Trying to find the best CPU Cooler for the price

[N3TM]

For a while now I've been looking through the best budget CPU coolers in my region, and have found some good variants. Now is left to decide which is the best for the price.

 

be quiet! Pure Rock: $35.13

be quiet! Shadow Rock: $37.55

Arctic Freezer 13: $31.20

Noctua NH-L9i: $45

Cryorig M9i: $37.20

RAIJINTEK Aidos Black: $22.50

Cooler Master 212 Evo: $39.36

[TriFlix Films]

Does the audible levels matter to you? (How loud the fans are)

[Prokart2000]

4 minutes ago, N3TM said:

For a while now I've been looking through the best budget CPU coolers in my region, and have found some good variants. Now is left to decide which is the best for the price.

 

be quiet! Pure Rock: $35.13

be quiet! Shadow Rock: $37.55

Arctic Freezer 13: $31.20

Noctua NH-L9i: $45

Cryorig M9i: $37.20

RAIJINTEK Aidos Black: $22.50

Cooler Master 212 Evo: $39.36

i would get the shadow rock or noctua, i personally have a noctua nhu12s, never heard it

[N3TM]

1 minute ago, TriFlix Films said:

Does the audible levels matter to you? (How loud the fans are)

Well, my current plan is try to find the needed periphirals for a quiet workstation, so I guess it's gonna be the quiet type.

[TriFlix Films]

2 minutes ago, N3TM said:

Well, my current plan is try to find the needed periphirals for a quiet workstation, so I guess it's gonna be the quiet type.

I'd say Noctua then ...

[N3TM]

8 minutes ago, TriFlix Films said:

I'd say Noctua then ...

Alright, the Noctua does work, but on the second chance, does the shadow rock LP support the LGA1151 type motherboards?

I've read on their specification site that they support LGA115X, but not sure if that's regards to the 0 or the 1 in direct comparison to the Noctua.  

[TriFlix Films]

Might want to start a seperate thread for that question... I am not sure....

 

[N3TM]

1 minute ago, TriFlix Films said:

Might want to start a seperate thread for that question... I am not sure....

 

It's probably the same. My main concern is, how is the Noctua or the be quiet! model better? Is the be quiet! model louder or hotter on load?

[TriFlix Films]

google search, bet someone has compared them before.

[N3TM]

13 minutes ago, TriFlix Films said:

google search, bet someone has compared them before.

Got it.

 

TEMPERATURE (Stock load):

 

be quiet! Shadow Rock: 57.5°C

Noctua NH-L9i: 60.25°C

 

TEMPERATURE (Overclocked load)

 

be quiet! Shadow Rock: 82.75°C

Noctua NH-L9i: 86°C

 

SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL (7.5V Supplied):

 

be quiet! Shadow Rock: 25dB

Noctua NH-L9i: 25dB

 

SOUND PRESSURE LEVEL (12V Supplied):

 

be quiet! Shadow Rock: 32dB

Noctua NH-L9i: 36dB

 

This means the be quiet! variant is better, correct? (also mind the price)

[WoodenMarker]

1 hour ago, N3TM said:

Alright, the Noctua does work, but on the second chance, does the shadow rock LP support the LGA1151 type motherboards?

I've read on their specification site that they support LGA115X, but not sure if that's regards to the 0 or the 1 in direct comparison to the Noctua.  

X means 'insert digit here'. 1151 and 1150 use the same mounting.

It would help to mention what you're cooling.

59 minutes ago, N3TM said:

Got it.

This means the be quiet! variant is better, correct? (also mind the price)

Yes, the SR is in a different tier than the NH-L9i.  The NH-L9i isn't much better than the stock cooler.

[aisle9]

The Shadow Rock is a great value at that price. I'd take it in a heartbeat. Make sure you're looking at the coolers before deciding. The L9i is a Noctua, yeah, but it's a LP cooler for ITX builds and doesn't offer much more than stock. The M9i is a solid cooler for smaller builds or low TDP overclocking, but it won't stand up to higher power chips, etc. 

[N3TM]

50 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

The Shadow Rock is a great value at that price. I'd take it in a heartbeat. Make sure you're looking at the coolers before deciding. The L9i is a Noctua, yeah, but it's a LP cooler for ITX builds and doesn't offer much more than stock. The M9i is a solid cooler for smaller builds or low TDP overclocking, but it won't stand up to higher power chips, etc. 

 

54 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

X means 'insert digit here'. 1151 and 1150 use the same mounting.

It would help to mention what you're cooling.

Yes, the SR is in a different tier than the NH-L9i.  The NH-L9i isn't much better than the stock cooler.

Ah, then I should'ave told the CPU I was planning to use in the first place.

The one I'm keeping an eye on is the i5 6500. Overall, the be quiet! model could probably be cut out for that kind of thing, as of my concern.

[WoodenMarker]

1 minute ago, N3TM said:

Ah, then I should'ave told the CPU I was planning to use in the first place.

The one I'm keeping an eye on is the i5 6500. Overall, the be quiet! model could probably be cut out for that kind of thing, as of my concern.

Are you oc'ing?

[N3TM]

4 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

Are you oc'ing?

Well, my current PC part list (on pcpartpicker.com) has a H110M-C/CM, so I guess that wouldn't be possible, and possibly even needed. (I'm still planning on the parts)

[aisle9]

14 minutes ago, N3TM said:

Well, my current PC part list (on pcpartpicker.com) has a H110M-C/CM, so I guess that wouldn't be possible, and possibly even needed. (I'm still planning on the parts)

If you're going with a 6500 and an H110M board, overclocking is not in your future. You're fine with the Intel stock cooler. If you want to spend more money on another one, there are plenty of $10-12 downdraft coolers out there that outperform stock by a bit and are far quieter, like the Rosewill RCX-775-LP and the Salman CNPS7000V-(AL). No need to spend more unless you're doing it for looks. 

[WoodenMarker]

20 minutes ago, N3TM said:

Well, my current PC part list (on pcpartpicker.com) has a H110M-C/CM, so I guess that wouldn't be possible, and possibly even needed. (I'm still planning on the parts)

Why not stick with the stock cooler in that case?

[N3TM]

5 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

Why not stick with the stock cooler in that case?

Since the build party is concenrated on being quiet, I've been talking over this on other forums and had recieved an answer like this:

 

'' The biggest thing you can do to improve noise is change the fans. The worst offender in this build will be the stock Intel cooler. Under higher loads, the chip will get hot and the HSF will spin up. It gets pretty darn loud. ''

[WoodenMarker]

1 minute ago, N3TM said:

Since the build party is concenrated on being quiet, I've been talking over this on other forums and had recieved an answer like this:

'' The biggest thing you can do to improve noise is change the fans. The worst offender in this build will be the stock Intel cooler. Under higher loads, the chip will get hot and the HSF will spin up. It gets pretty darn loud. ''

The cpu already comes with the cooler. See how loud it is before deciding on replacing it. 

[N3TM]

16 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

The cpu already comes with the cooler. See how loud it is before deciding on replacing it. 

Of course out of all the jokes aside, regarding the other feedback, and trying to listen to some tests myself, most of the answers still are saying it's gonna be making noise. I don't really mind spending on an aftermarket cooler since the PC budget is a little flexible, so it's not really such an issue.

[WoodenMarker]

3 minutes ago, N3TM said:

Of course out of all the jokes aside, regarding the other feedback, and trying to listen to some tests myself, most of the answers still are saying it's gonna be making noise. I don't really mind spending on an aftermarket cooler since the PC budget is a little flexible, so it's not really such an issue.

The intel stock cooler isn't that loud with a good fan curve and decent airflow. Those who say the stock cooler is loud are speaking in hyperbole, have bad case airflow, or haven't had experience with a recent gen i5 with its copper slug cooler.

[aisle9]

17 minutes ago, N3TM said:

Of course out of all the jokes aside, regarding the other feedback, and trying to listen to some tests myself, most of the answers still are saying it's gonna be making noise. I don't really mind spending on an aftermarket cooler since the PC budget is a little flexible, so it's not really such an issue.

If you have good airflow and adjust the fan curve, you won't hear it much. If you put duct tape over all your intake vents and run an FPU test on AIDA64, it will be loud. You can always turn around and buy a different cooler later if you don't like the noise level.