Recommendation for a new heat sink for a kinda old cpu

Hi,

I'm running a Gigabyte P55A-UD3P Mobo with Intel i5 core chip (stock settings) on an LGA 1156 socket. I assembled this system in mid 2010 and it's still running fine with me but the stock intel cooler's fan starts to drive me nuts by speeding up and slowing down a lot and this became very noticeable than ever before in previous years so I'm not sure why this is happening but I believe that it's degrading in performance so I believe it's time for another cooler may be.

I'm so far tempted to buy the cooler master Hyper Evo (COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/FM2/AM3+ - Newegg.com) just because it has 5 eggs and around 2700 reviews but I'm not sure if this one is actually good for my setup or there's a more updated cooler of this company or there's even a more popular one out there that I don't know even about.

Shall I go with this one or there are more coolers to think about than this one?. I'm focusing more on effective air cooling + very low sound levels (My budget can go up till 40$)

cheers

That cooler is popular because of "bang for the buck"---it's OK for most non-extreme overclocking needs and it's cheap.

Is it a big deal to you if your temps are 42 C in a warm room rather than 32 C?

People who buy it aren't likely to be interested in "very low sound levels" like you.

You aren't overclocking as far as we know.

You don't say if you are OK with a tall and heavy heatsink or if they can even fit into your case.

If low noise is a concern, look here at the list of the best low-noise coolers. Then investigate which are available for socket 1156 and in your price range.

Top 5 Heatsink Charts on FrostyTech.com

Here's one candidate that would fit in almost any case and is very quiet; socket 1156; $46 from Amazon:

Amazon.com: Scythe SCBSK-2100 BIG Shuriken 2 Rev. B CPU Cooler for LGA 2011/1366/1156/1155/1150/775 and Socket FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2 (SCBSK-2100): Computers & Accessories

Many thanks for the comprehensive answer :). I'll thoroughly check your links. Yes, I'm not interested in overclocking as I'm suffice with Intel Turbo Boost tech. and regarding noise, all I care about is that I don't notice noise even if it's night and everything is quite around me!
I don't care about tall/heavy heat sinks as long as it's not tricky to install it myself. I'm not too geeky but I can find my way around if it's not too complicated for an average user to install it :)

Regarding your question: 42 C will be almost perfect as my temps are usually in the late 40s and sometimes in the 50s anyway so I'll be happier :)

The Big Shuriken can be tricky to install.

If you want ease of install, look at Noctua coolers. Their most expensive units are out of your budget, but the lower priced units like the NH-L9i are very quiet, not tall, and easy to install. You might have to stretch to near $50.

Another one to look at, recently introduced:

Scythe Kotetsu SCKTT-1000; about $40 to $45; tall, but very, very effective. Not sure of noise level, but Scythe fans are generally high quality and low noise. I'd consider this if you are trying to drive temps into the low 30s. I don't care about getting temps down to that level, but some people do.

I plan to rebuild next year and will likely get a Noctua NH-L12.

I've solved that speed up/down by using canned air to blow out the finned heatsink it's mounted on, makes the fan work more efficiently.

Berton said:

I've solved that speed up/down by using canned air to blow out the finned heatsink it's mounted on, makes the fan work more efficiently.

I already blow dust regularly about every month but it doesn't help with that problem as the problem stems - as I believe - from the kinda low quality stock intel coolers

Guys, I think I'm settled on the ARCTIC Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2 since it has an arctic silver paste already per-applied (which is considered the best in thermal conductivity) and it will ease the process a bit on me but I'm kinda worried because the heatsink looks gigantic to me. This will be the first monstrous heatsink to install myself. I"m kinda worried that it won't fit the case and/or motherboard after buying it with no possibility to return it especially that I'm buying it from outside my country so let me ask you if you think I'll be OK with it with this setup:

Gigabyte P55A UD3P mb
Gigabyte Setto case

Screenshots for both mb and case have been attached. I think I'll have to remove that whole thing which acts like a tunnel for the hot air coming from CPU fan to be directed outside the case (I don't know what is it called :) ) but I won't be sure unless I get the heatsink first

P.S. There's no fan at the end of that tunnel thing!. I only have 1 fan at the rear of the case to pull the hot air accumulating inside the case to outside.

THANKS A LOT in advance

Googling tells me that case is 7.28 inches wide; that's 185 mm. That's an outside dimension

The Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 is 127 mm tall. Exactly 5 inches. That's fairly tall, but there are coolers above 6 inches.

185 minus 127 is 58 mm; which is just about 2 1/4 inches.

That 2 1/4 inches would have to allow for the thickness of the side panels to account for 185 being an outside measurement. And it would have to include the distance that the CPU top surface sits above the inside panel.

The side panels are probably less than 1/8 inch each, which would mean that the CPU top surface could sit as high as 2 inches above the side panel---not likely it's that high. Get in there and measure as best you can.

You'll probably be happy with it if it fits. It should. That cooler has been around quite a while and is frequently mentioned as a budget cooler for those who want a cooler that performs at least as well as the stock Intel cooler, but with less noise.

I'd say you are OK, assuming that funnel gizmo doesn't interfere. I'd probably plan on getting rid of the funnel and putting tape or something over the vent holes to keep the noise from escaping the case. The single exhaust fan is likely to be all you need unless you have a high powered video card. You can always upgrade that fan if needed.

Thanks ignatzatsonic for this informative post. I just realized I need to pull the whole mobo out if I order this cooler coz of the mounting bracket have to be installed on the back of the mobo under the socket . I'll keep on searching for other coolers that are similar to the Intel stock one but performing better and I fail, I'll stick with this one instead and go thru all the hassle of disassembling almost all case just to install the heat sink!