Best 120mm Tower Coolers?

BurningSkyline

BurningSkyline

New Member
Been putting some hardware lists together, have an opportunity to get cash together for a build. I've been using Ripjaws X in all of my lists, and the 40mm heatsinks might be an issue.

Any ideas which coolers would be the best in terms of performance, and RAM height? Theres the Coolermaster Hyper 212 series coolers, Corsair A50/A70, Xigmatech Dark Night & Gaia, etc.

Any recommendations welcome, and they don't need to be from my list either.
 
Computer_Freak

Computer_Freak

Active Member
Coolermaster Hyper 212 EVO.

No Other Cooler Will Touch it at that price rance, and even above it. (except your really high ends)

dualfan.jpg


the 1st temps are Dual fan, the 2nd single fan.

The heatsink will suffer at higher loads and much hotter chips, cause it doesnt have as much mass, but for the price, really cant fault it
 
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Computer_Freak

Computer_Freak

Active Member
thats very high. i idle at 33 and load hit 60 at most (prime95 for 3 hours). Playing BF3 i hit 52 most. also its summer and ambient temps are ridiculously high (we having 30 degrees in the shade, and its very dry heat cause we at an altitude of 1700m)

ram clearance is NOT an issue. Take a look at my board (Check the board here) the RAM slots are as close to the holes for the cooler screws as possible, and with dual fan setup i clear the RAM. Then again i have LP RAM, and i just (literally 1mm or maybe 2mm) go over the top of the 1st RAM.

But as i said, on my board, the RAM is as close to the CPU as possible. if its a little further out, you will not have any issue with any RAM
 
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salvage-this

salvage-this

Active Member
BurningSkyline said:
Sounds good, what about RAM Clearance? Also, what about the Xigmatek Dark Knight?
Click to expand...

The Dark Knight is a great cooler. It keeps my 955 around 48c when gaming at 3.8 and 1.5v. Currently it is idling at 34c. My only gripe with it is the AMD mounting system. I cut some of the springs to remount it vertically. Clears my ram with 3-5mm to spare on my m4a77td.

Just curious what are you going to build AMD or Intel?
 
BurningSkyline

BurningSkyline

New Member
salvage-this said:
The Dark Knight is a great cooler. It keeps my 955 around 48c when gaming at 3.8 and 1.5v. Currently it is idling at 34c. My only gripe with it is the AMD mounting system. I cut some of the springs to remount it vertically. Clears my ram with 3-5mm to spare on my m4a77td.

Just curious what are you going to build AMD or Intel?
Click to expand...

Probably Intel. Problem is getting the money... its not an easy thing for me. At this point in time, I am uncertain.
 
salvage-this

salvage-this

Active Member
Given the current situation, I would go Intel as well. If you are a bit lean on money I would go for the 212+ It is a great cooler for the price.
 
salvage-this

salvage-this

Active Member
I don't have one personally, but I just built a rig with those parts for a friend a few weeks ago. I'll get some info from him and get back to you.
 
salvage-this

salvage-this

Active Member
With no overclock at full load he is getting ~45c with a push pull configuration. I would think that a mild OC would be more than fine for that cooler. I have read that a lot of people can hit the 4.5 mark with that cooler pretty easy.

Hope that helps.
 
BurningSkyline

BurningSkyline

New Member
salvage-this said:
With no overclock at full load he is getting ~45c with a push pull configuration. I would think that a mild OC would be more than fine for that cooler. I have read that a lot of people can hit the 4.5 mark with that cooler pretty easy.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

Which chip runs hotter at stock- The 2500k or 955? Also would Ripjaws X RAM fit under the 212 Evo? I'm afraid the heatsinks are too high.
 
salvage-this

salvage-this

Active Member
I would think the 955. But that is just based on it being 45nm rather than 32nm.

The ripjaws X will not fit under the fan of the 212 EVO but I would guess that it is slim enough that you will not have it blocking the RAM slots of the motherboard.
 
Computer_Freak

Computer_Freak

Active Member
as i said, on my mobo, ram slots are very close (as close as can be to the holes to mount the cooler) and i fit in perfect (just slightly over the 1st ram slot, but LP ram is fine for that :D)

Just measure, you shouldnt have issues
 
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