What air cooler should I pick (if any at all)?

[Grishnaackh]

Good evening (at least it's evening here)!

 

It seems like I will have to buy a computer soon and I was initially thinking of going liquid cooling but as my budget has gotten more tight I've had to start considering air cooling. I am, however, pretty bad at air cooling and have a couple of questions I'd be very happy to get answered.

 

1. The most popular budget coolers out there seems to be Cooler Master's 212 EVO and Be Quiet!'s Pure Rock. Since I'm probably going to get a 6700k or a 7700k I'm wondering if these give me any possibilities to overclock the CPU. How much will I be able to overclock (I'm aiming at least towards 4.5Ghz if I'm getting a 6700k), and if so, what temperatures do you guys think I'll achieve with any of these coolers?

2. Which one of those above would you prefer and why?

3. Since I'm probably getting a windowed case looks are very important. Closed water coolers usually look pretty decent but how about air coolers? I find giant heat sinks very unattractive, are there any good looking coolers out there?

4. Is it even worth going air cooling at all? Lets say 212 EVO and Pure Rock won't be for me and any decent looking air coolers will be expensive as hell, will it still be worth getting one? I'm thinking that paying an extra couple of dollars perhaps is worth it after all if it both contributes to better looks and better temps.

 

I can't see that it would help, but If it is has any relevance to you guys this rig is my preliminary plan (but it'll depend on when I'm building the computer):

Case: Define R5 (windowed)

GPU: Asus 1070 Strix/ some VEGA card when those are released

CPU: 6700k/7700k, I have a hard time believing that the Ryzen CPUs are good price/performance in gaming since those are compared to 6900k

Cooler: this is what the topic is about ^^

MOBO: Probably ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming/ a board with a Z270 chip

RAM: Some 2x8 sticks at 2133 Mhz

PSU: Corsair RM750i (hopefully it will be enough for moderate CPU overclocking and future SLI)

SSD: Idk, probably a 850 EVO or something

HDD: Seagate Barracuda

 

Cheers!

 

[Energycore]

I think Air cooling is very much worth it. You can get the following good looking coolers:

 

- Be quiet! Dark Rock 3

- Cryorig H5

- Deepcool Assassin II

[ChalkChalkson]

I had a pure rock on my 6700K for quite a while (inbetween getting a new GPU and getting a waterblock for it) and I was able to keep the same overclock, though it required a bit higher fan speeds 

[BigChimp97]

Why not go Noctua NH-D15? If it's the colour of the fans that put you off then I can assure you that every LAN event that i've been too, i've never had someone say, EUGH THOSE FANS ARE HORRID, they know who Noctua are and can appreciate them. I've got one on my current rig and runs ridiculously cool.

[Grishnaackh]

Just now, BigChimp97 said:

Why not go Noctua NH-D15? If it's the colour of the fans that put you off then I can assure you that every LAN event that i've been too, i've never had someone say, EUGH THOSE FANS ARE HORRID, they know who Noctua are and can appreciate them. I've got one on my current rig and runs ridiculously cool.

Well, the aesthetics of the computer is as much for me as for any one else. If you are going to have a window on your case you'll also want it to look good. Noctua has good coolers but they look shit. Noctua coolers are good if you care more about performance than aesthetics and use a windowless case.

[BigChimp97]

1 minute ago, Grishnaackh said:

Well, the aesthetics of the computer is as much for me as for any one else. If you are going to have a window on your case you'll also want it to look good. Noctua has good coolers but they look shit. Noctua coolers are good if you care more about performance than aesthetics and use a windowless case.

Yer that's understandable, a friend of mine had the Cryorig R1 Ultimate and it was competing quite well with my NH-D15, and it admittedly does look alot more aesthetically pleasing

[Energycore]

2 minutes ago, Grishnaackh said:

Well, the aesthetics of the computer is as much for me as for any one else. If you are going to have a window on your case you'll also want it to look good. Noctua has good coolers but they look shit. Noctua coolers are good if you care more about performance than aesthetics and use a windowless case.

Well the Deepcool Assassin II is basically a good looking NH-D15

[Grishnaackh]

1 minute ago, Energycore said:

Well the Deepcool Assassin II is basically a good looking NH-D15

Thanks for the tip! I'll take a look at a couple of reviews and benchmarks. Do you have one of these and if so, are you satisfied with it and how does it perform on your system?

[Energycore]

Just now, Grishnaackh said:

Thanks for the tip! I'll take a look at a couple of reviews and benchmarks. Do you have one of these and if so, are you satisfied with it and how does it perform on your system?

I don't have one of these, just going by tomshardware's review

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/deepcool-gamer-storm-assassin-ii-cpu-cooler,4339.html

[WoodenMarker]

The 212 Evo performs slightly better than the Pure Rock but not by much. I'd go with the Pure Rock since it's quieter. 

4.4ghz for the 6700k should be doable with either with load temps below 80-90c.

[Ryoku]

3 hours ago, Grishnaackh said:

Good evening (at least it's evening here)!

 

It seems like I will have to buy a computer soon and I was initially thinking of going liquid cooling but as my budget has gotten more tight I've had to start considering air cooling. I am, however, pretty bad at air cooling and have a couple of questions I'd be very happy to get answered.

 

CPU: 6700k/7700k, I have a hard time believing that the Ryzen CPUs are good price/performance in gaming since those are compared to 6900k

 

That Ryzen cpu is just their highest end cpu they haven't revealed the lower end ones yet that would compete with the 6600k and 6700k, and lower.