what is the best air <extreme> cpu air cooler?

MrPink · April 16th, 2008

I have decided that I want to stick with air on my next PC build. With the right case and fan placement, air can be almost as effective as water cooling, but much less expensive and a lot more practical.

So I wanna know what the biggest, baddest, bestest CPU cooler is that I can get. I plan on cooling one of the new 45nm yorkfields, the q9xxx series. Cost isn't a problem, since even the best CPU air cooler will be under $100...right

?

PCXL-Fan · April 16th, 2008

John Aiton posted a pick of what was perhaps a 25-40 pound one. It was so massive it looked like a truck engine. That'd probably be about $400-600

but the best one is the thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme. Thermalright did another heatsink that was basically 2 thermalright extremes put together but the exorbident cost didn't justify the massive price tag for dropping the cpu temps perhaps 1-2 degrees more than the Ultra-120 Extreme.

The Tuniq tower is another goodone that is cheaper and perhaps just .5 - 1 Celcius degree warmer than the ultra-120.

But just so you know all the top ones do an excellent job and are within .5 - 1.5 degrees close to each other.

MrPink · April 16th, 2008

That's great, thanx

I'll look into the Thermaltake and Tuniq models.

The Tuniq one looks the most attractive, can't fine the Thermaltake on newegg anyway.
Besides, the case I'll be getting will not have a side window, so operational ability is more important than looks I guess.

Phil · April 16th, 2008

Well if its water done right, air does not stand a chance...Plus water will keep your hearing intact

runawayprisoner · April 17th, 2008

Currently, the best air units are OCZ Vendetta 2 and Kingwin RV-HDT something... (Kingwin has only made one HDT cooler as far as I know).

Phil · April 17th, 2008

Hey Rap,long time no see. Do you happen to have any cpu coolers lying around???

PCXL-Fan · April 17th, 2008

I find the stats on the OCZ kinda sketchy. Those temps are what the Ultra-120 extreme would get on a dual 1600rpm 120mm fan setup while the OCZ has a single fan. Plus the OCClub review is only a single one. Skewed review results and payola is so rampant in this industry you never wanna base your decisions off a single review.

OCZ Vendetta 2 Review » Page 5 - Conclusion - Overclockers Club

runawayprisoner · April 17th, 2008

Shoot-out:
Best CPU Cooler Performance - Q1 2008 | cpu cooler,best cpu cooler,vendetta 2,ocztvend2,ultra-120,RVT-12025,NH-U12P,cpu cooler performance,hdt,heat-pipe direct touch,Best CPU Cooler Performance Comparison Roundup Test - 1st Quarter Q1 2008 | Benchmar

Indeed one review doesn't make an opinion... but how about two?

And Phil, I currently have an ACF7 Pro and a Kingwin HDT cooler (2nd best).

Fadingz · April 17th, 2008

Get a north bridge fan too :]
Newegg.com - Thermaltake CL-C0034 Copper Fan&Heatsinks - Memory & Chipset Cooling

**Godwin** · April 17th, 2008

Newegg.com - ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm 2-ball UFO Bearing / Transparent CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks (mine)

Eh, As long as you aim high with your cooler you're pretty good to go. But the Thermalright Ultra 120 with fans slapped on is a good bet.

skoreanime · April 17th, 2008

If you're thinking of the Scythe Orochi, it's not so great. Initial reviews of it are pretty bad. It's the perfect example of something that goes with a little too much is not a good thing.

And I have to concur with Godwin, the TRU 120 is still one of the best, especially for it's price.

cottonvibes · April 17th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by PCXL-Fan

John Aiton posted a pick of what was perhaps a 25-40 pound one. It was so massive it looked like a truck engine. That'd probably be about $400-600

where are the pics!!!?

Eiji · April 17th, 2008

I have a TRUE 120 HSF installed on my CPU with a nice 120mm silverstone fan on it. Got my E4500 at 3.6GHz (max overclock with my CPU on air).

OminaeYu · April 18th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by runawayprisoner

Kingwin RV-HDT something... (Kingwin has only made one HDT cooler as far as I know).

The Kingwin is just a rebadged one of these Newegg.com - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

runawayprisoner · April 18th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by OminaeYu

The Kingwin is just a rebadged one of these Newegg.com - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

Yep, true. It's a bit less pricey at some e-tailers, and it performs about the same. Actually it seems to outperform TRUE.

Phil · April 18th, 2008

Rap, ow is that 9800gtx coming along?

runawayprisoner · April 18th, 2008

Won't come until next week. Actually, it's like it doesn't even exist at all. What the heck is eVGA doing?

Phil · April 18th, 2008

hmmm have you tried ebay? theres several listed, some for only 399 +tax

tuanming · April 18th, 2008

I'll have to say the Thermalright Extreme Ultra-120 because the material it's built on is very sturdy and high quality

I would buy a 2nd one if I build another pc, that how great it is

runawayprisoner · April 18th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil

hmmm have you tried ebay? theres several listed, some for only 399 +tax

299, you meant?

I got the card for $200 shipped.

April 16th, 2008	#1 (permalink)
MrPink McRoll'd Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: "out of the butt and into the f***!" Posts: 428	what is the best air <extreme> cpu air cooler? I have decided that I want to stick with air on my next PC build. With the right case and fan placement, air can be almost as effective as water cooling, but much less expensive and a lot more practical. So I wanna know what the biggest, baddest, bestest CPU cooler is that I can get. I plan on cooling one of the new 45nm yorkfields, the q9xxx series. Cost isn't a problem, since even the best CPU air cooler will be under $100...right? __________________ AMD Athlon X2 4400+ @2.60ghz l 2GB Corsair XMS (oc'd) PC3472 2.5-3-3-6 1T DDR 434MHz l EVGA Geforce 8800GTX 768MB ASUS A8N32-SLI DELUXE l Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer l PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad l WD Caviar 500GB 7200RPM SATA Antec 900 l Zalman CNPS9500 92mm l Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit

April 16th, 2008	#2 (permalink)
PCXL-Fan professor el tasto' Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Canada ──────────────────── PC Accelerator (aka PCXL) was a Computer gaming magazine published from 1997 until 2000 Posts: 2,326	John Aiton posted a pick of what was perhaps a 25-40 pound one. It was so massive it looked like a truck engine. That'd probably be about $400-600 but the best one is the thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme. Thermalright did another heatsink that was basically 2 thermalright extremes put together but the exorbident cost didn't justify the massive price tag for dropping the cpu temps perhaps 1-2 degrees more than the Ultra-120 Extreme. The Tuniq tower is another goodone that is cheaper and perhaps just .5 - 1 Celcius degree warmer than the ultra-120. But just so you know all the top ones do an excellent job and are within .5 - 1.5 degrees close to each other. __________________ E6600 Core 2 Duo Geforce 8800GTX @ Stock Speed. 1x 2.1GB HDD, 1x 1.4GB HDD Windows XP Pro Sp2. \| Flexing my penticeps for tri-mammaried ladies across the world \| gamersat678's Bug Reporter \|\|\| cottonvibe's pcsx2 guide for noobs \|\|\| GSdx plugin

April 16th, 2008	#3 (permalink)
MrPink McRoll'd Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: "out of the butt and into the f***!" Posts: 428	That's great, thanx I'll look into the Thermaltake and Tuniq models. The Tuniq one looks the most attractive, can't fine the Thermaltake on newegg anyway. Besides, the case I'll be getting will not have a side window, so operational ability is more important than looks I guess. __________________ AMD Athlon X2 4400+ @2.60ghz l 2GB Corsair XMS (oc'd) PC3472 2.5-3-3-6 1T DDR 434MHz l EVGA Geforce 8800GTX 768MB ASUS A8N32-SLI DELUXE l Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer l PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad l WD Caviar 500GB 7200RPM SATA Antec 900 l Zalman CNPS9500 92mm l Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Last edited by MrPink; April 16th, 2008 at 23:22.

April 16th, 2008	#4 (permalink)
Phil PCSX3 Coder Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Maryland, where the big boys play. Posts: 3,093	Well if its water done right, air does not stand a chance...Plus water will keep your hearing intact __________________ Antec P182 Special Edition (Chrome Finish) : Intel e8400 : Thermaltake ToughPower 650 watt PSU : Corsair Dominater DHX 1066 DDR2 Ram : Asus P5K : 500 Gb Seagate : 74 GB Raptor : Samsung 20x DVD optical Drive : Samsung Syncmaster T220 22" LCD : Windows 95 : XFX 8800gt Cooling: Swiftech Apogee GTX Special Edition (Copper Finish) : Feser X-Changer Dual 120mm Radiator : XSPC Bay Resevoir : Danger den Chrome Barbs : Feser UV anti kink 1/2" ID tubing : Danger Den D5

April 17th, 2008	#5 (permalink)
runawayprisoner Google-translated Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Posts: 3,382	Currently, the best air units are OCZ Vendetta 2 and Kingwin RV-HDT something... (Kingwin has only made one HDT cooler as far as I know). __________________ My best friend: Kopu: Asus Eee PC 701 Next best friend: Gamu CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 @ 3.80GHz RAM: 2GB of DDR2 800MHz (brandless, and brainless) GPU: ATI Radeon HD 4850 @ 800/1100 Good for PCSX2: overclock, overclock, and even more overclock.

April 17th, 2008	#6 (permalink)
Phil PCSX3 Coder Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Maryland, where the big boys play. Posts: 3,093	Hey Rap,long time no see. Do you happen to have any cpu coolers lying around??? __________________ Antec P182 Special Edition (Chrome Finish) : Intel e8400 : Thermaltake ToughPower 650 watt PSU : Corsair Dominater DHX 1066 DDR2 Ram : Asus P5K : 500 Gb Seagate : 74 GB Raptor : Samsung 20x DVD optical Drive : Samsung Syncmaster T220 22" LCD : Windows 95 : XFX 8800gt Cooling: Swiftech Apogee GTX Special Edition (Copper Finish) : Feser X-Changer Dual 120mm Radiator : XSPC Bay Resevoir : Danger den Chrome Barbs : Feser UV anti kink 1/2" ID tubing : Danger Den D5

April 17th, 2008	#7 (permalink)
PCXL-Fan professor el tasto' Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Canada ──────────────────── PC Accelerator (aka PCXL) was a Computer gaming magazine published from 1997 until 2000 Posts: 2,326	I find the stats on the OCZ kinda sketchy. Those temps are what the Ultra-120 extreme would get on a dual 1600rpm 120mm fan setup while the OCZ has a single fan. Plus the OCClub review is only a single one. Skewed review results and payola is so rampant in this industry you never wanna base your decisions off a single review. OCZ Vendetta 2 Review » Page 5 - Conclusion - Overclockers Club __________________ E6600 Core 2 Duo Geforce 8800GTX @ Stock Speed. 1x 2.1GB HDD, 1x 1.4GB HDD Windows XP Pro Sp2. \| Flexing my penticeps for tri-mammaried ladies across the world \| gamersat678's Bug Reporter \|\|\| cottonvibe's pcsx2 guide for noobs \|\|\| GSdx plugin

April 17th, 2008	#8 (permalink)
runawayprisoner Google-translated Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Posts: 3,382	Shoot-out: Best CPU Cooler Performance - Q1 2008 \| cpu cooler,best cpu cooler,vendetta 2,ocztvend2,ultra-120,RVT-12025,NH-U12P,cpu cooler performance,hdt,heat-pipe direct touch,Best CPU Cooler Performance Comparison Roundup Test - 1st Quarter Q1 2008 \| Benchmar Indeed one review doesn't make an opinion... but how about two? And Phil, I currently have an ACF7 Pro and a Kingwin HDT cooler (2nd best). __________________ My best friend: Kopu: Asus Eee PC 701 Next best friend: Gamu CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 @ 3.80GHz RAM: 2GB of DDR2 800MHz (brandless, and brainless) GPU: ATI Radeon HD 4850 @ 800/1100 Good for PCSX2: overclock, overclock, and even more overclock.

April 17th, 2008	#9 (permalink)
Fadingz 大嘴巴 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: 應許之地 Posts: 2,916	Get a north bridge fan too :] Newegg.com - Thermaltake CL-C0034 Copper Fan&Heatsinks - Memory & Chipset Cooling __________________ My deviantART~ QX9650 stock \| G.Skill 2GB DDR2 1066 RAM x 4 \| Vista 64 Ultimate \| Quadro FX4600 \| X-Fi Elite Pro \| SAMSUNG 2253BW \| Cosmos S \| ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA \| Western Digital Raptor X x2 \| ThermalTake 850W

April 17th, 2008	#10 (permalink)
Godwin Sleeping on the job Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Capitalist Nation Posts: 946	Newegg.com - ZEROtherm Nirvana NV120 120mm 2-ball UFO Bearing / Transparent CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks (mine) Eh, As long as you aim high with your cooler you're pretty good to go. But the Thermalright Ultra 120 with fans slapped on is a good bet. __________________ 昨日にさよなら。 Intel E8400 @ 4.1Ghz // P35-DS3R // Transcend aXeram (D9 Microns) DDR2-1026 5-5-5-15 // MSI 8800GT OC

April 17th, 2008	#11 (permalink)
skoreanime Insomniac in training... Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 3,628	If you're thinking of the Scythe Orochi, it's not so great. Initial reviews of it are pretty bad. It's the perfect example of something that goes with a little too much is not a good thing. And I have to concur with Godwin, the TRU 120 is still one of the best, especially for it's price. __________________ Born free, riding free, living free. Always be free. Q6600 @ 3Ghz, 333x9 Gigabyte DS3R, Rev1.0 Patriot Extreme DDR2 PC-6400RAM BFG 9800GX2 @ stock

April 17th, 2008	#13 (permalink)
Eiji Emulation Connoisseur Join Date: May 2004 Location: Earth Posts: 173	I have a TRUE 120 HSF installed on my CPU with a nice 120mm silverstone fan on it. Got my E4500 at 3.6GHz (max overclock with my CPU on air). __________________ Intel C2D E4500 @ 3.6GHz Asus P5N-E SLI Point of View 8800GT OC 4GB Corsair XMS2 PC2-6400C5 DDR2 SDRAM Windows Vista x64 Ultimate SP1

April 18th, 2008	#16 (permalink)
Phil PCSX3 Coder Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Maryland, where the big boys play. Posts: 3,093	Rap, ow is that 9800gtx coming along? __________________ Antec P182 Special Edition (Chrome Finish) : Intel e8400 : Thermaltake ToughPower 650 watt PSU : Corsair Dominater DHX 1066 DDR2 Ram : Asus P5K : 500 Gb Seagate : 74 GB Raptor : Samsung 20x DVD optical Drive : Samsung Syncmaster T220 22" LCD : Windows 95 : XFX 8800gt Cooling: Swiftech Apogee GTX Special Edition (Copper Finish) : Feser X-Changer Dual 120mm Radiator : XSPC Bay Resevoir : Danger den Chrome Barbs : Feser UV anti kink 1/2" ID tubing : Danger Den D5

April 18th, 2008	#17 (permalink)
runawayprisoner Google-translated Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Posts: 3,382	Won't come until next week. Actually, it's like it doesn't even exist at all. What the heck is eVGA doing? __________________ My best friend: Kopu: Asus Eee PC 701 Next best friend: Gamu CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 @ 3.80GHz RAM: 2GB of DDR2 800MHz (brandless, and brainless) GPU: ATI Radeon HD 4850 @ 800/1100 Good for PCSX2: overclock, overclock, and even more overclock.

April 18th, 2008	#18 (permalink)
Phil PCSX3 Coder Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Maryland, where the big boys play. Posts: 3,093	hmmm have you tried ebay? theres several listed, some for only 399 +tax __________________ Antec P182 Special Edition (Chrome Finish) : Intel e8400 : Thermaltake ToughPower 650 watt PSU : Corsair Dominater DHX 1066 DDR2 Ram : Asus P5K : 500 Gb Seagate : 74 GB Raptor : Samsung 20x DVD optical Drive : Samsung Syncmaster T220 22" LCD : Windows 95 : XFX 8800gt Cooling: Swiftech Apogee GTX Special Edition (Copper Finish) : Feser X-Changer Dual 120mm Radiator : XSPC Bay Resevoir : Danger den Chrome Barbs : Feser UV anti kink 1/2" ID tubing : Danger Den D5

April 18th, 2008	#19 (permalink)
tuanming Final Fantasy XXX Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: USA, TX Posts: 1,722	I'll have to say the Thermalright Extreme Ultra-120 because the material it's built on is very sturdy and high quality I would buy a 2nd one if I build another pc, that how great it is __________________ Intel Core2Duo E6300 1.86Ghz L629A244 @ 3.78GHz Asus P5K-E Wifi/AP Rev.1.02g Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120+ FM121 (110 cfm fan) ATI x1900 GT Rev.2 256mb 513/657 G.Skill 2x1gb Hz--540MHz

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