Solved Ready to try Overclocking, which cpu cooler?

[Lava King]

Hi all, I've been considering an upgrade but before I spend that money, I'd like to see what kind of performance I can get from my present system.

The big question now is, which cpu cooler should I get? I know that the stock cooler is inadequate and will have to be replaced before any tweaking takes place.

I'm trying to decide between the Corsair H100 and the EVGA Superclock. According to this graph Prolimatech Lynx CPU Cooler Review | Hardware Secrets they're pretty close in performance.

The price difference between the two doesn't bother me much, but I'd like to think that I'm getting what I pay for. What does bother me is a significant number of H100 consumer reviews complaining of pump noise or failure.

So, is hardwaresecrets.com trustworthy (the linked article claims that all the listed coolers were re-tested on the same rig) and is the H100 reliable?

Does anyone have either of these coolers?

Opinions?

 

[Dwarf]

I don't overclock myself, and I only have the stock cooler that I purchased with my CPU installed, so I can't answer any specific questions on either of these coolers (or any others that you might consider). The main advice that I can give is to read as many reviews as you can for the cooler(s) that you are tinking about, paying particular attention to the satisfaction rating. Another thing to be aware of is whether it will fit in your case and not interfere with motherboard components.

 

[NooNoo]

Depends entirely on what CPU you have as to what I can recommend to you.
Personally, I've overclocked my Q6600 and used an Arctic Cooling Freezer 13, which is quite cheap but delivers a good performace for the money (around 15degrees C lower than stock at idle, slightly more under load). It's got brackets and the like to broaden the range of CPUs it can be attached to, if yours is in the list then I recommend you give it a shot.

Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 Intel and AMD Socket.. | Ebuyer.com

 

[Andreas W]

I don't know about the H100, but I am using a H80 on my i7 860 that is overclocked to 3.8 with HT and my max temps is 69, and I am using a push pull config with 2 noctua. I hope this could atleast give an idea on temps. And I would strongly advise you from not using the corsair fans that comes with the H80/100 at full speed those fans sounds like a motorboat

 

[V43L1N]

I don't know about the H100, but I am using a H80 on my i7 860 that is overclocked to 3.8 with HT and my max temps is 69, and I am using a push pull config with 2 noctua. I hope this could atleast give an idea on temps. And I would strongly advise you from not using the corsair fans that comes with the H80/100 at full speed those fans sounds like a motorboat

I completely agree with Andreas, the corsair fans are insanely noisy.
My rig has an i7 2600K @ ~5.0Ghz and my H100 with quad Noctua NF-S12B's in push/pull keep it frosty.

If you do end up going with the H100, plan to spend extra cash on better fans. Noctuas are the way to go IMO.

 

[essenbe]

My experience is quite different, although I will agree about the Noctuas with V43L1N. I have the H100 with 4 Noctuas in push/pull. I am not happy. My temps are way too high for me. However, I can't blame it on the H100. I have tried to cool it with a Thermaltake FRIO and an NH-D14. They couldn't do it either. And I have used IC Diamond thermal paste, as well as Artic Silver and Noctua's paste which is quite good. It may just be the chip. I have found none of the coolers mentioned above or the thermal pastes to make much difference. As far as it fitting your case, you have the HAF 932 listed. I have a HAF X which are basically the same case. It will fit perfectly in the top of the case. I will also agree with the advice above to not use the corsair fans. They sound like you are standing next to a 747. Go, Noctua. They are expensive, but do an excellent job. 5 year warranty and I have all 4 connected to the PSU dorectly thus running 100% all the time. I can't even hear them. And no adapters to slow them down was used. That's just my experience.

 

[pparks1]

I overclock on my stock Intel cooler and have no problems. My Q9550 was bumped from 2.83Ghz to 3.40Ghz on the Stock cooler, with a minor DROP in voltage and I idle between 28-32c and max around 65c under Prime95.

 

[Solarstarshines]

I find the Antec 620 does a real good job on my Overclock but the 620's Big brother Antec 920 Is about 30 to 40 bucks more but worth it

I wanted to go the Corsair route but when i seen them in person and how many returns and open boxes i passed

 

[Lava King]

Thanks, y'all, I appreciate the input.

I would really like to go for the H100 but I can't ignore the numerous consumer reviews and comments about the noisy pump and/or pump failure.

I'm not ready for a "full on" water cooling solution so it looks like I'll go for an air cooler.

The thing is, the various hardware review websites have it in their own best interests to NOT give a bad review, to do otherwise would probably lead to their new hardware submissions drying up. I'm not saying that they're dishonest, you just have to carefully read (sometimes between the lines) the reviews to get the whole picture.

Still haven't made a choice, I'm off to read even more reviews.

 

[pparks1]

Hyper 212 is always a good choice. Great cooler and low price.

 

[Solarstarshines]

If you read more about overclocking alot of people recommend the H100 overall

Like I was saying earlier the Antec i bought beats out the Corsair by a few degree's

It's really hard to Judge what will perform the best Ussually it will perform only as good as it was installed pretty much meaning people that had issues probally didnt install it correctly

Even with the easy set up Vids it isn't all that easy

 

[linnemeyerhere]

I was one of the first to install and run my H100 and I have nothing but praise to heap. I went from stock to Zalman to an H50 to push/pull to the H100 with p/p noc's. Agree the Corsair fans must be speed controlled and what you can do is order 2 Noctua fans and use the provided speed reducers to quiet the Corsair as exhaust fans then phase II the other two Noc's at $19.00-$24.00 each it does add up! Noise from the pump.....none and I run the pump full blast all the time. Sealed water has come a long way but I too feared the idea but once I used the H50 all fear faded and only higher overclocks came! There of course are outstanding air solutions available.

 

[Wishmaster]

I have a eVGA Superclocked on my 2700K, so I can share my thoughts about it.

The Pros:
-Cooling Performance is quite good. It may not be the best choice for extreme overclocks, but it does do very well.
-Its design also tend to cool the PWM area as well.
-Easy to install and very secure mounting. Bolt on type installation.
-It looks very nice with its matte black and Red lights.

The Cons:
Its Loud!!!! Its high speed fan really will scream.

The only saving grace here is if you can adjust the fan profile in the bios.
I have mine set to top out at 80% MAX speed, which reduces the noise a great deal while still keeping good thermal performance.

Granted, it normally will not reach those those speeds and stays fairly quite for the most part. Even gaming. But if you run a Benchmark, or anything thats heavily CPU intensive to heat up the CPU (such as Video Encoding that will max the all cores), it will ramp up and you WILL hear it easily above all else.



Honestly, I think I should have went with something like the 9900MAX Zalman for asethic looks, but a 212+ would probably be pretty close as well for 1/2 the price.
Im satisfied with it, as for the most part it doesn't need to ramp the fan up that high. But still, its certainly worth pointing out.
That loud, high speed fan is the only flaw with this cooler IMHO.

 

[essenbe]

I personally believe it depends on what type of overclocking you intend to do. For a more moderate overclock there are several good coolers out there that will do the job. If you want to do serious high overclocks you better pick your cooler carefully. It also depends on what CPU you are overclocking. My experience is with the 2500K and the 2600K. It ultimately gets down to how many volts you put to the CPU. I have an H100 with 4 Noctua fans in push / pull. I run all 4 fans at 100% all the time and they are dead silent. I have had no issues that you speak of such as pump noise and water leaks. my pump runs at 22-2300 RPMs all the time. But, for cooling it just does not do the job for me. When I run Intel burn test at around 1.38V temps get to 80C, which I don't believe they should. I also have a Noctua NH-D14. Before I damaged a few parts of it ( I'm a dummy) I have run over 1.4V and never seen 80C. When my new parts arrive I am sure that at some point, the Noc will go back on. However, I am only talking about benchmark tests. On normal use, even gaming the H 100 does well. At the same voltage I mentioned above, I can game for hours with a max temp of 55. So to me, it all depends on what you want to do. If you are going to do just moderate overclocks the 212+. Evo a zalman or the H100 and several others would do well for you. IMHO, if you are like me and like to 'play in bios' and push the limits on air, you should look for something like th NH-D14 or the Silver Arrow or maybe the phantaks. If none of those 3 will keep it cool, you will have to go full water. that has been my experience anyway. Another consideration is your ambient temps. I live in Florida where it gets quite warm. If you are in a much cooler climate, your experience will be much different than mine. I have a friend who has basically the same rig as me, but lives in the UK. His Thermaltake Frio does outstanding for him. But, he was running his in a much cooler climate than me. just my opinion.

 

[freakyguy88]

Newegg.com - 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/AM3+

 

[Lava King]

I greatly appreciate the input from everyone.

I've taken into consideration the info posted here and read reviews (professional and consumer) until I was cross-eyed.

On the Corsair forum it was stated that the return or failure rate was less than 2% but I just didn't want to chance it.

So, I've ordered an EVGA Superclock cooler. I'm not going to try to push my E8500 to the absolute max, just want to get a good, stable OC. I'll post my results when I have them.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Lava King,
It sounds like you made a good informed decision. The look of the equipment in our rigs can be extremely important. I'm sure when I get my 800D with it's huge side window then I'll re-evaluate the lighting and look of several items as well. Take some shots when it's going in and tell us how you like it after it's broken in.

 

[Wishmaster]

@LavaKing

When you install the eVGA SC cooler, make sure to pay attention to the backplate. Ive seen a few that shorted thier Mobos installing it.

The backplate has one side thats coated which should be against the MOBO, and it also has rubber grommets that go beween the HS and both sides of the MOBO.
It isn't that difficult, but i think a few may have just threw it together in a hurry without paying attention resulting in issues.

As I mentioned before, once you get it up and running, just set a fan profile to quite it down if you choose. It is a good cooler overall.


One other thing that may be worth mentioning.
You can put a slower RPM, quieter fan on it but it seems to choke its performance somewhat. Perhaps if you go this route you'll have better luck but it seems its design really depends on that high speed fan, largely when the CPU is at MAX load.

It does look quite nice and does a very good job though.