want to push temps down a little more. 

 

9 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

 

but if you want silence, get a large heatsink and run the fans at low rpm (or remove the fans outright  )

 

what case is it?

Got any large heat sink recommendations? And also, my case is a 230T as of right now, but I may be downgrading to MATX soon, as that is the size of my board. Probably going with a Fractal case, like the Node 804 or Mini R2. They have large CPU cooler installation, I think the Node is at least like 160mm maybe? Also considering an Air 240.

[Lethal Seraph]

For cheaps, go for EVO 212... but for a bit more you could get better performance on a cyrorig H7. What pc case are you going to use? All manufacturers have full dimension details on their websites.

[Moonzy]

11 minutes ago, Trav_X said:

Got any large heat sink recommendations? And also, my case is a 230T as of right now, but I may be downgrading to MATX soon, as that is the size of my board. Probably going with a Fractal case, like the Node 804 or Mini R2. They have large CPU cooler installation, I think the Node is at least like 160mm maybe? Also considering an Air 240.

performance = Noctua NH-D15

performance + looks = be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 (slightly lower performance but you dont need that performance anyway)

 

im using the DRP3, and i must say

even when i put the fans (2 fans on the DRP3) at 100% (1700 rpm), its less noisy than my noctua NF-F12 running at 1200rpm lol

 

i tried unplugging the fan and my temps didnt change much (not that i can tell)

im using a locked i5 6600

 

edit: i forgot to mention, these coolers are not less than 160mm

the DRP3 is 163mm and the D15 is 167mm iirc  

[Trav_X]

Just now, Lethal Seraph said:

For cheaps, go for EVO 212... but for a bit more you could get better performance on a cyrorig H7. What pc case are you going to use? All manufacturers have full dimension details on their websites.

MATX is where I will be going, but I currently have an 230T. Probably gonna pick up something like Node 804, Mini R2, or Air 240. All of those are decently large tower specs, for air cooling. I think most of those are 160mm, and all are above 140 I believe, although not sure about Air 240. I'll be checking on websites for full specs no matter which case I get  I'm looking just for MATX case recommendations as well.

[Lethal Seraph]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

performance = Noctua NH-D15

Get the Noctua NH-D15S instead since it's updated for RAM clearance issues on some products.

[Imam Ali]

If you are going with Node 804 then take a Heatsink that is tall enough to fit in your case. 

1) Cooler Master hyper 212x

2) Be Quiet Shadow Rock Slim

And please check their specifications so that they will fit in your case. These both are less than 50$.

 

[Imam Ali]

Be Quiet Might be Taller

[Trav_X]

1 minute ago, Lethal Seraph said:

Get the Noctua NH-D15S instead since it's updated for RAM clearance issues on some products.

I would go for those, but I don't know if it's really necessary for a locked Xeon quad core  those are only like 10-20 USD less than an AIO, and I definitely don't need that. The highest I would willing to go for a cooler would be like $60 maybe, but under $50 is preferable. If the performance gain, or should I say temperature difference is a good amount and will keep my Xeon safer for many years, than I would splurge for it.

[Imam Ali]

1 minute ago, Trav_X said:

I would go for those, but I don't know if it's really necessary for a locked Xeon quad core  those are only like 10-20 USD less than an AIO, and I definitely don't need that. The highest I would willing to go for a cooler would be like $60 maybe, but under $50 is preferable. If the performance gain, or should I say temperature difference is a good amount and will keep my Xeon safer for many years, than I would splurge for it.

So go for one of these 

1) Cooler Master hyper 212x

2) Be Quiet Shadow Rock Slim

[Imam Ali]

5 minutes ago, Trav_X said:

I would go for those, but I don't know if it's really necessary for a locked Xeon quad core  those are only like 10-20 USD less than an AIO, and I definitely don't need that. The highest I would willing to go for a cooler would be like $60 maybe, but under $50 is preferable. If the performance gain, or should I say temperature difference is a good amount and will keep my Xeon safer for many years, than I would splurge for it.

Please Check the dimensions and then choose the one you like.

[Lethal Seraph]

How about NH-C14S?

[Energycore]

I think the best way to warrant silence on a non-overclocked rig is to take control of fan speeds. A program like speedfan will let you control fan speeds to a level where you're comfotrably silent, provided your fans were plugged into the motherboard. The program is not intuitive however.