Noctua cpu cooler for...

iLikeWaffles

Looking to upgrade a recent build with a cpu cooler that will keep it cool. I was looking at a Noctua cooler but I am not sure which one will be the best fit for the case and complement the CPU to keep temperatures down. Temp hit 65°c (cpu 1+3) under load so its time to ditch the stock cooler for something a little more appropriate. Could not afford to budget in a cpu cooler at the time but I can afford something decent now.

Specs:
Intel Core i7 4790K 4 Core 8 Threaded 4x4.00GHz So.1150
16GB (2x 8192MB) Corsair Vengeance schwarz DDR3-1600 DIMM
Microsoft Windows 7 Pro SP1 64 Bit
ASRock H97 Anniversary Intel H97 So.1150 Dual Channel DDR3
120GB Samsung 750 Evo 2.5" (6.4cm) SATA 6Gb/s
Fractal Design Core 2500 case (might upgrade to R5 in November)
PSU 500 Watt Corsair CX 80+ Bronze Modular
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti

Was looking at pc part picker https://pcpartpicker.com/products/cpu-cooler/#sort=a3&page=1&m=99 but as I said not sure which will be best for the build I can afford whichever one will be best. Quietness and coldest is what I am after. What would you guys recommend. Noctua or others I am all ears.

Thanks

Digital Solitude

65°C isn't hot at all to be honest, that's a very good load temperature.

Spear

As a general rule Noctua do make very good stuff. They don't skimp, even on the packaging. I've got the Noctua NH-D15 on my 8core i7. With the reduced speed fans, it's still very quiet under full load. It's on the costlier end of the spectrum though.

Redfox25

Get a hyper evo on there. King of the low cost and yet effective air coolers. Just check it will fit first.
Circa 25stg on amazon last time I checked

iLikeWaffles

Redfox25 wrote: »

Get a hyper evo on there. King of the low cost and yet effective air coolers. Just check it will fit first.
Circa 25stg on amazon last time I checked

Hyper evo what's the make of that? I know not what a stg is! Low cost is no concern I have no budget.

Son Of A Vidic

I have an Noctua NH-D15 in my rig. It's my first Noctua cooler and I'll never go back to anything else after this. Whisper quiet with great cooling performance and while it will cost you, it certainly is worth the value. You also need to make sure your case can fit it in. I have mine inside a Phantek Enthoo Pro M case and there are no issues with clearance ect.

IRAC War

iLikeWaffles wrote: »

Hyper evo what's the make of that? I know not what a stg is! Low cost is no concern I have no budget.

Employ Penelope Cruz to poor LN2 over the CPU for you.

Redfox25

Was on my phone

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Master-RR-212E-16PK-R1-Performance-Universal/dp/B0068OI7T8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471031856&sr=8-1&keywords=hyper+evo+212

twinsen

I have my noctua nhd-14 for 4 years now. Although it performs really good, it looks ugly as hell. The only reason i didn't replace it is that there is nothing better. Unless you go for a proper watercooling, but that cost a lot.

iLikeWaffles

twinsen wrote: »

I have my noctua nhd-14 for 4 years now. Although it performs really good, it looks ugly as hell. The only reason i didn't replace it is that there is nothing better. Unless you go for a proper watercooling, but that cost a lot.

Do they come pre Thermal'd noctua coolers? Looking at the pictures of them they look bulky. Worried it will fit now beside the RAM and video card. Depth is no problem I think 17cm there.

twinsen

iLikeWaffles wrote: »

Do they come pre Thermal'd noctua coolers? Looking at the pictures of them they look bulky. Worried it will fit now beside the RAM and video card. Depth is no problem I think 17cm there.

It will fit no problem, unless you have a very tall ram

see here:

mossym

no offence to those with them but the noctua's are the most god ugly thing you will put in your system. i know the look is secondary to the performance, but you see some beautiful rigs with a big brown lump in it, kills it.

i(just this morning ) put a be quiet dark pro 3 in my rig. looks a whole lot better than the noctua, and according to the gigabyte tuning utility it's runnning under 40's at a cpu stress test, that's non-oc, going to let it run for a day or two before i upgrade. considered the noctua, but even though my case isn't on show, and is nothing to look at, i couldn't bring myself to drop a noctua in there. ocd to the max

Sneak

What are the noise levels like in comparison to an Intel stock cooler in the noctua? They wouldn't be that ugly if they had choosen a better colour scheme but not too arsed with aesthetics.

IRAC War

Noctua are pretty quiet. There's one low profile jobby they make with an 80mm that is a bit whiney but anything with a 140mm should be almost silent.

moc moc a moc

Not a huge point in spending money on better cooling unless you're planning to overclock. I'd be thrilled if my processor only ran at 65° under load.

iLikeWaffles

twinsen wrote: »

It will fit no problem, unless you have a very tall ram

see here:

Yeah the ram modules are tall. What height are yours they look to be just touching!

mine: Vengeance


Don't suppose I could remove that top part or get the hacksaw out....

What it looks like inside is unimportant!!



From the picture it doesn't look like there is a fan on the opposite back side could that be installed the opposite way?

twinsen

iLikeWaffles wrote: »

Yeah the ram modules are tall. What height are yours they look to be just touching!

mine: Vengeance


Don't suppose I could remove that top part or get the hacksaw out....

What it looks like inside is unimportant!!



From the picture it doesn't look like there is a fan on the opposite back side could that be installed the opposite way?

I only have the old version of noctua nhd14, but new version nhd15 has cutouts where the ram goes, so I think you should be fine.
see below:

iLikeWaffles

twinsen wrote: »

I only have the old version of noctua nhd14, but new version nhd15 has cutouts where the ram goes, so I think you should be fine.
see below:

I'm not sure I get how that will work unless its installed without the second fan. Or the fan is installed on the opposite side of the RAM. Can it even be installed that way though. Case airflow is front to back 2:1


If I move the fan up like I have seen in other images it will be sticking out the side of the case and I won't get the side on.

iLikeWaffles

Thanks for the suggestions going to order the NHD 15 S. Just one more thing anywhere I can get a can of compressed air cheaply was looking on amazon and they either don't deliver to Ireland or else deliver from the moon. Case is quite dusty inside down to the holes for the top mountable fans being wide open. Got some dust covers for the empty fans holes so dust build up shouldn't be a problem after the upgrade!

Squidgy Black

iLikeWaffles wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions going to order the NHD 15 S. Just one more thing anywhere I can get a can of compressed air cheaply was looking on amazon and they either don't deliver to Ireland or else deliver from the moon. Case is quite dusty inside down to the holes for the top mountable fans being wide open. Got some dust covers for the empty fans holes so dust build up shouldn't be a problem after the upgrade!

Compressed air is impossible to get shipped due to it being a pressurised container etc, you should be able to get it in any hardware store or maplins.

Redfox25

Or go to Dealz and get it for 1.50 a can. Better buy a few as they dont last long.

iLikeWaffles

Might try this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wO3Jpglj1E

iLikeWaffles

Redfox25 wrote: »

Or go to Dealz and get it for 1.50 a can. Better buy a few as they dont last long.

Got a couple of cans in dealz today for 1.50 each. Vapour coming out of them half the time got lucky with using them on graphics card and fans. Fans were very dusty. Didn't risk blowing the mobo with them.


Anyway NH-D15S installed to a snug fit I am very surprised with the noise levels. The Fractal fans that came with the case are louder on full blast and even then they are quite. Average cpu temp 26° as I type have to see what its like under heavy use. Happy out, Thanks again for the help lads.....

Edit: Medium use is 53° with the same use being 62° with the stock cooler.
While I was playing the battlefield 1 beta cpu temperatures hit 80°c with the stock cooler.