Best Mid Range Cpu Cooler

[cobra2008]

Cooling systems play an important role in personal computers, because designed to provide cooling, and hence the normal functioning of the heat-generating components. Method of cooling in most cases identical - to the heat source is installed radiator made of materials with good thermal conductivity (usually copper or aluminum). That's the way passive cooling system. Such a system is often applied to components that are in the process does not heat up to critical temperatures, for example, the chipset of the motherboard. For more efficient removal of heat to the radiator is installed fan (cooler). This system is called active cooling system. Active cooling can cope even with such hot components, like modern hi-end-graphics.

Characteristic of a Good CPU Cooler :

Connector Type : Various cooling systems are designed for installation on different sockets (AMD or Intel). There are also universal models. Refine before buying, check if you selected the cooler to your motherboard.
Speed : The higher the fan speed, the more powerful they created the airflow and therefore cooling more efficiently, but the noise level is higher. Therefore, many models have the ability to adjust the speed depending on temperature.

Radiator Material : The best material is copper, due to its high thermal conductivity. In second place is aluminum. Of these two materials most often make radiators. Also often use different coatings, such as nickel-plated.
Noise : The noise level of the cooling system depends mainly on the following factors: the speed and the diameter of the fan impeller design, as well as, to a lesser extent, the design of the radiator.

The diameter of the fan : The diameter of the fan is directly dependent noise, as well as the size of the cooling system. For example, a 120mm diameter fan creates the same air flow as well as 80mm, but at lower revs. Accordingly, the noise it will create less.

Overall dimensions of the assembly : At the present time, this option should pay special attention. Due to the large size of radiators to be installed on motherboard chipsets, and radiator cooling systems themselves, not all CPU coolers can be installed in a variety of motherboards. Before buying, check the cooler is compatible with your motherboard.

Bearing Type : The best option is rolling bearing (usually a ball, Eng. Ball). This option is the most reliable, because life and reliability of ball bearings are high compared with the second option - Bearings (born Sleeve). Plain bearings have a lower lifespan, since by virtue of design features, most often fail because of the dry lubricant.

CPU Fan Control :

To control the fan speed used 2 ways: control the DC (DC) and PWM - control (pulse-width modulation voltage). The first way is to change the voltage on the fan. Temperature sensor mounted on the motherboard, measures the temperature and depending on the measurement result raises or lowers the voltage on the fan. The result is that fan speeds and noise level increases or decreases. With such control, connector for the cooler has 3 contacts.

The second method is based on the installation of a special controller on the motherboard and requires a four-pin power connector. Management is realized by starting or stopping the fan with specific frequencies. We will not go into details, except to say that this method is more modern and can significantly reduce the noise level when the system is idle. PWM - management is supported by virtually all the overclocking coolers. Low or box model most often only controlled by the first method.

List of Good CPU Cooler :

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro

Manufacturer of CPU coolers have hard times: Intel Pentium D group showed up last page of their explosive and produces lots of heat. But not only the processors were sweating, but also the engineers who design had a cooler which cools the CPU reliable, the context in weight and size, and not to last beyond the purse of the customer. Once again it was going Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro for the under 20 € over the counter and cools almost any socket 775 CPU with no major problems to acceptable temperatures down. This cooler, we want to challenge in today's test ... but not with the mallet, but with a Core2Duo. The cooler comes in a subtle, but chic black box and is supported by two plastic forms. Except a sticker and a short installation guide is blank, the packaging, with the new products dispensed with Arctic Cooling thermal paste to the previously mandatory syringe.

The Freezer 7 Pro is a tower cooler, the three integrated heat pipes have that run by aluminum fins. From there, the heat is removed through a 92mm fan. The fan is similar to the Arctic Fan PWM has nine, but two small brackets that the fan is attached to the heatsink. On aluminum plate which connects the installation clips with the cooler. This design works well in practice, however, makes no particularly strong impression, as they can be removed without much effort. Before the installation, you should therefore give urgent consideration to the correct position of the plate. Otherwise, the cooler is very well made.

Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer

This new cooler is called Core-Contact Freezer leaving immediately guess that the new solution uses heatpipes directly in contact with the processor. This great technology because it eliminates the old plate extra base which merely reduces the transmission of heat from the CPU to heat pipes and increase the manufacturing cost. The new coolers are choosing this solution virtually every now and gradually abandoning the old copper plate as a basis. The packaging box is closed with the picture of cooler on the front and back characteristics. A carrying handle makes it easy to carry box.

Four copper heat pipes of 8mm in diameter across the fins. These heatpipes are perfectly integrated into the radiator as the pipes are welded and fins for heat transfer perfect. They are in fact bent U-shaped and each therefore passes through the radiator twice. It is therefore natural to eight peaks over the copper cooler. The finish of heatpipes is very neat, much better example than the Xigmatek coolers. The box of Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer is the classic colors of boxes of the brand, blue and black dominate as usual with a white border. One can distinguish a photo of the product, its various features, its compatibility with the different sockets existing today, and its specifications.

[cobra2008]

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus

The design is very classic and very encouraging performance. The sink is a little behind because of a true fan noise, but too little power. With two new CPU coolers and Hyper Hyper TX3 212 Plus, Cooler Master Launches or HDT Heatpipe Direct Touch. But that's not all because, in addition, these two new models are intended to be very accessible. The question is whether these two coolers are very efficient the low speed 92 mm fan reduces the noise level to a minimum. 6 Heat Pipes (three used double sided) are able to dissipate heat up to 200 watts. The heat exchanger consisting of 42 fins and an area of over 4700 cm2 and allows for the best heat transfer to air.

Scythe Mugen-2

The Scythe Mugen 2 is out for six months now. It portends a new concept of home with its fins Scythe dedicated to a single heatpipe. The base of this cooler is made of copper and nickel finish is very good, five 6mm heatpipes are embedded in the database and it is topped by a large heater in anodized aluminum. The five heatpipes are arranged in U even if they no longer really shape the ends back to the vertical to reach the fins.The fins are special since they are divided into five distinct groups, each with a single heatpipe that runs through its two ends. The radiator is composed of five small radiators each with a heatpipe, the whole forming a large cube of fins. The fan mounts on the side of the larger radiators with metal fasteners. It is a 120mm Scythe in the Split Stream. It runs from 0 to 1300tpm connection with its PWM. The bundle of Scythe Mugen 2 is correct: bindings 939/940/AMD2/AM3 AMD and Intel LGA 775 and LGA 1366, a record, a sachet of thermal paste and a key star.

The assembly is virtually the same for all sockets as necessary to remove the motherboard, place the bar for your socket around the base and screw the heatsink on the back of the motherboard with tiny screws. For socket LGA1366 Core i7 must replace the plate from the back of the socket by removing the CPU module retention plate provided by the Scythe.

Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme

After Tuniq Tower 120, here is this new model, it is the new version of the Tuniq Tower, who is with 2 heat pipes over the earlier version, a fan light MFDB 120mm adjustable at 1000 rpm 2000tr / min using the potentiometer provides and 43 fin-shaped flame with a perfect finish. Regarding mounting the Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme, it is done fairly quickly and without problem, just install the backplate on the back of the motherboard and mount the rad via the threaded rods will maintain the fixed backplate.

Then you just mount the rad on it with the spring bolts. It has been made several times to rest and then charge in and 2.67GHz 3.25 GHz. regarding the performance of Far Tuniq Tower 120; it is a cooler light and quiet with excellent results. Level design, nothing to say, it is beautiful to see, the finish is perfect, the wings have a beautiful shape. Assembly is done smoothly and the bundle is well supplied with good thermal paste. A few negative points that we find him, his size, he is tall and does not fit all cameras, thermal paste has a texture effect does not last settlement, last but not least, you need an additional purchase to fix the cooler to your motherboard P55, buying a backplate will be mandatory.

While it is easy to quantify or illustrate a temperature display bug with a screenshot, to understand the concept of noise is another kettle of fish! Noise is measured by the change in sound pressure relative to ambient pressure (atmospheric pressure). These pressures are expressed in Pascal or N / m². The human ear is sensitive to pressures ranging from 2 x 10-5 (minimum audible) at 20 Pascal’s (pain threshold or maximum audible) a report from one million to 1 million. To reduce the scope of this long scale, we used the logarithms to arrive at a new scale ranging from 0 dB (A) to 120dB (A). Ventilation is provided by a 120 mm which leads to the reference DFS125512M Yates Loon and articles from our colleagues. It is equipped with a connector 3 and a second son two son who connects to a gear with a potentiometer to adjust the rotation speed of 1100 to 2000rpm.

The similarities can be attributed to the wave-like end-of-sheets and summarized the tower design with a centrally disposed fan, apart from these two corners of the Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme is a completely different CPU cooler. The most important change concerns the heat pipes, which now have direct contact with the heat spreader of the CPU and of which there are now five instead of three. The cooler is 4.3 mm wider than its predecessor, but at the same time was 23 g lighter. Since Tuniq put the Finns against each other, the tower has 120 Extreme much more voluminous. Also, the attachment concept has been revised and now supports Intel Socket LGA1366 and LGA1156, the latter only with optional accessories.

[cobra2008]

Thermalright MUX-120

The MUX-120 comes with four 6mm heatpipes instead of 6 on the Ultra 120 and a 120mm fan running from 1000 to 15000tpm connection with its PWM. Note that the fastening system has been simplified to retain only the cross with push-pins. You will notice that the design resembles that of the True Spirit of the subsidiary Thermalright Cocage. The MUX-120 comes with what seemed initially to be the best retention plate in this comparison: in fact, its holes and screws are not exactly the right place and position themselves easily cope with mounting holes map, it does not provide for LGA 1156 processors support we had hoped, given that its center does not touch the back of socket. The burden shall bear the motherboard (rather than the back of the socket) remains relatively low due to the lightness of the cooler.
Base side is once again a pleasant surprise: the copper Thermalright product is almost perfectly smooth. The ultrafine plating allows for him to avoid oxidation, without a priori significant effect on thermal convection. The installation of the MUX-120 on a socket LGA 1156 is fairly simple: once the retention plate set, it is possible to mount the cooler directly into the computer case. The plate is also well designed and avoids any contact with the printed circuit card-fan finally hangs or comes off with simple clips.

Thermalright cooler specialist introduces new CPU coolers for Intel's Socket 1156. The MUX-120 looks a little on the high-end model Ultra 120 , but as middle class rather meant cooler, but for all models of Intel Lynnfield specified anyway. The Thermalright MUX-120 offers a similar design as the legendary Ultra 120, but has a significantly lower weight without sacrificing performance. Because of the 1156er layouts may be incompatibilities with various coolers, if all 4 memory banks should be equipped. With a width of 38 mm occurs problem with the MUX-120 is not even all 4 banks will be covered if. 1156 mainboards have different layouts - a commonality is the lack of North Bridge. Many users install your VGA card accordingly in the first PCIE slot, problems often occurs with larger coolers with. With a width of only 131 mm cooler is also here to meet the needs of owners in 1156 a perfect fit. With adjacent components are not known.

Thermaltake Frio

FRIO is a large aluminum heat sink equipped with a copper base and aluminum and five pipes of 8mm. It has two 120mm fans to maximize air circulation. They are also quite fast and can turn from 1200 to 2500 revolutions per minute. Also note that it weighs 1042g. If performance and price of a chiller are generally connected, this is not the case with the future FRIO (to be launched early this year). The behemoth would actually be launched at a relatively affordable for the kind of performance it offers, $ 60. Unfortunately, that juggernaut said, generally said little subtle. The machine is very noisy, with 20 to 43 decibels.

From what I saw at CES, it does the job by cons. In fact, FRIO keep happening to a Core i7 975 overclocked to 4.17 GHz to 75 to 80 degrees Celsius for a workload of 100%. Really not bad. Another top model higher price he was confronted rather cooled to 83 - 87 degrees. Use only so if you overclock your CPU and you need to have lots of power. If this is not the case, other coolers quieter, a little better able to respond to your needs. The Frio has a cubic structure quite massive (14 cm x 17 cm). So beware of smaller enclosures where integration may be difficult or impossible. The radiator has a classic turn composed of aluminum fins. The latter with more than 1042 grams per kilogram.

The heater is surrounded by a black plastic shell that provides the framework for fixing 120mm fans that can ship. Two red plastic bars reinforce the structure but also brightens especially all the colors of the brand. We found the Thermaltake logo painted in white on the top of the radiator. Five large copper heat pipes pass through the radiator set vertically. They are arranged in a pyramid against each other for heat dissipation wider. Two fans cool the radiator in a push-pull. And not one but two fans that are found in the bundle. These 120 mm fans have a beautiful white propeller turning 1200 to 2500 RPM. A fast speed, which should ensure maximum performance. They are supplied with 3-pin cables with braided fairly good length. We must therefore regulate their speed manually.

Zalman Quiet CNPS10X

Zalman has formalized its new cooler, and that's good news. As he cons you are not completely unknown because it is a clone of the CNPS9900 that we presented in the month of June. The CNPS 9900 Max. Taking shape in a circle, the radiator is composed of two blocks with a 135mm fan in it whose rotation range is 900 at 1700 rpm and noise from 18 to 30 dBA. Its dimensions are 94mm in width, 131mm in length and 152mm in height, his weight is 730 grams. It is entirely covered with black paint to nickel, and STG2 with thermal paste. The support ranges from 754 to 775, AMD, Intel, and all those published since. However its price of risk in a more calm, because at $ 79.90, it will be very difficult to compete in terms of performance and bundle against the killers cam.

Zalman CNPS 10X Quiet is supplied with 120-mm-type ventilation and rear panel mounting hardware for Intel, respectively 2-point bracket for AMD installation. In addition, the buyer gets a generous injection of current Zalman ZM-STG2-thermal grease, the Fan Mate 2 fan controller that allows a tension-based regulation of fan speed in the range 5:00 to 11:00 volts, and donated a Zalman case sticker.

In addition the new model will lack even those promised by us, Mate PWM fan controller in the package. As a replacement for the popular places Zalman Fan Mate 2 controller, which however only allows manual control of the fan. Since the new model will apparently be a normal 3pin fan without PWM, this step seems quite logical. Visually distinguishes the "quiet" model thus much of the "Extreme" version. The blue-anodized fins in the middle of the cooler are certainly a matter of taste. The fan we can only hope that Zalman finally uses a slight slip or liquid storage, since a reduced only in the speed of double-ball bearing model, as we know from CNPS10X Extreme, the name "Quiet" probably not carry law would .

Noctua NH-D14

As mentioned in the introduction, we get the impression that Noctua rested on its laurels, especially on its successful NH-U12P, which is surely one of the best CPU coolers on the market. The Austrian manufacturer has surely hear our grievances, and thus gives us a new CPU cooler, the NH-D14. A cooler that is worthy of superlatives, which would normally provide outstanding performance. But things have not progressed as fast as some had hoped in this project, and not until June 2009, a year later so that Noctua presented at the Computex Taipei a very impressive cooler, with now a final design but also a name: NH-D14. The 6 heat pipes are definitely there, and the radiator seems bundled with two fans: one 120mm in diameter and known at the time: the NF-P12, while the other is also to time a new company: the NF-P14 140mm and its diameter, which takes place at the center between the two areas of fins.

The least we can say is that this announcement was blunt-performance cooling fans, but it was still taking his misfortune patiently for several months because it was not until November 2009 that finally launched for Noctua good sound NH-D14. No need to fear in terms of compatibility, Noctua has not played the card of a unique compatibility AMD or Intel, or kits to buy additional attachments included. It was therefore entitled to the entire latest AMD socket, but also Intel, including the aging 775. Also note that a policy level monitoring excellent Noctua which, when a new socket comes out later (we think FM1 including AMD and Intel LGA1155 that should arrive soon), offers free sending new fasteners on request.