Silence and overclocking: the top five CPU coolers

Deepcool Gamma Archer Price from 343 up to 451 ₴ →

The first candidate to replace the standard Intel and AMD coolers is the affordable Deepcool Gamma Archer. A large heatsink is made of a single piece of aluminium - there is no copper core or heat pipes in such a low-cost cooler and cannot be. The number of fins is relatively small, but they are very thick.

The 12 cm Deepcool fan is built on a wear-resistant hydrodynamic bearing (it will remain quiet for a long time) and spins up to 1600 rpm (moderate noise 21 dB). It connects to the motherboard via a three-pin connector, that is, it cannot automatically adjust the rotation speed depending on changes in processor temperature (you can manually change the speed in the BIOS settings).

Gamma Archer is attached to the front side of the motherboard, the need to install no back plate. Most current Intel processor sockets are supported, with the exception of the rare LGA1366 and LGA2011, and absolutely all AMD platforms.

Efficient heat dissipation is guaranteed up to 95 W, but we can say with confidence that the cooler will cope with eight-core 125-W processors AMD FX 8000, unless, of course, it is overclocked. But the quad-core Intel Core i5 can be easily overclocked - the cooler can cool it down.

Zalman CNPS2X

The Zalman CNPS2X heatsink is bowl-shaped and the fan is recessed. This was done to ensure that the height of the cooler was minimal - 27 mm. Therefore, this design will be optimal for computers with compact form factors - HTPC and Steam Machine.

The fins, the only heat pipe and the pad are made of copper, which conducts heat much better than aluminium. The tube is in direct contact with the processor and is twisted into a ring along the cooler contour, giving off heat to all fins evenly.

The Zalman CNPS2X spinner has a diameter of 80 mm and a rotation speed of up to 2600 rpm. Turnovers, it seems, are not small, but the noise level, thanks to the blades twisted by an arc, does not exceed a moderate 23 dB. And then, the propeller will be accelerated to the maximum only on six- and eight-core AMD processors. Whereas on less hot Intel chips, which are usually used in compact computers, the fan buzz will not be heard at all (anything below 20 dB is not audible from a closed PC case). All things considered, this miniature cooler is best for assembling small form factor computers based on Intel chips.

Thermaltake Frio Silent 12

The disadvantage of most tower coolers is that they block at least one or even several RAM slots. If you have high-frequency RAM with horned heatsinks, then you will be unable to install it in the first slot. The narrow Thermaltake Frio Silent 12 cooler will solve the problem - with three heat pipes instead of the usual four.

All three pipes have a large diameter - 8 mm, which partially compensates for their reduced number. The tubes are made of copper and additionally coated with nickel, so they will not darken over time and, moreover, they will not turn green, as is often the case with unprotected copper anti-corrosion coating.

Depending on the load on the processor, the Thermaltake impeller rotates with speed from 500 to 1400 rpm. At the same time, even at maximum speed, the emitted noise does not exceed 19 dB, which is not audible at all against the background of other PC components. Given the low-speed fan and narrow heatsink, we can recommend Frio Silent 12 only for small overclocking - a few hundred megahertz, but there will definitely be no conflicts with high-profile memory.

Noctua NH-D15S Price from 3 661 up to 4 903 ₴ →

Processor cooling systems capable of dissipating 200 or more watts of heat are proudly called "supercoolers". One of them is the Noctua NH-D15S, the flagship model of the Austrian company with six tubes and a 140mm fan.

The fins of the NH-D15S are divided into two arrays, which are shaped like the English letter "U". A fan is attached between them, thanks to which cooling is carried out both by blown in and blown air.

Noctua's flagship coolers of past generations were equipped with a pair of fans. But as numerous tests have shown, installing a second fan reduces the processor temperature by a maximum of one or two degrees. Therefore, Noctua engineers decided to limit themselves to only one fan in their new flagship, thereby solving the problem of incompatibility with high-profile memory modules. At the same time, the cooler handles with heat dissipation of even the hottest of the currently existing processors - AMD FX 9000 and overclocked Intel LGA2011.

The D15S comes with a pair of brackets for attaching a second fan (purchased separately), a speed-reducing resistor (from 1500 to 1200 rpm) and even a screwdriver. But due to the high cost, we can only recommend this huge cooler to avid gamers and PC enthusiasts.