TOP 5 Serious Tower CPU Coolers

With the GAMMAXX 400 and GAMMAXX GTE models, Deepcool beat out 9 out of 10. These were affordable and at the same time excellent processor coolers, which were practically in no way inferior to the more expensive options from first-tier brands. Therefore, it is not surprising that the guys from Deepcool decided to build on the success by releasing a pack of improved and modified versions of these models.

The second version of the Gammaxx GTE V2 is technically very similar to its predecessor: almost the same dimensions and weight, four copper tubes with direct contact with the processor, an aluminium radiator and a 120 mm fan with a hydrodynamic bearing. The fan speed is adjustable in the range of 500 – 1650 revolutions per minute, and the TDP is 180 watts. This is quite enough for effective overclocking of "stones" like Ryzen 7 Matisse 3800X or Core i7 i7-10700K without having to work at the limit of possibilities. At the same time, it is relatively small to fit in most Mid-Tower enclosures without blocking access to RAM slots. And it doesn't make much noise at all, especially if you don't bring it to maximum speed.

If we take the price out of brackets, then the option with white coloring and white illumination, which looks extremely impressive, has become no less reason for delight. Seriously, at first the idea of painting the cooler white seems silly, but then Deepcool hit the bull's eye, if you are tired of the usual black cases or colorful game boxes, and the soul requires something extravagant in the spirit of Fractal Design Define R5, GAMMAXX GTE V2 will be one of the few white coolers that emphasize the elegance of such an assembly. In addition, to activate the backlight, you do not need to connect additional connectors to the motherboard. Although, because of this, the brightness of the backlight depends on the voltage supplied to the fan.

Despite the name Aerocool, this company only entered the CPU cooling systems market in 2018, and before that it was mainly focused on the production of enclosures and power supplies. At first it didn't work out very well, but over time Aerocool found a suitable recipe. For example, their 2019 model Cylon 4 turned out to be very successful, attracting buyers not only with a low price with good technical characteristics, but also with a unique design. A one-piece case made of matte plastic with stylish RGB ribbons around the perimeter of the frame looks unusual and asks for a minimalistic gaming case from Thermaltake.

Now about the quality of cooling. The cooler consists of four heat pipes that contact directly with the processor cover, improving the quality of cooling. The 120 mm diameter turntable operates in the range from 800 to 1800 revolutions per minute and generates an air flow of up to 52.5 cubic feet per hour. The noise level does not exceed 26 dBA. The 145 W heat package limits are just enough for most modern 6-core processors in moderate overclocking.

In addition to the beautiful backlight, its advantages include moderate dimensions, which allow avoiding conflicts when installing a long graphics card or RAM with high radiators, ease of installation and the ability to operate the backlight without support from the motherboard. Of the obvious disadvantages, only the turntable fixed in the case catches the eye, which will be difficult to replace if it breaks down, and a slight crackling when working at low speeds.

Thermalright TA 140 is a rather interesting variant of a PROCESSOR cooler with great potential and an adequate price tag. In shape, it is a cooler of a classic tower design with a double-sided mount and a radiator made of copper and aluminium, which is suitable for installation on modern motherboards with Intel and AMD processors.

Unlike most "democratic" cooling systems of this class, the TA 140 is equipped with a radiator with not four, but five heat pipes (6 mm in diameter), which are like radiator ribs. The cooler is equipped with a 140-millimetre turntable with a rotation speed from 600 to 1500 revolutions per minute, which is automatically regulated by pulse width modulation (PWM). The fan is equipped with a sliding bearing with screw thread. The most interesting thing about this model is the TDP of 200 watts at a price of $50 with a tail. According to the passport, this is almost a complete analogue of the much more expensive Noctua NH-D15, which will have enough cooling when overclocking an 8-core Core i7 10700K caliber chip.

Another question is how it all works. The Chinese brand Thermalright does not have the authority that Noctua, Zalman and Deepcool have, and in fact this is its first full-fledged tower. What can I say here, they coped well: the TA 140 is easy to install, it is perfectly blown reaching the VRM zone of the motherboard, it is small in height, RAM slots do not overlap. However, at high load, it is not as quiet as the manufacturer promised (with an indicator of 23 dBA, they were obviously modest), and there are no RGB tapes on the fan, but try to find something better for this money.

Zalman unexpectedly brought a potentially flagship processor cooler to the Computex 2019 exhibition, which was not just displayed on the stands, but was already ready for mass production. Zalman CNPS20X is a monster with two separate radiators, which weighs almost one and a half kilograms in the basic configuration with one turntable and is able to cope with the removal of 300 watts of heat. If for some reason this is not enough, then it is possible to install a second turntable on the case, which will raise the permissible TDP to 350 watts.

The CNPS20X has a rather interesting design: six heat pipes pass through a massive radiator with copper inserts, the radiator fins create an unusual "4D" design, which, according to Zalman, increases the area of blowing and hot air dispersion. The rotation speed of branded Spider turntables with a double impeller does not exceed 1500 rpm, so the noise level promises not to go beyond 29 dB.

Despite the fact that Zalman has lost its former positions in recent years, it has turned out to be a really powerful, efficient and quiet cooler, which is rightly in demand when assembling powerful gaming systems. During the tests, we did not like only two nuances. The CNPS20X turned out to be really big, so when you build the system, you will have to tinker with calculating the dimensions of all components. This is especially true for RAM, the bars will not rise higher than usual. And the implementation of RGB backlight is strange: it is poorly visible on the narrow frame of the fan, and for full synchronization of the backlight, either a motherboard with A-RGB connectors or an additional Zalman Z-Sync controller is needed.

Noctua NH-D14 was the flagship cooler, which was praised by absolutely all relevant media, bloggers and adherents of serious overclocking. In 2015, the Austrian company released an ideological sequel to Noctua NH-D15, which 5 years after its release remains one of the best and most popular cooling systems for powerful processors.

The cooler has kept all the best from its predecessor and multiplied it. It is very well assembled, comes with a six-year warranty, boasts excellent equipment (thermal paste, adapters with resistors), is easy to install, has very high efficiency and extremely low noise, despite the use of two fans. In tests, he showed himself to be 10 out of 10. And we are not exaggerating. The temperature of the overclocked Core i7 9700K did not exceed 65 degrees Celsius, and the noise from the cooling system was barely distinguishable against the background of noise from other components. And this despite the fact that both fans were working at a maximum of 1500 rpm.

The fly in the ointment here is the same as that of Noctua NH-D14. Due to the large dimensions, compatibility problems with the graphics card, power supply, case or RAM may occur. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out all measurements of the future assembly at the planning stage. Or use it with one cooler, reducing the height of the tower. Otherwise, it is an perfect cooler for almost any Hi-End processor, after all, the TDP indicator of 220 watts gives a good room for manoeuvre.