Good system cooling for Intel Core i3

[Mr. Anderson]

I have been using my system for more than 3 years and it is having an Intel Core i3 processor. I am not having any issues with the system performance but from somedays it has started getting overheated. I am not willing to invest in a new system currently as I just use the system for excel and tally. The processor gets overheated after continuous use of 1 hour and so. I have asked some of my friends about this and they have suggested me to upgrade the cpu air cooler, so I just wanted to know which will be the best cpu air cooler for Intel Core i3 or is there anything that I can try out to get rid of the overheating issue??

[Kh@LnaYak]

See if you are not willing to invest more on your system then in that case I will suggest you to better try using thermal paste for the processor and see if it is making any difference and controlling the overheating. Some time such overheating issues result when the thermal paste gets dried, so if you have not changed the same from a long time then you can reapply it cleaning the processor with the required chemical. If that works out for you then you can change the thermal paste timely to get your system working but if that does not then you can update the cpu cooler. If you are not aware of the process of applying thermal paste to the processor then you can Google out “How to apply thermal paste to processor” and follow the tutorials on youtube for clear idea.

[Mr. Anderson]

I am aware of that,I should have mentioned the workaround that I have tried so far. Actually I have been changing the thermal paste from time to to time and it has helped me out as well but doing the same now is not making any difference any more. I have followed more suggestions like using the system with case open and so but it seems as if the cpu cooler is dying in my case and is not able to cool down the heat that gets generated by the processor. It was working fine by now but I doubt it will work fine further as it has been a long time. So can you suggest me some cpu cooler that will take a better care of the processor in my case even if I keep the case closed??? Just recommend me a couple of them so that I can make a better choice.

[GiJoey]

In that case you can get any one form the below ones:

Hyper 212 Plus (RR-B10-212P-GP)
Features:

• They provide Well-balanced cooling performance with its Computer aided heatsink design, 4 x Direct Contact heat-pipes, Wide-range PWM fan that has unique blade design. If you want then you can make it dual fan as well using extra fan-clip.
• It is quite silent and produces minimal noise as well.
• With its compact heatsink it just provides excellent airflow.

Specifications:

• CPU Socket- Intel Socket:LGA 1366 / 1156 / 1155 / 775,AMD Socket:FM1 / AM3+ / AM3 / AM2+ / AM2
• CPU Support- IntelCore i7 Extreme / Core i7 / Core i5 / Core i3 / Core2 Extreme / Core2 Quad / Core2 Duo / Pentium / Celeron,
• AMD FX-Series / A-Series / Phenom II X4 / Phenom II X3 / Phenom II X2 / Phenom X4 / Phenom X3 / Athlon II X4 / Athlon II X3 / Athlon II X2 / Athlon X2 / Athlon / Sempron
• Dimension- 120 x 79.7 x 158.5 mm (L x W x H)
• Weight- 626g
• Heat Sink Material- Aluminum fin / 4 heat pipes
• Fan Speed- 600 - 2000 R.P.M. (PWM)
• Fan Airflow- 21.2 - 76.8 CFM
• Fan Air Pressure- 0.40 - 3.90 mmH2O
• Fan Noise Level (dB-A)- 13 - 32 dBA

Vortex Plus (RR-VTPS-28PK-R1)
Features:

• The come with a Compact profile design along with 4 x Direct Contact heatpipes
• It has balanced PWM fan for providing better airflow even under high RPM mode.
• It is bets for HTPC chassis or chassis with slim width

Specifications:

• CPU Socket- Intel Socket:LGA 1366 / 1156 / 1155 / 775,AMD Socket:FM1 / AM3+ / AM3 / AM2+ / AM2 / 940 / 939 / 754
• CPU Support- IntelCore i7 Extreme / Core i7 / Core i5 / Core i3 / Core2 Extreme / Core2 Quad / Core2 Duo / Pentium / Celeron,
• AMD FX-Series / A-Series / Phenom II X4 / Phenom II X3 / Phenom II X2 / Phenom X4 / Phenom X3 / Athlon II X4 / Athlon II X3 / Athlon II X2 / Athlon X2 / Athlon / Sempron
• Dimension- 116 x 100 x 84 mm (4.6 x 3.9 x 3.3 inch)
• Weight- 445g (1 lbs)
• Heat Sink Material- Aluminum fins + 4 heatpipes
• Fan Speed- 800 – 2800 RPM (PWM)
• Fan Airflow- 15.7 – 54.8 CFM
• Fan Air Pressure- 0.35-4.27 mm H2O
• Fan Noise Level (dB-A)- 17 – 35 dBA

For more choices you can go through the below thread as well. There are some best coolers mentioned for Intel core i5 2500K and they same should work fine for Intel Core i3 as well.
Best cooler for Intel core i5 2500K