A quiet CPU cooler on the cheap-o?

[littlegreen]

Hi guys!

 

I recently got a shiny new graphics card that on top of the performance is as quiet as a mouse, so now when I put some load on my machine all I hear is the (dare I say it?) - yes - stock Intel cooler that I have.

 

I have an i5-6500 in my machine which does the job without an overkill for my needs. The problem is the stock cooler is kind of noisy - even when the CPU idles. I never get it over 60 degrees Celsius so I am guessing I don't need 2x140mm fans and a kilo of aluminum to cool it, but I'd rather avoid 92mm fans, because from previous experience I have noticed they tend to be a bit noisier.... or am I wrong?

 

I am not looking for AIO solution here, since the case is very basic, so I was thinking something of the sort of

This

or This

or This

 

They are all in the 30 gbp range so if anything else quiet(-er than stock) within the range you think is better - I'd appreciate of you to recommend.

 

Thanks!

littlegreen

[Rolfejc]

Any of those coolers would work nicely. You can expect similar performance from all the coolers as well. 

[Energycore]

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/hJFPxr/deepcool-cpu-cooler-gammaxx400

 

This thing has amazing cooling, especially for the price. It competes in temps with the NH-U12S and Be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim. The blue LED fan may clash with your system though.

 

If so, this one has worse performance and more expensive but you don't need a bunch of performance

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/cwPzK8/be-quiet-cpu-cooler-bk009

[Zyndo]

5 minutes ago, littlegreen said:

Snip

If Cryorig H7 or C7 are available to you, I would recommend those. the hyper 212 or 212x are also a good buy (the 212x being the marginally better of the two). the Be Quiet! pure rock should also be fine. Honestly, any decent aftermarket cooler will be extremely quiet because they are designed for hot chips and mild overclocking. your i5 6500 will never fall under those two categories, so the fans on the heatsinks will never ramp up very high because your chip never gets all that warm.

[Hamil_P1]

2 minutes ago, Energycore said:

http://pcpartpicker.com/product/cwPzK8/be-quiet-cpu-cooler-bk009

i'd say this over the hyper 212 evo for silence. 

but i expect the evo to perform better. but just ever so slightly. both reputable brands i trust.

[Energycore]

1 minute ago, h.patel said:

i'd say this over the hyper 212 evo for silence. 

but i expect the evo to perform better. but just ever so slightly. both reputable brands i trust.

Actually the Pure Rock edges out the 212 EVO at lower noise levels.

 

But either will do just fine, I have a 212 EVO cooling an i3-6100, the fan never comes on unless I load the CPU at 100%

[littlegreen]

1 minute ago, Energycore said:

Actually the Pure Rock edges out the 212 EVO at lower noise levels.

 

But either will do just fine, I have a 212 EVO cooling an i3-6100, the fan never comes on unless I load the CPU at 100%

I like that a lot! I really love how the GPU fans go completely off when the GPU is under 60. I think a CPU cooler that can keep the fan off when the computer just runs torrents during the night is pretty compelling!

[Energycore]

Just now, littlegreen said:

I like that a lot! I really love how the GPU fans go completely off when the GPU is under 60. I think a CPU cooler that can keep the fan off when the computer just runs torrents during the night is pretty compelling!

I agree! You'll have to fiddle with software to enable fanless operation on it, but it's worth it hondo parcento.

 

I use speedfan to set custom curves for my fans, it's hard to set up but once it's going it's a breeze.

[WoodenMarker]

60c is very low for load temps. 

Have you considered just lowering your fan speed?

[littlegreen]

I tried putting the fan on Silent in BIOS but it's a backlash really - it sits at under 1800rpm which is actually bearable in terms of noise, but temperature goes a bit higher and when it does the fan goes bananas.

 

So I think I'll be going for any 4-heatpipe 120mm-fan copper heat sink cooler. I used to have an Arctic Freezer Extreme 1.0 on my old build, but sadly I sold the entire machine as it were. I was pretty happy with that cooler with the fan at just a little under 1200rpm. And at around 900rpm it was VERY silent.

I still have some time to stalk for offers until my next pay-check, so fingers crossed for boxing day offers

 

I guess if the Freezer Extreme 2.0 gets on offer I might consider it as well as the others.

[WoodenMarker]

13 hours ago, littlegreen said:

I tried putting the fan on Silent in BIOS but it's a backlash really - it sits at under 1800rpm which is actually bearable in terms of noise, but temperature goes a bit higher and when it does the fan goes bananas.

What header are you powering the fan off of? Is it 1800rpm at load or idle?