What are some good CPU coolers the same size as an 1151 stock cooler or Cryorig C7?

[Bleedingyamato]

I'm using a stock 1150 CPU cooler on my Pentium G3258 and a Cryorig C7 on my main computer's i7-6700K.  

 

Currently the C7 is the only good aftermarket option for a CPU cooler that I know of that isn't enormous like a 212 EVO besides just using a stock Intel cooler.

 

I'm curious what other CPU coolers are out there that are the same or very close in size to the stock 1150/1151 Intel CPU coolers and the Cryorig C7 and cool as good or better than them.  

 

In the future it'd be nice to have other aftermarket options besides just being stuck using a C7 by default.  Though the C7 is a good cooler so far as I can tell.  It's just that I like having options to choose between.

 

[WoodenMarker]

Surface area determines cooling capacity. Any traditional cpu cooler that's the same size as the stock cooler will perform similarly. 

[Bleedingyamato]

Ok but I'm trying to find out what other CPU coolers there for 1151/1150 that are about the same size as a stock Intel or a Cryorig C7.

 

I know a 212 EVO or Cryorig H7 are good for overclocking but I'm currently more interested in more standard size coolers like a C7.  

[WoodenMarker]

59 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

Ok but I'm trying to find out what other CPU coolers there for 1151/1150 that are about the same size as a stock Intel or a Cryorig C7.

I know a 212 EVO or Cryorig H7 are good for overclocking but I'm currently more interested in more standard size coolers like a C7.  

Some similarly styled coolers are the NH-L9i, PH-TC12LS, or Samuel 17.

If you would like a recommendation, it would help to describe what you're looking for and any size restraints you may have. 

 

[Bleedingyamato]

I'm looking for coolers similar in size to the C7 that would be suitable to replace a stock Intel cooler or for use with a K series Intel CPU that does not include a CPU cooler.  Something that won't get in the way of the ram slots and doesn't require a backplate or messing with various brackets and stuff to install it.  For examples the Intel stock coolers just have the pins that you press down and twist to secure and the C7 can be used without the included backplate by using washers that protect the motherboard so you can screw on the included nuts.  

 

I don't currently have any interest in an htpc so it being crazy smaller than a stock Intel or C7 to fit in some overly cramped case isn't a requirement.  Noise is a concern but not as much as the cooler being at least as capable as a stock cooler.  Quiet is nice but not if the cooler sucks at cooling as a result.  

 

For the purposes of this topic the CPU coolers do not need to be oc rated but it wouldn't hurt if that's possible just in case.  Again the primary focus is a stock or C7 approximate size cooler to give other options besides just those two without moving up to a huge cooler like a 212 EVO or H7 that are more complicated to install and are overkill if not OCing a CPU.

 

If there's any more details you feel would help with recommendations feel free to ask. 

[WoodenMarker]

3 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

For the purposes of this topic the CPU coolers do not need to be oc rated but it wouldn't hurt if that's possible just in case.  Again the primary focus is a stock or C7 approximate size cooler to give other options besides just those two without moving up to a huge cooler like a 212 EVO or H7 that are more complicated to install and are overkill if not OCing a CPU.

Coolers like the 212 Evo and H7 are pretty normal-sized and aren't huge. If you can fit them in your case, why not go with one? Installation for larger coolers aren't much more complicated than smaller ones and the complexity of installation is usually more dependent on the manufacturer than the size of the cooler.

 

You need to quote a post or tag a member or else they won't get a notification you replied to them.

[Bleedingyamato]

16 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

Coolers like the 212 Evo and H7 are pretty normal-sized and aren't huge. If you can fit them in your case, why not go with one? Installation for larger coolers aren't much more complicated than smaller ones and the complexity of installation is usually more dependent on the manufacturer than the size of the cooler.

 

You need to quote a post or tag a member or else they won't get a notification you replied to them.

They're much larger than a stock Intel or a C7 though and both I'm fairly certain require a backplate and/switching out mounting brackets depending on what socket or motherboard you'd use them with.  Idk about the H7 but I know the 212 EVO definitely gets in the way of the ram slots.  As I said both the 212 EVO and H7 are cooking overkill if I'm not planning to use them with an OC'd CPU.  Also there are cases that won't fit a 212 EVO or other larger coolers if I'm not mistaken.  

 

For a stock speed CPU I'm fine with a smaller cooler but I'd like to more than just a C7 as an aftermarket option.  

 

Sorry.  There's an option for notifying about replies which it now occurs to me I didn't know if you were using that.  I'll be sure to quote you then.

[WoodenMarker]

44 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

They're much larger than a stock Intel or a C7 though and both I'm fairly certain require a backplate and/switching out mounting brackets depending on what socket or motherboard you'd use them with.  Idk about the H7 but I know the 212 EVO definitely gets in the way of the ram slots.  Also as I said both the 212 EVO and H7 are cooking overkill if I'm not planning to use them with an OC'd CPU.  

For a stock speed CPU I'm fine with a smaller cooler but I'd like to more than just a C7 as an aftermarket option.  

Both the 212 Evo and H7 use one set of hardware in varying positions for different sockets. You already have a C7 and it's similar for the H7. As I've stated above, the complexity of installation is usually more dependent on the manufacturer than the size of the cooler.

Neither should get in the way of ram slots unless you have a motherboard with ram slots in a strange location.

Spoiler

Is there any issue with overkill if the price isn't any higher? There are few coolers similar to the C7 that are worth getting. 

[porina]

If a low profile cooler really is needed I tried a Scythe Kozuti SCKZT-1000 and it significantly lowered temps relative to the i3 stock cooler, but I'm not so sure about its performance with a k CPU. I recall fitting it was a bit of a pain, but you only need to do it once then forget about it.

 

Personally I'd class the 212 size coolers as large, in that you do have to take care to check they fit in case due to their height. The 90-mm-ish fan size ones below that are pretty safe. I have used a couple of different smaller Coolermaster models which are 92mm fan size and also use push pin mounting so no need to remove mobo, but more recently I tried a Deepcool GAMMAXX 200T cooler. Again, not perfect. It has a mounting ring that clips into mobo from top, and then you clip the heatsink onto that. It does have a large fan but is mounted lower than on the 212 so the overall height is lower. The large fan and also the mounting clip on the heatsink could get in the way of ram though, so may limit how you mount it. I wanted to have air going up through it, but there wasn't space so I had to install it with sideways airflow. Cooling was better than the 92mm class Coolermasters but I don't have a direct comparison against the 212. It is also a fair bit cheaper than the 92mm coolermasters.

[Bleedingyamato]

1 hour ago, WoodenMarker said:

Both the 212 Evo and H7 use one set of hardware in varying positions for different sockets. You already have a C7 and it's similar for the H7. As I've stated above, the complexity of installation is usually more dependent on the manufacturer than the size of the cooler.

Neither should get in the way of ram slots unless you have a motherboard with ram slots in a strange location.

  Hide contents

Is there any issue with overkill if the price isn't any higher? There are few coolers similar to the C7 that are worth getting. 

Odd.  I could've sworn I'd heard of people saying that they were using a 212 EVO and it was blocking one or two RAM slots closest to the CPU.  

 

I guess overkill isn't bad.  It's just that if possible I'd prefer a backplate free install.  I guess I'm just lazy.  lol

[porina]

3 hours ago, Bleedingyamato said:

Odd.  I could've sworn I'd heard of people saying that they were using a 212 EVO and it was blocking one or two RAM slots closest to the CPU.  

It depends on how you orientate it and where you clip the fan. On one of mine, I have to remove the ram to remove the fan for example, but it just about fits.

[aisle9]

4 hours ago, Bleedingyamato said:

Odd.  I could've sworn I'd heard of people saying that they were using a 212 EVO and it was blocking one or two RAM slots closest to the CPU.  

 

I guess overkill isn't bad.  It's just that if possible I'd prefer a backplate free install.  I guess I'm just lazy.  lol

Depends on the motherboard. I could see a 212 causing headaches on some Mini ITX boards, maybe some Micro ATX boards with weird configurations. The H7 is specifically designed not to overhang the RAM on any board, and is smaller and quieter than a 212, but it tends to be a few dollars more and isn't as widely available. I do love the hell out of it in my Pentium rig.

 

In my experience, coolers without backplates tend not to be great performers. Going without a backplate typically indicates a desire to cut cost, so costs were probably cut elsewhere as well to meet the desired price point.

 

There are plenty of small, cheap downdraft coolers out there by Zalman (got one in an i3 rig, happy with it), Rosewill, CM, etc. that are more than adequate stock replacements, but none are going to get you much of an overclock unless you step up to something like a Noctua two-fan. Even the C7 isn't a great overclock cooler, and Cryorig markets it more as a smaller, quieter ITX cooler that beats the pants off of stock. It does, but I wouldn't count on getting much of an overclock from it.

[Bleedingyamato]

5 hours ago, porina said:

If a low profile cooler really is needed I tried a Scythe Kozuti SCKZT-1000 and it significantly lowered temps relative to the i3 stock cooler, but I'm not so sure about its performance with a k CPU. I recall fitting it was a bit of a pain, but you only need to do it once then forget about it.

 

Personally I'd class the 212 size coolers as large, in that you do have to take care to check they fit in case due to their height. The 90-mm-ish fan size ones below that are pretty safe. I have used a couple of different smaller Coolermaster models which are 92mm fan size and also use push pin mounting so no need to remove mobo, but more recently I tried a Deepcool GAMMAXX 200T cooler. Again, not perfect. It has a mounting ring that clips into mobo from top, and then you clip the heatsink onto that. It does have a large fan but is mounted lower than on the 212 so the overall height is lower. The large fan and also the mounting clip on the heatsink could get in the way of ram though, so may limit how you mount it. I wanted to have air going up through it, but there wasn't space so I had to install it with sideways airflow. Cooling was better than the 92mm class Coolermasters but I don't have a direct comparison against the 212. It is also a fair bit cheaper than the 92mm coolermasters.

So do you think any of those would be worth considering in the future if/when I'd need a new CPU cooler?

[Bleedingyamato]

1 hour ago, porina said:

It depends on how you orientate it and where you clip the fan. On one of mine, I have to remove the ram to remove the fan for example, but it just about fits.

I think that's one situation that I was referring to where the 212 EVO could get in the way.

[handymanshandle]

6 hours ago, Bleedingyamato said:

If there's any more details you feel would help with recommendations feel free to ask. 

Yes.

Why are you buying or have boughten an Intel K CPU if you're not going to OC?

[Bleedingyamato]

23 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

Depends on the motherboard. I could see a 212 causing headaches on some Mini ITX boards, maybe some Micro ATX boards with weird configurations. The H7 is specifically designed not to overhang the RAM on any board, and is smaller and quieter than a 212, but it tends to be a few dollars more and isn't as widely available. I do love the hell out of it in my Pentium rig.

 

In my experience, coolers without backplates tend not to be great performers. Going without a backplate typically indicates a desire to cut cost, so costs were probably cut elsewhere as well to meet the desired price point.

 

There are plenty of small, cheap downdraft coolers out there by Zalman (got one in an i3 rig, happy with it), Rosewill, CM, etc. that are more than adequate stock replacements, but none are going to get you much of an overclock unless you step up to something like a Noctua two-fan. Even the C7 isn't a great overclock cooler, and Cryorig markets it more as a smaller, quieter ITX cooler that beats the pants off of stock. It does, but I wouldn't count on getting much of an overclock from it.

You're using a H7 with a Pentium?

 

I suppose that makes sense though in the case of the C7 I believe it's because it's small enough not to need it.  They just include the backplate along with the washers to give both options for how to mount the C7.  I've just got my C7 on my 6700K with the washers and it seems to do find that way.  

 

For this smaller size CPU cooler I'm fine with them not being meant for overclocking.  I may do more of that someday but for now I'm content to experiment with it using my Pentium G3258.  Which amazes me somewhat in that you can OC it a decent amount from what I've heard using just the included stock Intel cooler.  

 

If/when I'd do more overclocking like with my 6700K then I'd move to a H7 or similar larger cooler but currently I just want to see what other options I have besides just a C7 or the stock coolers.  Some specific models would help.

[aisle9]

4 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

You're using a H7 with a Pentium?

 

I suppose that makes sense though in the case of the C7 I believe it's because it's small enough not to need it.  They just include the backplate along with the washers to give both options for how to mount the C7.  I've just got my C7 on my 6700K with the washers and it seems to do find that way.  

 

For this smaller size CPU cooler I'm fine with them not being meant for overclocking.  I may do more of that someday but for now I'm content to experiment with it using my Pentium G3258.  Which amazes me somewhat in that you can OC it a decent amount from what I've heard using just the included stock Intel cooler.  

 

If/when I'd do more overclocking like with my 6700K then I'd move to a H7 or similar larger cooler but currently I just want to see what other options I have besides just a C7 or the stock coolers.  Some specific models would help.

The H7 was previously on an i7, and when the i7 moved into a bigger case, it got a bigger cooler to go with it. The G3258 moved into the i7's old case and took the H7. It is complete overkill. Even at 1.4v for a benchmark run, the CPU never touched 75C.

 

I don't know specific model numbers beyond the Zalman CNPS7000V-(AL), which is what I have on the i3. It's wider than the stock cooler and blocks a RAM slot, but it's quiet and effective. Finding the cheap downdrafts is just a matter of loading up the CPU coolers in PC Part Picker, sitting by cheapest first, then looking at the results from the bottom up. Kyle (Awesomesauce) did a sleeper build using a Rosewill, and though it was loud, he was able to get an overclock on it.

[Bleedingyamato]

2 minutes ago, wcreek said:

Yes.

Why are you buying or have boughten an Intel K CPU if you're not going to OC?

It just happened to come in a prebuilt I'd bought from Best Buy back in January.  I ended up upgrading some of the other components. (Most of it at this point.  Yes silly to do but I hadn't known how easy building your own was when I'd bought it.)

 

So far as I know it was supposed to come with a 6700 according to best buy's item page for the desktop I bought but when I got it there was a 6700K in it.  Either a manufacturing mixup or Best Buy listed the specs incorrectly.  

 

I don't plan to OC my 6700K for now at least partly because I don't really know much about how to do it properly and safely, my computer works and I'm afraid to risk breaking it and not being able to use it, and mostly because for now I don't need to.  The 6700K is a very good CPU even at stock speed so it's more than good enough without messing with it just yet.

 

Yes the K CPUs are meant for overclocking but even at stock speed they still offer slightly improved base performance over their non-K version.  The 6700K having a base speed of 4GHz vs. 3.4GHz I believe for the 6700.  It's extra performance without having to do any overclocking.

[handymanshandle]

2 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

So far as I know it was supposed to come with a 6700 according to best buy's item page for the desktop I bought but when I got it there was a 6700K in it.  Either a manufacturing mixup or Best Buy listed the specs incorrectly.  

Huh interesting but yeah I suppose that's reasonable.

[Bleedingyamato]

17 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

The H7 was previously on an i7, and when the i7 moved into a bigger case, it got a bigger cooler to go with it. The G3258 moved into the i7's old case and took the H7. It is complete overkill. Even at 1.4v for a benchmark run, the CPU never touched 75C.

 

I don't know specific model numbers beyond the Zalman CNPS7000V-(AL), which is what I have on the i3. It's wider than the stock cooler and blocks a RAM slot, but it's quiet and effective. Finding the cheap downdrafts is just a matter of loading up the CPU coolers in PC Part Picker, sitting by cheapest first, then looking at the results from the bottom up. Kyle (Awesomesauce) did a sleeper build using a Rosewill, and though it was loud, he was able to get an overclock on it.

Ah.  I see.  That's smart to reuse parts.  I did that when I built my secondary desktop with the G3258 in it.  I reused the 1TB WD Blue HDD and cheap crap allied PSU I'd taken out of my main desktop when I upgraded it after buying it as a prebuilt.

 

How many PCs do you have if you don't mind my asking?

 

I regret taking someone's advice on the Gamefaqs PC board about buying a B85 motherboard to use with the G3258.  Idk if it allows the same option for OCing the G3258 as a Z board would but I can't get above 1400MHz with the 1866 rated RAM I got.  I doubt the 466MHz makes much difference but it's mostly a matter of getting what I paid for.

 

Thank you I'll try looking at pcpartpicker later.  

[aisle9]

4 minutes ago, Bleedingyamato said:

Ah.  I see.  That's smart to reuse parts.  I did that when I built my secondary desktop with the G3258 in it.  I reused the 1TB WD Blue HDD and cheap crap allied PSU I'd taken out of my main desktop when I upgraded it after buying it as a prebuilt.

 

I regret taking someone's advice on the Gamefaqs PC board about buying a B85 motherboard to use with the G3258.  Idk if it allows the same option for OCing the G3258 as a Z board would but I can't get above 1400MHz with the 1866 rated RAM I got.  I doubt the 466MHz makes much difference but it's mostly a matter of getting what I paid for.

 

Thank you I'll try looking at pcpartpicker later.  

That's not a motherboard thing. Officially, the G3258 only supports up to 1333MHz RAM. You can overclock the G3258 on pretty much anything.

[Bleedingyamato]

14 minutes ago, wcreek said:

Huh interesting but yeah I suppose that's reasonable.

I wasn't about to complain that I got a better CPU than I was expecting to.  lol

[WoodenMarker]

6 hours ago, Bleedingyamato said:

Odd.  I could've sworn I'd heard of people saying that they were using a 212 EVO and it was blocking one or two RAM slots closest to the CPU.  

I guess overkill isn't bad.  It's just that if possible I'd prefer a backplate free install.  I guess I'm just lazy.  lol

The fan can be moved either to the other side of the heatsink in pull or raised above ram. 

There are few good backplate-free coolers and none come to mind atm. Good mounting usually uses a backplate to do so.

 

[porina]

2 hours ago, Bleedingyamato said:

So do you think any of those would be worth considering in the future if/when I'd need a new CPU cooler?

It depends on your needs. I don't think I would recommend either for high performance, but one is very low profile so could be interesting if you need the space. The other seems good for the price but you can do better.

 

For alternate example, I have three different Noctua coolers on order at the moment (various sizes) to try them out instead. They're not cheap, but I hope they can provide some benefit over a 212 which serves as my reference.

[ThomasD]

If you are looking low profile consider the aforementioned Prolimatech Samuel 17 or the AR06 from Silverstone.