# what is the best air cooler ever



## codyjansen (Jan 10, 2010)

what is the best air cooler ever? i have been wondering that for a while now.


----------



## afw (Jan 10, 2010)

Noctua NH-D14 / Thermalrite IFX14 / Prolimatech Megahalems / Prolimatech megashadow ....

EDIT: All of the above are high-end coolers ... their performance will depend on the fans+thermal paste+casing used ...


----------



## Kantastic (Jan 10, 2010)

I wouldn't go near a D14 or IFX, the best (reasonable sized) cooler is the Prolimatech Megahalems or Thermalright Venomous X.


----------



## TheShad0W (Jan 10, 2010)

the Zalman CNPS10X is also looking pretty decent, guru3d reviewed it as better than the D14.
I'd also suggest giving IC Diamond Thermal paste a go, I've seen some very positive things about it...


----------



## smashed_99cbr (Jan 10, 2010)

best for a certain price range? or best period?


----------



## razaron (Jan 10, 2010)

go here and scroll down the page. the thremalright venomous x is pretty good.


----------



## RejZoR (Jan 10, 2010)

I'd say TRUE. It's a all around winner that has been used on high end systems for several years now and still works great. Sure there are now better coolers by a small mergin, but TRUE lasted fr quite some time and i don't remember any other cooler achieving that. Performance and popularity.


----------



## douglatins (Jan 10, 2010)

Great so now i have to order a Venomous X


----------



## jjFarking (Jan 11, 2010)

Have you seen the size of that Venomous X?
Sure, it beats the CNPS10X, but look at the size difference. This means that, pound for pound, the Venomous X is actually less efficient than the Zalman - the difference in temperatures is not all that great if you do a size to efficiency comparison.
I'm not even mentioning the weight of that beast..

My vote would go to the Zalman CNPS10X


----------



## PaulieG (Jan 11, 2010)

TheShad0W said:


> the Zalman CNPS10X is also looking pretty decent, guru3d reviewed it as better than the D14.
> I'd also suggest giving IC Diamond Thermal paste a go, I've seen some very positive things about it...



Umm, NO. I own the Mega, and I've owned the CNPS10X and the TRUE. Honestly, the CNPS does not even belong in the same category as the TRU or Mega. It's a vastly inferior cooler. Whoever it was that did the review at guru must have been smoking some good shit when coming to that conclusion.


----------



## 3volvedcombat (Jan 11, 2010)

jjFarking said:


> Have you seen the size of that Venomous X?
> Sure, it beats the CNPS10X, but look at the size difference. This means that, pound for pound, the Venomous X is actually less efficient than the Zalman - the difference in temperatures is not all that great if you do a size to efficiency comparison.
> I'm not even mentioning the weight of that beast..
> 
> My vote would go to the Zalman CNPS10X



Look i d=know most of us dont even care about the size, why should we?
If were going to lay down the money for the best aircooling avaliable, then its alright if its big.Most of us that are buying true's and prolimetech heatsinks have big, wide, well ventulated cases, and have experience building systems.So who cares if its big, at least it aint bigger the a Noctouse 14 beast, which covers 4 ram slots -_-.

THERE is no reason to care about the size of the heatsink, unless it interfears with your system. The only heatsink that can basicly do that is the noctouse beast 14 heatsink. Even trues and many other heatsinks interfear with rigs, but the venomouse x couldnt be that big.

I just saw a size comparison, and im amazed the TRUE and the Venom X are the same size, the EXACT same size. Wow.


----------



## jjFarking (Jan 11, 2010)

Paulieg said:


> Whoever it was that did the review at guru must have been smoking some good shit when coming to that conclusion.



LOL!
I guess you cannot take the word of just one reviewer 
Are there any _more reliable_ reviews that you know of?


----------



## jjFarking (Jan 11, 2010)

3volvedcombat said:


> Look i d=know most of us dont even care about the size, why should we?
> If were going to lay down the money for the best aircooling avaliable, then its alright if its big.Most of us that are buying true's and prolimetech heatsinks have big, wide, well ventulated cases, and have experience building systems.So who cares if its big, at least it aint bigger the a Noctouse 14 beast, which covers 4 ram slots -_-.
> 
> THERE is no reason to care about the size of the heatsink, unless it interfears with your system. The only heatsink that can basicly do that is the noctouse beast 14 heatsink. Even trues and many other heatsinks interfear with rigs, but the venomouse x couldnt be that big.
> ...



If strictly speaking in regards to the OP's question, then perhaps, you're right.
Would you, then, vote the Noctua NH-D14 as the best?


----------



## mastrdrver (Jan 11, 2010)

I love my Noctua NH-D14.

While the only other one I've had was the OCZ Vendetta 2 that I used several different fans on to find good clocks, I've been extremely impressed with the cooling ability of the D14. I can run my i7 overclocked to 3.8Ghz passive with only the case fans doing the work. While it is very large, using just the 140mm fan in the middle it is more than capable. I'm really impressed with how quite it can be while still being able to cool a i7 to 4.2Ghz.


----------



## dustyshiv (Jan 11, 2010)

Paulieg said:


> Umm, NO. I own the Mega, and I've owned the CNPS10X and the TRUE. Honestly, the CNPS does not even belong in the same category as the TRU or Mega. It's a vastly inferior cooler. Whoever it was that did the review at guru must have been smoking some good shit when coming to that conclusion.



Paulie's words come by experience!!

But I experienced this.
I personally own Zalman CNPS10X Extreme. Its cooling one of the i7 clocked at 3.9 GHz thats crunching 24/7 at 100% CPU usage. Temps avg. from 65-69 degree C. Ambient room temp is about 30 Degree C.

Personally Im satisfied with this one. The only downside is the noise the fan makes when its runnin full throttle.


----------



## Kantastic (Jan 11, 2010)

jjFarking said:


> If strictly speaking in regards to the OP's question, then perhaps, you're right.
> Would you, then, vote the Noctua NH-D14 as the best?



Not till we see some more reviews of the Venomous X.


----------



## Tatty_One (Jan 11, 2010)

The best Air cooler ever is and has to be the TRUE, simply because even though a couple of coolers may now pip it by a couple of degrees, the TRUE has been proven and at the top for like 3 years, when it's current competitors have been at the top of their game for as long then they can be considered...... having a great cooler that is No1 for 3 or 4 months is good, but having one so competative for 3 odd years is GREAT!


----------



## Animalpak (Jan 11, 2010)

Zalman CNPS 9700 NT.


----------



## t77snapshot (Jan 11, 2010)

There is no one best air cooler, more like several top coolers that are on par with each other. Yes the TRUE is very effiective, but there are also a couple non-true coolers that perform just as well.​[/LEFT]


----------



## Tatty_One (Jan 11, 2010)

t77snapshot said:


> There is no one best air cooler, more like several top coolers that are on par with each other. Yes the TRUE is very effiective, but there are also a couple non-true coolers that perform just as well.​[/LEFT]



For the last 3 years?


----------



## Jody2k (Jan 11, 2010)

I have bought the Zalman cnps10X and I'm very glad with the results!
I'm running my core I5 on 4120 mhz with a core voltage of 1.57 V and the tempertures wont go above 63-65 °C (depends on ambient temperture) on 2houres full load with Intel burn


----------



## Tatty_One (Jan 11, 2010)

Jody2k said:


> I have bought the Zalman cnps10X and I'm very glad with the results!
> I'm running my core I5 on 4120 mhz with a core voltage of 1.57 V and the tempertures wont go above 63-65 °C (depends on ambient temperture) on 2houres full load with Intel burn



1.57V for 4.1gig on an i5    I have an i7 920 but the old (not so good) C0 stepping and I can bench and OCCT stable at 4.2gig on less than 1.3V...... that seems a lot of voltage.


----------



## SoulTribunal (Jan 11, 2010)

Good to see lots of Love for one of my Favorite Companies (Zalman).

Personally speaking though the cooler is good and bad. Its retention system for i7's / i5's is sub par compared to Last Generation LGA775's (See System Specs, mine cools a 9550).

That being said the Cooler relies both heavily on how it is mounted and how much air it can be fed to operate properly. So a Case is just as important in consideration.

The Zalman FLEX uses a much better retention system and is ready to go for mounting twin Fans in Push Pull config (And you won't have as many clearance issues as you will with Noctua's). Couple that with some Coolermaster R4's (Very good blade pitch and static pressure for the cost) or SanAces (Just monsters of static Pressure) and you have a winning combination.

No cooler is 100 the best for every situation. That is why there are so many on the market today. Its merely a matter of finding what works best for you.

So, I'll toss my name in the hat for the Flex with R4's.

ST


----------



## Jody2k (Jan 11, 2010)

Tatty_One said:


> 1.57V for 4.1gig on an i5    I have an i7 920 but the old (not so good) C0 stepping and I can bench and OCCT stable at 4.2gig on less than 1.3V...... that seems a lot of voltage.



yeah I know but it's the only way to get it stable  thats way I have a good cooler


----------



## kyle2020 (Jan 11, 2010)

Id have to say either the AC Freezer Pro or the Xigmatek HDT S1283 Rifle - why? the AC is the best bang for buck cooler on the market, PERIOD. The Xigmatek is also damn cheap and performs just shy of the TRUE and other more expensive, heavier coolers.

$0.02


----------



## TheShad0W (Jan 11, 2010)

Jody2k said:


> I have bought the Zalman cnps10X and I'm very glad with the results!
> I'm running my core I5 on 4120 mhz with a core voltage of 1.57 V and the tempertures wont go above 63-65 °C (depends on ambient temperture) on 2houres full load with Intel burn



it takes THAT MUCH voltage to get 4.12Ghz out of yours?

Mine'll do 4.3Ghz on 1.44v - you sure there's nothing else limiting it?


----------



## erocker (Jan 11, 2010)

Best air cooler ever? Well, many many people bought AC Freezer Pro's and Xigmatek 1283's. Of course there are better performing, possibly better looking coolers, but the two I mentioned are kind of iconic really. Many companies copied their designs.


----------



## Jody2k (Jan 11, 2010)

TheShad0W said:


> it takes THAT MUCH voltage to get 4.12Ghz out of yours?
> 
> Mine'll do 4.3Ghz on 1.44v - you sure there's nothing else limiting it?


 I cant tell, If I just lower the Vcore voltage, it keeps crashing (blue screen or aslo for example 3dmark vantage stops working and goes back to the desktop with a error message etc...) but when I go to V1.55+ I don't have these Issues, also I need to put the VTT to 1.47... 

I dont know why, my rams dont seems the issue...I have a MSI P55-GD65 MOBO and I'm quiet experienced with overclocking (about 8-10years) Maybe I overlooked something? 
I also disabled the needed CPU features


----------



## TheShad0W (Jan 11, 2010)

Jody2k said:


> I cant tell, If I just lower the Vcore voltage, it keeps crashing (blue screen or aslo for example 3dmark vantage stops working and goes back to the desktop with a error message etc...) but when I go to V1.55+ I don't have these Issues, also I need to put the VTT to 1.47...
> 
> I dont know why, my rams dont seems the issue...I have a MSI P55-GD65 MOBO and I'm quiet experienced with overclocking (about 8-10years) Maybe I overlooked something?
> I also disabled the needed CPU features



That's massive VTT too... I only need to push my VTT that high when I'm running the ram up to 2100+Mhz

What're your other settings, and what're you using to test with (I'd give a few hours of OCCT a go if you've not already). I can't honestly remember what my high performance profiles are but I'll look them up tomorrow - quite late here now, I'm off for the night


----------



## Jody2k (Jan 11, 2010)

TheShad0W said:


> That's massive VTT too... I only need to push my VTT that high when I'm running the ram up to 2100+Mhz
> 
> What're your other settings, and what're you using to test with (I'd give a few hours of OCCT a go if you've not already). I can't honestly remember what my high performance profiles are but I'll look them up tomorrow - quite late here now, I'm off for the night


 well I don't use the other voltages settings really... because they didn't give some extra stable performance... my multiplier run's on 21(cant go higher) and turbo is on  

It would be greatfull to give me some full settings that worked for you  just pm me then, grtz!


----------



## trt740 (Jan 11, 2010)

*These are the best* 
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/thvexcpuco.html 
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/thbauncpucos.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/thulbledrec.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/prmeforinso7.html 
*Not in any order* and besides the Baram they are basically all the same design and are all based off the TRUE. For the money Baram is the best.  In most tests it's within the margin of error of the other coolers or  performs better and costs a bunch less , but for pure cooling it could be any of them.

Baram   http://www.techreaction.net/2009/12/04/2546/


----------



## niko084 (Jan 12, 2010)

Zalman's are nice and pretty quiet but they are FAR from the best coolers around *cooling power wise*

They also still hold a pretty price jack for the name, which IMO is like buying an Apple, when any jack that can use google can build a pc and install Mac OS


----------



## phanbuey (Jan 12, 2010)

Jody2k said:


> I have bought the Zalman cnps10X and I'm very glad with the results!
> I'm running my core I5 on 4120 mhz with a core voltage of 1.57 V and the tempertures wont go above 63-65 °C (depends on ambient temperture) on 2houres full load with Intel burn



I call BS 

Pics or it didn't happen... lets see 1.57V at 4120Mhz running intel burn test and temps below 65C with air CPU-z in the screenshot plz.  Water couldn't keep that voltage under 80 without ice cubes in the resevoir.  Not to mention, I need 1.36v for 4.2Ghz, 1.57 is just an absurdly high number.

As far as the best coolers:

The Megahalems, True, IFX-14, and the new Noctua cooler with the dual fans are some of the best on the market.  The noctua would get my vote.


----------



## erocker (Jan 12, 2010)

Aiiiieee yiieee yieee. I really hope all those volts aren't being run through that chip. It's a shame those CPU's aren't heavier, it won't even make a good paperweight.


----------



## Jody2k (Jan 12, 2010)

somehow the core volt changed to 1.52 V when benching... dunno why


----------



## dustyshiv (Jan 12, 2010)

Guys,

Sorry to interrupt...If anybody comes to get opinions on best coolers on this page, they get discussions abt OCing. I am tempted to post as well my results and pics...but I think we have to remember that this is a post about best cooler. Why dont we keep our OCing suggestions on i7 oc thread or PMs.

Correct me if Im Wrong!!


----------



## sneekypeet (Jan 12, 2010)

its called Vdroop. It happens to most motherboards, and usually the gap increases as the voltage gets higher.

If your motherboard has a laod line calibration, it is supposed to correct the droop.

@ dusty, to me if it rox on an i7 its gonna keep any CPU cool


----------



## phanbuey (Jan 12, 2010)

Holy sh*t.

Do you live in the arctic? Is it out a window?


----------



## Jody2k (Jan 12, 2010)

sneekypeet said:


> its called Vdroop. It happens to most motherboards, and usually the gap increases as the voltage gets higher.
> 
> If your motherboard has a laod line calibration, it is supposed to correct the droop.
> 
> @ dusty, to me if it rox on an i7 its gonna keep any CPU cool



alright then  thanks, I will put this little thingy off then because it has caused trouble enough


----------



## Jody2k (Jan 12, 2010)

No everything comes to sense now... The vdroop function was taking the voltage under control, thats why I had such a cool temperture... when I set the vdroop now to "low" with the same voltages... omg! my tempertures where increasing so high that I pulled the plug  

Now I can run stable @ 1.4 V 

So the bitch vdroop was the cause of all troubles


----------



## SoulTribunal (Jan 12, 2010)

niko084 said:


> Zalman's are nice and pretty quiet but they are FAR from the best coolers around *cooling power wise*
> 
> They also still hold a pretty price jack for the name, which IMO is like buying an Apple, when any jack that can use google can build a pc and install Mac OS



The Zalman passes a very important test for me however. It can cool my 9550 Passively while folding should the fan ever fail. And its the technology thats into the Zalman too. It took a lot of yelling from people to get these TRUES and lookalikes with fans included.
That makes a difference for alot of users. Sure , they ain't the best, nor is my Zerotherm , nor is my Spire but they all work well.

As for another Zalman the Flex, its dirt cheap (Up here at least) and is a very solid performer.

ST


----------



## phanbuey (Jan 12, 2010)

Jody2k said:


> No everything comes to sense now... The vdroop function was taking the voltage under control, thats why I had such a cool temperture... when I set the vdroop now to "low" with the same voltages... omg! my tempertures where increasing so high that I pulled the plug
> 
> Now I can run stable @ 1.4 V
> 
> So the bitch vdroop was the cause of all troubles



ah ok... that does makes sense lol.


----------



## TheShad0W (Jan 12, 2010)

In the original GD-65 bios you turn OFF load line calibration to make it compensate for that
Sounds counter-intuative I know, but mine idles about 0.032v below its load voltage, so I can use less voltage.
Have to test single-threaded benchmarks as well as quad-threaded though, since the voltage is a good bit lower on one core.


----------



## kyle2020 (Jan 12, 2010)

back on topic guys? Talk about going a stray, wow . . .


----------



## HammerON (Jan 12, 2010)

I would have to (and I did) go with the Noctua NH-D14~


----------



## JTS (Jan 16, 2010)

HammerON said:


> I would have to (and I did) go with the Noctua NH-D14~



+ Ditto - But then I hadn't even heard of the Venomous X when I ordered 


At any rate, it will still do the job


----------



## Jody2k (Jan 16, 2010)

The Noctua NH-D14 does only a little difference compared to the Zalman CNPS10X ( 1 a 2 degrees in full load) and it costs olmost 30Euro more, also it's HUGE! 

For my opinion it's the CNPS10X that's the best cooler, Price/kwality


----------



## SoulTribunal (Jan 16, 2010)

Jody2k said:


> The Noctua NH-D14 does only a little difference compared to the Zalman CNPS10X ( 1 a 2 degrees in full load) and it costs olmost 30Euro more, also it's HUGE!
> 
> For my opinion it's the CNPS10X that's the best cooler, Price/kwality



You should Try a Flex with a pair of Coolermaster R4's mounted on it.

That thing has potential.

ST


----------



## 20mmrain (Jan 17, 2010)

I personally think my CM Hyer 212 plus but maybe that's just my favorite!


----------



## mastrdrver (Jan 17, 2010)

Jody2k said:


> The Noctua NH-D14 does only a little difference compared to the Zalman CNPS10X ( 1 a 2 degrees in full load) and it costs olmost 30Euro more, also it's HUGE!
> 
> For my opinion it's the CNPS10X that's the best cooler, Price/kwality



Depends on the cpu.


----------



## Rakesh95 (Jan 17, 2010)

Um what about the v10? isn't that any good?, but i wouldnt mind an AirCOn with a dark knight. That would be great


----------

