CPU Cooler Performance Tier List

[WoodenMarker]

23 hours ago, TommyAngelo said:

The CPU is an AMD 3700X. The MSi has 3 years warranty and the CoolerMaster only 2 years.

I am looking for these coolers because they are the budget RGB ones here in France (75€ for the ML240L and 95€ for the MSI Coreliquid). The Arcrtic Freezer is 95€ also but he lacks RGB.
Do you recommend any other budget RGB AiO ?

The Gammaxx L240 V2 may be a bit quieter: https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/product/syxbt6/deepcool-gammaxx-l240-v2-6934-cfm-liquid-cpu-cooler-dp-h12rf-gl240v2

9 hours ago, JakebR said:

Ryzen 5600x
My current cooler is an air cooler from Deepcool, model Gammaxx GTE.

Your current cooler should be fine already. What are load temps?

[JakebR]

1 hour ago, WoodenMarker said:

The Gammaxx L240 V2 may be a bit quieter: https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/product/syxbt6/deepcool-gammaxx-l240-v2-6934-cfm-liquid-cpu-cooler-dp-h12rf-gl240v2

Your current cooler should be fine already. What are load temps?

Here are my temps playing cyberpunk 2077

[WoodenMarker]

14 minutes ago, JakebR said:

Here are my temps playing cyberpunk 2077

Those temps seem fine. 

[Automobili3XF]

Coming out of my longer than a year slumber to ask:

Anybody here heard about the Super Flower AIOs, or at least know what's the OEM for them?

https://www.techpowerup.com/274551/super-flower-also-announced-the-neon-240-and-neon-360-aio-liquid-cpu-coolers 

[h23rm1]

How big is the difference between tier 1 and 6? I'm currently using a deepcool gammax gte on a 3600 but I am planning to get a 5600x. The ones available for me locally (Philippines) are id-cooling zoom/auraflow 360, msi mag coreliquid 240, and cougar aqua 240. My main concerns are noise, price (around 100$), and longevity (id-cooling has 5 years stated expected pump life while msi has 10 years and cougar has nothing on their site; do these mean much?). Currently my temps are 35 idle and 60 or so under load; will upgrading to a tier 1 cooler change much if I also upgrade to a 5600x?

[WoodenMarker]

9 hours ago, h23rm1 said:

How big is the difference between tier 1 and 6? I'm currently using a deepcool gammax gte on a 3600 but I am planning to get a 5600x. The ones available for me locally (Philippines) are id-cooling zoom/auraflow 360, msi mag coreliquid 240, and cougar aqua 240. My main concerns are noise, price (around 100$), and longevity (id-cooling has 5 years stated expected pump life while msi has 10 years and cougar has nothing on their site; do these mean much?). Currently my temps are 35 idle and 60 or so under load; will upgrading to a tier 1 cooler change much if I also upgrade to a 5600x?

Warranty length can be an indicator of reliability. A higher performance cooler can allow for better oc'ing and boosting but it seems like you're probably not doing that already considering your temps. I'd recommend using the Gammaxx GTE you already have since it should already be plenty for cooling. 60c is under load is low and you can lower fan speeds for less noise.

[WhatIsComputerDesigning]

Noctua discontinued their product, NH-U9F (Tier 9), it should therefore be removed from the list. Their successor model is NH-U9S (Tier 7).
Thank you for continuing to maintain the CPU Cooler Performance Tier List.

[WoodenMarker]

21 minutes ago, WhatIsComputerDesigning said:

Noctua discontinued their product, NH-U9F (Tier 9), it should therefore be removed from the list. Their successor model is NH-U9S (Tier 7).
Thank you for continuing to maintain the CPU Cooler Performance Tier List.

Since old coolers can still be in circulation on the used market or from other vendors around the world, leaving it in the list can still be of use. It can also provide a bit of context when looking at older reviews.

I also personally use the list so leaving it here is more convenient for me. 

[Lastronaut]

Can anyone give insight on the EKWB 240 D-RGB AIO? I figure it's a tier 1 cooler, just wanting someone elses take on it.

[WoodenMarker]

33 minutes ago, Lastronaut said:

Can anyone give insight on the EKWB 240 D-RGB AIO? I figure it's a tier 1 cooler, just wanting someone elses take on it.

Some reviews:

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3596-ek-aio-drgb-360-240-review-liquid-coolers

https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/ek-aio-240-d-rgb-review,1.html

https://www.hardwareluxx.de/index.php/artikel/hardware/kuehlung/53285-ek-aio-240-d-rgb-und-ek-aio-360-d-rgb-im-doppeltest-das-aio-trio-wird-komplettiert.html

https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/james-dawson/ek-water-blocks-ek-aio-d-rgb-cpu-cooler-review/

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ekwb-aio_240_d-rgb

[Lastronaut]

28 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

Some reviews:

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3596-ek-aio-drgb-360-240-review-liquid-coolers

https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/ek-aio-240-d-rgb-review,1.html

https://www.hardwareluxx.de/index.php/artikel/hardware/kuehlung/53285-ek-aio-240-d-rgb-und-ek-aio-360-d-rgb-im-doppeltest-das-aio-trio-wird-komplettiert.html

https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/james-dawson/ek-water-blocks-ek-aio-d-rgb-cpu-cooler-review/

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ekwb-aio_240_d-rgb

 
Had already purchased it at the time of posting. I just figured it this way, EKWB is the premier name in liquid cooling and their devotion to aesthetics on top of their considerable know how in the liquid cooling market make the EKWB 240 D-RGB a formidable offering.

[h23rm1]

On 1/6/2021 at 9:43 AM, WoodenMarker said:

Warranty length can be an indicator of reliability. A higher performance cooler can allow for better oc'ing and boosting but it seems like you're probably not doing that already considering your temps. I'd recommend using the Gammaxx GTE you already have since it should already be plenty for cooling. 60c is under load is low and you can lower fan speeds for less noise.

Update: I found a great deal on a 5800x and I read that that gets pretty hot; It gets delivered 1st week of Feb so I have 2 weeks to get a new cooler should I need one. I also plan to tinker with pbo/curve optimizer/ctr 2.0 when it gets released. Will the Gammaxx GTE still be enough then? Again my available choices are msi coreliquid 240, idcooling zoom/auraflow 240/360, cougar aqua 240, and dark rock pro 4 so I dont have to deal with the risk of leakage. All of the above are around 100$ in my country but there's also the id-cooling se207 which looks beefy and is just 50$ but is not on the list yet.

[WoodenMarker]

9 hours ago, h23rm1 said:

Update: I found a great deal on a 5800x and I read that that gets pretty hot; It gets delivered 1st week of Feb so I have 2 weeks to get a new cooler should I need one. I also plan to tinker with pbo/curve optimizer/ctr 2.0 when it gets released. Will the Gammaxx GTE still be enough then? Again my available choices are msi coreliquid 240, idcooling zoom/auraflow 240/360, cougar aqua 240, and dark rock pro 4 so I dont have to deal with the risk of leakage. All of the above are around 100$ in my country but there's also the id-cooling se207 which looks beefy and is just 50$ but is not on the list yet.

The Gammaxx GTE should be fine. A better cooler can provide more thermal headroom for oc'ing. You can try it out first and see if results are satisfactory. If you do need more cooling, it may be easier to gauge how much more you need by then. 

[Virgoliciul97]

Can a Tier2 AIO (silentiumpc navis evo argb 240mm) keep a 10700k (maybe @5ghz) cool ?

[WoodenMarker]

21 hours ago, Virgoliciul97 said:

Can a Tier2 AIO (silentiumpc navis evo argb 240mm) keep a 10700k (maybe @5ghz) cool ?

Sure, it can. Depending on your chip and system airflow, results may vary. 

[Marasmic]

On 1/9/2021 at 10:58 PM, WoodenMarker said:

Some reviews:

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3596-ek-aio-drgb-360-240-review-liquid-coolers

https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/ek-aio-240-d-rgb-review,1.html

https://www.hardwareluxx.de/index.php/artikel/hardware/kuehlung/53285-ek-aio-240-d-rgb-und-ek-aio-360-d-rgb-im-doppeltest-das-aio-trio-wird-komplettiert.html

https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/james-dawson/ek-water-blocks-ek-aio-d-rgb-cpu-cooler-review/

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ekwb-aio_240_d-rgb

I'm really on the fence with AIOs right now. I originally wanted the Fractal Celsius S28+, but I felt $150 was just too much for the performance that it offers. Then I stumbled on the Arctic Liquid Freezer 2 and the EKWB D-RGB and I have no idea which one to go with. On the one hand the Arctic performs better(by like 2C), but it's also extremely ugly with that VRM fan. The EK offers a 5 year warranty versus the Arctic's 2 year and the EK has a fill port. The Arctic seems to be quite a bit quieter too, but I assume that's largely due to the fans which can be replaced.

 

Which one would you guys go with?

[WoodenMarker]

1 hour ago, Marasmic said:

I'm really on the fence with AIOs right now. I originally wanted the Fractal Celsius S28+, but I felt $150 was just too much for the performance that it offers. Then I stumbled on the Arctic Liquid Freezer 2 and the EKWB D-RGB and I have no idea which one to go with. On the one hand the Arctic performs better(by like 2C), but it's also extremely ugly with that VRM fan. The EK offers a 5 year warranty versus the Arctic's 2 year and the EK has a fill port. The Arctic seems to be quite a bit quieter too, but I assume that's largely due to the fans which can be replaced.

Which one would you guys go with?

What cpu are you cooling and what features are you looking for?

[Marasmic]

18 hours ago, WoodenMarker said:

What cpu are you cooling and what features are you looking for?

I have a 3700x and my priorities are by order of importance:

-PWM controlled no USB/software nonsense

-Quiet

-Thermals

-Warranty

-Looks

 

If the Arctic is the best choice, I'll go with that. I just really hate the way that waterblock looks, but I don't know if it's worth taking a ~2C hit to thermals for a prettier waterblock.

[WoodenMarker]

4 hours ago, Marasmic said:

I have a 3700x and my priorities are:

-PWM controlled no USB/software nonsense

-Quiet

-Thermals

-Warranty

-Looks

If the Arctic is the best choice, then so be it. I just really hate the way that waterblock looks, but I don't know if it's worth taking a ~2C hit to thermals for a prettier waterblock.

The EKWB D-RGB would be fine if that's the aesthetic you're going for. Any of the coolers you mentioned would be plenty for cooling. 

[Virgoliciul97]

On 1/16/2021 at 10:20 PM, WoodenMarker said:

Sure, it can. Depending on your chip and system airflow, results may vary. 

I'll look into it.. hope i won't get a high voltage for 5ghz. the case has a full mesh in front + 3 x 120 mm fans and 1x120 on the back for exhaust (case is silentium pc regnum rg6v evo tg argb). the cooler, 240mm aio silentiumpc navis evo argb will be mounted on top with the fans (same as the case's, 2x120) used as exhaust. the gpu is a 3060ti gigabyte oc pro with 3 vents.

[xzion]

would the mugen 5 (rev.b) with 2 fans (push-pull) be better than the fuma 2? 

[Sport Driver]

Not sure if I can ask here but going from Tier List I can expect lower temperatures on my 5800X if I go with CM ML240R RGB than if go with BQ Dark Rock 4, right? Since price delta is 10€ I wouldn't really want to save them to get lower performance.  Case will be NZXT H510 if that makes any difference. ( Bad airflow I know, we will see if I made mistake).

[WoodenMarker]

On 1/26/2021 at 1:34 AM, xzion said:

would the mugen 5 (rev.b) with 2 fans (push-pull) be better than the fuma 2? 

No, the Fuma 2 still has a beefier heatsink and performs better.

On 1/26/2021 at 11:01 AM, Sport Driver said:

Not sure if I can ask here but going from Tier List I can expect lower temperatures on my 5800X if I go with CM ML240R RGB than if go with BQ Dark Rock 4, right? Since price delta is 10€ I wouldn't really want to save them to get lower performance.  Case will be NZXT H510 if that makes any difference. ( Bad airflow I know, we will see if I made mistake).

Yes, the ML240R RGB should perform better. The DR4 is quieter and can also keep temps in check if you're prioritizing low noise.

[andrewson9]

@WoodenMarker which one should i get for mine Ryzen 5 3600? Im using the stock one now and sometimes i have around 85 degrees...

motherboard: msi tommahawk max b450

case: masterbox td500 mesh

 

ps: my favorite is msi mag 360

[WoodenMarker]

On 2/4/2021 at 8:37 AM, andrewson9 said:

@WoodenMarker which one should i get for mine Ryzen 5 3600? Im using the stock one now and sometimes i have around 85 degrees...

motherboard: msi tommahawk max b450

case: masterbox td500 mesh

ps: my favorite is msi mag 360

The 3600 isn't hard to cool and either would be plenty. If the Fuma 2 is cheaper, it's hard to go wrong with. 

85c is fine at load if it doesn't get any higher and seems normal with the stock cooler.