Article - best air CPU cooler - socket 1156

[Jamin43]

Toms Hardware did a test of 10 socket 1156 cpu coolers

.....Four coolers that stood out today for superiority in various areas are Noctua’s top-cooling NH-D14, Thermalright’s nearly-silent MUX-120, Cooler Master’s superb-value Hyper 212 Plus, and Scythe’s jack-of-all-trades Mugen-2 Rev. B. Yet the one we’d use and the one we’d recommend might be completely different parts.....

....Even though the cooler cost $10 more, it’s impossible to ignore the six degrees Celsius cooling advantage Scythe’s Mugen-2 Rev. B provided over Cooler Master’s low-cost Hyper 212 Plus. Our biggest reservation in recommending it universally to budget-oriented overclocking enthusiasts is that it’s the second-biggest sink in the comparison. Putting the fan on the front causes it to hang over the memory slots of most motherboards, discouraging builders who prefer high-profile memory cooling....
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...The combination of pros and cons leave us with several recommendations, depending on intended use. While Noctua’s customers have probably already committed themselves to purchasing the best-performing CPU air cooler, we’d recommend the cheaper Mugen-2 Rev. B as a better value for nearly any configuration that has the necessary mounting space. Thermalright’s MUX-120, on the other hand, is the best performing solution for builds that have limited mounting space, while Cooler Master’s far cheaper Hyper 212 Plus is worth considering by anyone who requires a similar footprint but can’t live with Thermalright’s higher price....

Full Review - source for Pic above

There are plenty others out there - I'm sure - but here's a benchmarked comparison of the 10 listed above.

 

[Gooberman]

Omg that Cooler Master is $29.99 FS!!! lol i would def want that

 

[Computer_Freak]

i have it

my CPU (E6400 stock 2.13GHz Overclocked to 3.0GHz) is running 33 degrees idle and 44 degrees load (ambient 25)

pretty good...

gonna see how it works on a i5 system though...

it works better for lower heat applications, and its also very dependant on how you put the thermal paste...

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/19383-cooler-master-hyper-212-plus-cpu-cooler-review-10.html

this review though shows that it beats out a prolimatech (until max oc is reached)

i really think if you can put the thermal paste on the Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus properly, you will get good temps (as i have)

 

[awildgoose]

This is good, thanks for bringing it up. I have a i5 and on the stock cooler the temps... well lets just say I do not like them. This will defiantly help me out .