Top Tier CPU Air Coolers Q3 2015: 9-Way Roundup Review
by E. Fylladitakis on July 6, 2015 8:00 AM ESTTesting results, maximum fan speed (12 Volts)
| Core Temperature, Constant Thermal Load |
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*Note: When the cooler has two different fans, the fan speed of the faster fan is recorded.
We should start by noticing that one should be extremely careful when reading the performance charts. Even though some of the coolers are of similar design or size, their performance differs greatly. Similarly, coolers with similar thermal performance may have great differences in size, acoustics and or price.
Without a doubt, the grandest example of this warning is the Okeanos. Reeven's offering outpaces nearly every other cooler, comparing directly with Noctua's and Cryorig's finest, when tested at our maximum load and has the best average absolute thermal resistance. However, this is not due to excelling technology or design. On the contrary, the Okeanos is simpler and smaller than most of the coolers in this review. This achievement is simple brute force through high speed fans, which places the Okeanos far behind any other offering on acoustics.
Not unexpectedly, the thermal performance charts are being led by the Noctua NH-D15, the Cryorig R1 Ultimate and the Phanteks TC14PE. These are the best coolers of the most renowned manufacturers, so one would expect interative designs over time to yield benefits. The performance differences between these three offerings, thermal and acoustic alike, are very small. Raijintech's Tisis is the surprise of this review, with similar thermal and acoustics performance to that of the best coolers. The Tisis also has the best low load performance, where the charts shift greatly.
The Dark Rock Pro 3 from Be Quiet! offers lower noise levels but falls a little behind on thermal performance. Not the same can be said about Deepcool's offering, the Assassin, which does not match the thermal performance of the best coolers but is neither quieter nor notably cheaper. The performance gap is rather small but the Assassin is at a disadvantage. The Grandis falls even further behind in terms of thermal performance while the noise levels are similar, but SilentiumPC designed it to be more budget-friendly than other offerings, not to compete with the elite on terms of raw performance. Thermalright's Macho Zero is also an inconsistency in this review, as this cooler is not meant to provide maximum thermal performance and hits the bottom of our absolute thermal resistance charts. On the other hand, the Macho Zero paired with the TY147A is by far the quietest cooler in this review, being whisper-quiet even while the fan is spinning at maximum speed.
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jenesuispasbavard - Tuesday, July 7, 2015 - link
I've had great performance with the Spire Thermax Eclipse II for five years now, and for the last three years, even better performance when paired with two Corsair SP120's. It's still the highest rated heatsink on Frostytech; not sure why it isn't included here.jenesuispasbavard - Tuesday, July 7, 2015 - link
Edit: Maybe too old? Released in mid-2010 I think.Iketh - Tuesday, July 7, 2015 - link
did I miss the thermal medium? what paste is used? I've looked over the article twiceBeany2013 - Wednesday, July 8, 2015 - link
Whatever was supplied - it's a test of the product as supplied (for most of them) or as recommended by the manufacturer (as in the TR one, where they provided a suitable fan when requested, as the rest came with one).Thermal pastes are best tested on *one* cooled as a known quantity, really, which would be a separate test of it's own, I'd say.
Iketh - Tuesday, July 7, 2015 - link
also, EVGA's cpu ACX cooler should be in a cheaper roundupcreed3020 - Wednesday, July 8, 2015 - link
Thanks for the review! This is certainly your best review since joining AT, kudos to getting a good spread of products from around the world. There were a few in there that I hadn't heard of so it was great that the final results would be a surprise.The results were somewhat what I expected and nice to see where each of the companies's products sit. I have to say that not having the Cyrorig on the final recommendation is a bit sad as their products are simply bespoke. I don't have the R1 Ultimate but I do use their C1 in my SFF case on an overlocked Core i5 4690k and the temperature to noise performance is unbelievable, especially compared to some SFF coolers I've used in the past from other vendors.
Looking forward to more of these, perhaps a SFF cooler showdown could be next...?
JimmiG - Wednesday, July 8, 2015 - link
I went with the Phanteks PH-TC14PE back when I built my Haswell system back in 2013. It and my (de-lidded) 4770K are still holding up fine.All those coolers are really close though, especially at full fan speeds. We've probably hit the limit of air cooling with heatpipe technology at this point.
PPB - Thursday, July 9, 2015 - link
Why review the Macho Zero and not the True Spirit 140 Power or the IB-E Extreme? Those 2 are far a better match for the rest of the lineup that the one you reviewed from Thermalright.katinacooker - Saturday, July 11, 2015 - link
Cryorig stock is availble in the UK from Alternatehttps://www.alternate.co.uk/html/search.html?query...
I got my R1 Universal from there
DPOverLord - Saturday, July 11, 2015 - link
You can't do a real air cooling review without the Thermalright Silver Arrow, this review is lacking.