Air Coolers

[Cristuu]

How do you guys choose your air coolers? Are there tests and benchmarks I can dig in to see what's better for me?

 

Also, is it worth it to add additional coolers? How much do they help? Should I put more money on the CPU cooler or making sure there are more addicional coolers in the case?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[minibois]

I read reviews. Any quality CPU cooler review has some graphs comparing the cooler to others. 

If you're using a locked CPU, an additional after market cooler is only worth it if you want more silence and a tiny bit more performance.

 

If you're getting a big tower cooler (say, Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro, Hyper 212 Evo, etc.) you don't really need to add any more fan to it. And 1-2 fans is plenty for 99% of PC builds.

[LogicalDrm]

Reviews are good source. I go for known sites with huge lists comparing coolers. Always check what hardware was used and if they are using absolute or relative numbers for readings.

 

With "additional" you mean aftermarket? Or are you mixing coolers and fans. You can only use single cooler at the time for one CPU. But case can hold as many fans as there are slots for it. For most situations you only need 2-3 fans on case and one on CPU cooler.

 

Adding second fan on CPU cooler doesn't do much for the temps. It will help if you want to lower fan speeds for normal operating temps, but usually its more about personal preference than actual gain.

 

As for should you spend money on cooler or fans, depends. If you case already has 1-2 fans, you might not need more/better. You might have personal preferences for colors and such, but imo only reason to change/upgrade case fans is because of noise. OEM fans can be noisy, even when controlled. I wouldn't go overboard on CPU either. Budget coolers are just fine for basic use and little OC. Mid-class coolers are probably best if you want more headroom for OC.

[WoodenMarker]

If you want to research your cooler, you can google 'cooler name' + benchmark or review.

If you mean additional fans, they can help if you don't have enough cooling or you can run more fans at lower speeds for lower noise as opposed to less fans at higher speeds.

If you would like recommendations, please list your specs, budget, and why you're looking to get new cooling.