# cpu cooler for 2500k-air or water?



## mediasorcerer (Sep 20, 2011)

i just put together a system about 2 weeks ago,and am looking to upgrade the stock intel cpu cooler that came with i5k chip im using,i dont know whether to go for cheaper end liquid cooling ,or upper end air cooling,

i have around 100$ au to spend thereabouts,and am leaning towards air cooling as it may be the simplest way to do the job,

my rig-asus p8z68 m pro,
giga 6850 oc
650w antec
gskill rjaws 1600-2x4g
matx case.+ i5 2500k

can anyone suggest a good cooler for me,its a minefield out there,so many on the market,and also i have matx case so cant fit above 13cm high,unless its horizontal etc,

any suggestions ?


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## Kantastic (Sep 20, 2011)

Your mATX Cooler Master case might give you some issues with larger air coolers. Why don't you opt for one of those AIO liquid cooling systems like the Corsair Hydro series H50/H60/H70/H80/H100 or the Antec Kuhler series 620/920? They perform on par with high-end air cooling and cost as much as low-end water.


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## Altered (Sep 20, 2011)

If it fits in your case (check dimensions) there is a nice Thermaltake FRIO cpu cooler for $40 from rickss69 in the BST section here.  Or a Corsair H50 for $60 from AudiTuner here as well. Either one should do the trick.  I bought one of the Thermaltake FRIO from rick69 for the same reason as you. My chip seems to OC extremely well but the stock cooler keeps me from anything above 4.0


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## Kantastic (Sep 20, 2011)

Altered said:


> If it fits in your case (check dimensions) there is a nice Thermaltake FRIO cpu cooler for $40 from rickss69 in the BST section here.  Or a Corsair H50 for $60 from AudiTuner here as well. Either one should do the trick.  I bought one of the Thermaltake FRIO from rick69 for the same reason as you. My chip seems to OC extremely well but the stock cooler keeps me from anything above 4.0



He says he has $100 AUD to spend, meaning he's Australian. I don't think he'll want to be buying from the US.


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## Altered (Sep 20, 2011)

Aww crap  my bad. Just was looking at options recently myself is how I knew they were there. Oh well from what I have seen they both should do the job and seem to be reasonably priced even purchased new.

The Frio is 139(L) x 98(W) x 165(H) mm if that helps.


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## mediasorcerer (Sep 20, 2011)

cheers people,am checking out your suggestions right now,i measured the space between cpu and case ,it is 130mm so anything over that is a no fit,but i can bolt on a radiator @120mm x120mm to an empty fan grill on the case lid,-so maybe cheaper end water cooling is the go!

for around 100$ here ,its looking like the  antec kuhler h20 620[$89] or hydro h60 corsair
[99$] au, there are some air coolers that have horizontal profiles,noctua nhc14 looks like good gear,but it may hit the ram too,so i have to really study on the size before i buy it ,
with a single fan radiator,can add another fan later too


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## mediasorcerer (Sep 20, 2011)

Kantastic said:


> Your mATX Cooler Master case might give you some issues with larger air coolers. Why don't you opt for one of those AIO liquid cooling systems like the Corsair Hydro series H50/H60/H70/H80/H100 or the Antec Kuhler series 620/920? They perform on par with high-end air cooling and cost as much as low-end water.





Altered said:


> Aww crap  my bad. Just was looking at options recently myself is how I knew they were there. Oh well from what I have seen they both should do the job and seem to be reasonably priced even purchased new.
> 
> The Frio is 139(L) x 98(W) x 165(H) mm if that helps.



its a great looking design too,i wanted to get it,but the height!!! rules out a lot,you know what a hassle sending stuff back,lol


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## Altered (Sep 20, 2011)

mediasorcerer said:


> its a great looking design too,i wanted to get it,but the height!!! rules out a lot,you know what a hassle sending stuff back,lol


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## mediasorcerer (Sep 20, 2011)

yeh,chainsaw haha!! il post a pic, ":ghetto mod" ,


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## mediasorcerer (Sep 20, 2011)

think ill go the antec kuhler h20 620-89$ ,anyone recommend any better?[that will fit]


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## Zen_ (Sep 20, 2011)

A Hyper 212 with two fans is good up to around 4.8 GHz @ 1.45v or thereabouts. It has a nice bolt-thru mount for all sockets and is a little lower profile than the big boy air coolers (Megahalems, Ultra 120, D14, etc.). 

I'm probably in the minority around here, but I don't see the point of the price point (i.e. cheap) h20 systems either. The radiator doesn't have much more surface area than most 120mm air coolers. There's a certain cool factor and the exhaust does vent more efficiently, but overall the price / performance is not that good. I think there's reason the popular Corsair systems only have a two year warranty...the little Chinese water pump is only going to last X number of hours before failing or buzzing like crazy, at which point you have a fancy paperweight since it's integrated.


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## claylomax (Sep 20, 2011)

This is one of the best air coolers at the moment, beating Corsair/Antec water cooling kits without the noise. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/thermalright-archon.html  EDIT: Sorry, I don't know if it will fit in your case.


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## mediasorcerer (Sep 21, 2011)

Zen_ said:


> A Hyper 212 with two fans is good up to around 4.8 GHz @ 1.45v or thereabouts. It has a nice bolt-thru mount for all sockets and is a little lower profile than the big boy air coolers (Megahalems, Ultra 120, D14, etc.).
> 
> I'm probably in the minority around here, but I don't see the point of the price point (i.e. cheap) h20 systems either. The radiator doesn't have much more surface area than most 120mm air coolers. There's a certain cool factor and the exhaust does vent more efficiently, but overall the price / performance is not that good. I think there's reason the popular Corsair systems only have a two year warranty...the little Chinese water pump is only going to last X number of hours before failing or buzzing like crazy, at which point you have a fancy paperweight since it's integrated.



hmmm,thats exactly what i was thinking about the water coolers too,how long till failure,and when /if failure occurs? what next=water everywhere?? haha,
but im limited due to matx case,although im intending to create my own case from scratch soon,which should be fun and a challenge!thanx fr input too btw!


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## mediasorcerer (Sep 21, 2011)

claylomax said:


> This is one of the best air coolers at the moment, beating Corsair/Antec water cooling kits without the noise. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/thermalright-archon.html  EDIT: Sorry, I don't know if it will fit in your case.




oh man that looks great,and sounds like it works a charm too,cheers for info,i only got 130 mml clearance unfortunately,but that doesnt preclude a horizontal air cooler.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Sep 21, 2011)

I'm using a Matx case too, so i will probs be going with a Corsair Hyro cooler myself. I only have about 120-130mm above my cpu socket.

This case, cheap i know but i will change to a better one asap.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/ibox-cube-micro-atx-pc-case-221068


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## mediasorcerer (Sep 21, 2011)

mines an elcheapo too,[im sure coolermaster make good cases,just this one is very low end]its generic 1980,s computer box,but at least i got some reasonable mid range components,it stays cool enough considering,but come summer,may be a different story in 40c heat,

theres room to put a 120x120 radiator/fan on the case lid with liquid setup,but not much for anything else ,except horizontal air cooler maybe,

anyone had experience with antec kuhler h20 620??? that or corsair im thinking,read a few reviews sounds ok so far.

[photo attachment]notice power cable out the front-lol,had to modify it to make all fit,psu was a juggling act,but the case is cheap so doesnt matter,going to create my own when i get the materials,il post it up too why not,building from scratch.
hey tigger,do u play red orchestra on steam?


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## Deleted member 24505 (Sep 21, 2011)

Mine has a 120mm fan in the front, so i figure i can put the radiator for the cooler there, and hope the pipes reach the cpu socket.

I think your case is probs better than mine but i like my little square cube, fits the shelf under my desk nicely and its not on the floor.

EDIT-I have the first red orchestra on steam, you still play it? i can install it if you fancy a game.


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## Hayder_Master (Sep 21, 2011)

I think noctua D14 will fit, check it, it's one of the best air cooling


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## mediasorcerer (Sep 21, 2011)

tigger said:


> Mine has a 120mm fan in the front, so i figure i can put the radiator for the cooler there, and hope the pipes reach the cpu socket.
> 
> I think your case is probs better than mine but i like my little square cube, fits the shelf under my desk nicely and its not on the floor.



i checked the length of the pipes on the kuhler h20 620,they are longer than the corsair i believe,[about 12 inches long],and some others too,for some reason the antec kuhler looked better quality to me eyes,just from pics on the web /reviews etc,compared to corsair h60,but i may be wrong,my case is very cheap,yours looks nicer i think!!! but i didnt buy it for looks anyhow,it was the cheapest i could get the day i bought all the parts,knowing id toss it when i build my own,


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## Deleted member 24505 (Sep 21, 2011)

Here's a couple more pics of my case, its kinda funky but cheapo.















You can see the front 120mm fan hole


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## mediasorcerer (Sep 21, 2011)

tigger said:


> Mine has a 120mm fan in the front, so i figure i can put the radiator for the cooler there, and hope the pipes reach the cpu socket.
> 
> I think your case is probs better than mine but i like my little square cube, fits the shelf under my desk nicely and its not on the floor.
> 
> EDIT-I have the first red orchestra on steam, you still play it? i can install it if you fancy a game.





Hayder_Master said:


> I think noctua D14 will fit, check it, it's one of the best air cooling



yeh thats what i thought too,looks like a very well made unit too,thats the one with one fan underneath,one on top/configurable isnt it?


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## Deleted member 24505 (Sep 21, 2011)

Its from maplins, £44 i think.


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## mediasorcerer (Sep 21, 2011)

tigger said:


> Here's a couple more pics of my case, its kinda funky but cheapo.
> 
> http://img.techpowerup.org/110920/p6s646.jpg
> 
> ...



man thats incredible what youve done with that!!impressed big time,inspiring me!!haha good one for posting thanx!
ps im playing the latest one ro2,never played the first version,been playing fps for years but never discovered ro series until a week ago,pretty good game.not without glitches but good .im on steam under"mediasorcerer" always looking for friends why not? although i been playing fps for yrs,never done online but want to try now.looks like good fun!


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## Deleted member 24505 (Sep 21, 2011)

Just added you ok, i will be buying RO2 asap. The first one is still pretty good though.


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## mediasorcerer (Sep 21, 2011)

tigger said:


> Just added you ok, i will be buying RO2 asap. The first one is still pretty good though.



can i get it from steam?couldnt find it there,


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## EastCoasthandle (Sep 21, 2011)

Check out this thread for some ideas.


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## mediasorcerer (Sep 21, 2011)

oh buddy,great thread,thankyou !! checkn out now,

CHEERS ALL FOR YOUR GRACIOUS HELP HERE!!


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## Deleted member 24505 (Sep 21, 2011)

you can get both on steam.


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## mediasorcerer (Sep 21, 2011)

cool tig i will get it!!  im lovin ro2 but it also drives me mad too,lol!![in a good way of course]

ps,i ordered the antec kuhler h2o 620,hope i made right decision,aaah,i will post a pic when it gets here,and give you guys the low down on what i think of it,why not? eta tomorrow i think,cant wait,love new toys!! then i can start  oc ,cant without it.

ps,to all here-GREAT COMMUNITY!!! THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING SO HELPFUL TO ME,

kind regs from me in aus.


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## mediasorcerer (Sep 22, 2011)

hey i got the antec water-cooler in ,it is working great,cpu sitting on 28c+/- 2c,
used asus auto tune ai=cpu-4738mhz,gpu-1450-mhz,[is that any good?]

heres a pic anyhow,as i said i would,it was a real iq test to install,lol,the instructions were hopeless but i nutted it out using common sense and logic,

runs without much noise and seems quite stable,if anyone wants to help me oc from bios manually,that would be grand!! never done it b4 so,

thanx for your interest and ideas/support,the antec seems like quite a good unit,time will tell!!!

its not that loud anyhow and kills stock intel cooler.and it fits,yahooo,

heres  pics anyway folks,cheers from me too as always!


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## Deleted member 24505 (Sep 22, 2011)

Your card is a tight fit against that psu, if your card was a tad longer it would not have gone in.

I will get one of these cooler types in a couple of weeks. 

Nice oc on your gfx card too, i'm assuming that's a memory clock?


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## mediasorcerer (Sep 22, 2011)

tigger said:


> Your card is a tight fit against that psu, if your card was a tad longer it would not have gone in.
> 
> I will get one of these cooler types in a couple of weeks.
> 
> Nice oc on your gfx card too, i'm assuming that's a memory clock?



i think it is,im just learning about overclocking tig,thats why i did it with the asus auto tune etc,i got a fair idea how to do it in bios,but havent got round to experimenting yet,

i went one round further from there,but hit a blank screen,looks like it wont go much over that,the next level was a shade under 5 gig lol,phew,thankfully asus has inbuilt protection!!!!!

i reckon far as i can tell,that wasnt a bad effort with the gear i have,
if i chucked nother fan onto radiator,may go further,

anyway,the antec seems like good gear,its a small case,and to get it to there must mean its ok as is,the gpu was outrageous!!! the psu wouldnt fit the right way round anyway,so i did some home surgery on the case,and just got there!!!! its tricky getn gpu in and out tho,have to be real careful,lol.

cant wait to get some perspex and aluminium to make my own case,that will be fun and a challenge,

hey i did ro2 online last night,was great fun,hope u get it,want to create a team !
kind regs frm me.


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