Good quiet air cooler

[Fruit Dubious]

I have a new build project coming up for a client. He needs a silent air cooled workstation, which he plans to overclock. I have read a lot of reviews and found that a lot of the silent CPU coolers don't allow much room for overclocking. Can anyone recommend a CPU cooler with a good balance of noise and performance?

[Prokart2000]

Noctua do coolers which are practically silent with great performance

[paddy-stone]

Noctua Nh-D15, beware though it is huge!

[Prokart2000]

3 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

Noctua Nh-D15, beware though it is huge!

I would of suggested this aswell, wasnt sure on what size is required 

[SkepticKrab]

Noctua NH-U12S and C14S are good smaller alternatives

[Fruit Dubious]

I'm looking for something more low profile, my client wants the aesthetics to be perfect. Otherwise the Nh-D15 looks like it would be fantastic!
The NH-U12S looks like it will be perfect. But does Noctua make different colored fans? The color scheme for this build is blue, white, and black.

[Yoobsterlol]

33 minutes ago, Andrified said:

I have a new build project coming up for a client. He needs a silent air cooled workstation, which he plans to overclock. I have read a lot of reviews and found that a lot of the silent CPU coolers don't allow much room for overclocking. Can anyone recommend a CPU cooler with a good balance of noise and performance?

Be Quiet! Dark rock pro 3

[paddy-stone]

17 hours ago, Andrified said:

I'm looking for something more low profile, my client wants the aesthetics to be perfect. Otherwise the Nh-D15 looks like it would be fantastic!
The NH-U12S looks like it will be perfect. But does Noctua make different colored fans? The color scheme for this build is blue, white, and black.

They do the industrial fans that are Black, rated for water and dust and have RPM of 2000 and 3000 compared to the regular 1500RPM fans that are brown and tan... they do however have a little bit of whine to them IMO, not that bad , but if going for a silent build not ideal. It depends on how close the client will be to their PC and so on really.

[WoodenMarker]

19 hours ago, Andrified said:

I'm looking for something more low profile, my client wants the aesthetics to be perfect. Otherwise the Nh-D15 looks like it would be fantastic!
The NH-U12S looks like it will be perfect. But does Noctua make different colored fans? The color scheme for this build is blue, white, and black.

Noctua's heatsinks come with their signature brown and beige fans. If you want different color fans, it'd be more cost effective to get a different cooler to begin with. 

What cpu are you using and what's your budget?

[CeremonialSnips]

Look into Phanteks coolers....

[Fruit Dubious]

This is his his build as of right now: Client's Computer. He said he wants to keep the price at no more than $1500. The only part that is absolute so far is the processor as he bought it from a friend, so any recommendations would be helpful.
Just to add some information: He requested 32GB of RAM, no more and no less. I'm not sure why, but I don't wanna start an argument with a client. Next, he has a storage server that most of his stuff will be stored on, so he said he wouldn't need anything more than 500GB of dedicated storage. Lastly, his computer desk has a place underneath it that will fit a full tower, so his computer will be underneath his desk in-front of him.

[paddy-stone]

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/VWGWXH

 

Made a few changes, much better PSU for around same money, swapped RAM for 2 sets,and SSD for a better one IMO. Also, took out the founders edition 1080, wait for the AIB ones to come to market, much better and more silent. Personally, I would go with a 950 pro SSD M.2 also, or wait for the one that's now coming to market... either way they are much faster, and have a second SSD or HDD for the storage. For the cooler, I would maybe just go with the 212 evo and spend any extra cash on a better fan if needed for silence.

[Lethal Seraph]

Get the NH-D15S for better RAM clearance. If not, go for Cryrig H7 budget cooler.

[Fruit Dubious]

11 hours ago, paddy-stone said:

Also, took out the founders edition 1080, wait for the AIB ones to come to market, much better and more silent.

I planned on waiting for the AIB ones, I just had the founders edition in there as a placeholder.

 

11 hours ago, paddy-stone said:

For the cooler, I would maybe just go with the 212 evo and spend any extra cash on a better fan if needed for silence.

I did think of going with the 212 EVO, but I don't really know much about 3rd party fans. Any recommendations?

[paddy-stone]

15 hours ago, Andrified said:

I planned on waiting for the AIB ones, I just had the founders edition in there as a placeholder.

 

I did think of going with the 212 EVO, but I don't really know much about 3rd party fans. Any recommendations?

Again I would recommend a noctua fan, very quiet indeed, and if you don't like the colour scheme, you could either get a LTT one or get a 2000/3000 RPM black one from somewhere else. My case is completely kitted out in noctua fans and I can barely hear them, even then it's more the sound of the air moving rather than the fans. With the cost of the 212 evo being so low anyway, I think it's a great buy, and even with the cost of a Noctua fan included still is good value.

[Fruit Dubious]

9 hours ago, paddy-stone said:

Again I would recommend a noctua fan, very quiet indeed, and if you don't like the colour scheme, you could either get a LTT one or get a 2000/3000 RPM black one from somewhere else.

I completely forgot about the LTT Noctua fans. Now I feel like an idiot and know exactly what to go for.
I think I'm going to go with the 212 EVO and an LTT Noctua fan.

Thank you everyone for your help!

[ThomasD]

212 EVO will probably only be good for a mild overclock.  But it will be an inexpensive trial.

 

Otherwise check out the Phanteks TC14CS or TC14S.

[paddy-stone]

12 hours ago, Andrified said:

I completely forgot about the LTT Noctua fans. Now I feel like an idiot and know exactly what to go for.
I think I'm going to go with the 212 EVO and an LTT Noctua fan.

Thank you everyone for your help!

No worries, good luck with it