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As summer temperatures soar, securing the best CPU coolers is going to protect your machine from overheating and ensure you get the best performance out of your processor. If you intend to overclock your machine and unleash the untapped potential of your CPU, a CPU coolers is an absolute must. There are two types of PC cooling methods: air-cooled and liquid-cooled. Air-cooled coolers are the most common and often the most affordable.
They take heat away from the CPU on a metal heatsink and either blow it away with a fan or cool the chip itself directly. Liquid or water cooling circulates liquid through the system with a hose. It is generally more energy efficient and quieter, but a custom water cooling loop adds more labor and expense.
For cheaper and simpler, go for an air cooler, or if you are also excited about those extra features, a smaller screen, go the AIO route. However, they are usually more expensive and often require a little more know-how. Each cooler on this list has been rigorously bench tested so you can see which one provides the most optimal CPU cooling under different workloads.
Here is the list of Best CPU Coolers
Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 CPU Air Cooler
Aptly named, Thermalright’s Peerless Assassin 120 SE offers the best performance of any air cooler we tested on Intel’s Alder Lake at a price below the competition. In our tests, it performed so well in cooling the Core i9-12900K that we retested it multiple times to make sure the results were correct. the Peerless Assassin 120 SE consumes over 200 watts more power than the competitor products we tested to keep the CPU cooling and performed much better than the competitor’s at lower temperature/TDP settings.
The cooler’s two 120mm fans did their job of dissipating all the heat with noise levels as low as 34.5 dB at maximum speed and 33 dB at 50% speed. They are also available in silver/gray, white, and black, so if aesthetics are important to you, they should fit most build themes. Overall, this is one of the best CPU coolers that you can buy right now.
Noctua NH-L9i CPU Cooler
While many tower cases have ample room for powerful coolers, many mATX and ITX cases are limited in how much they can fit. In such cases, you need to think carefully about what kind of CPU coolers you can fit; Noctua’s NH-L9i cooler is a very low-profile option that allows you to build the smart, small form-factor PC of your dreams.
The Noctua NH-L9i may not offer as serious cooling as some of the other contenders on this list, but that’s more or less par for the course for a compact PC. Nevertheless, it has a large radiator and a high-quality Noctua fan. This combination is sufficient to cool a variety of Intel chips, with the exception of many of Intel’s unlocked models and Extreme Editions. An optional mounting adapter can also support AMD chips in AM4 sockets.
Corsair iCUE H100i Elite Capellix
Easily one of the best CPU Coolers available on the market, the Corsair H100i Elite is an AIO cooler in a smaller form factor than its more powerful H115i Elite Capellix cousin, but with enough performance to keep the best processors on the market comfortably cool under load. 5 sockets, this cooler is ready for the next generation of desktop processors and has enough cooling capacity to handle just about anything Intel and AMD throw at it.
The most powerful Intel Core i9 and AMD Ryzen 9 chips run particularly hot, and these chips often require a more substantial 360mm AIO cooling unit, so if you’re looking at Core i7 and Ryzen 7 chips or under a stack, this cooler needs to higher than your ability to get the cooling you need, we say.
NZXT Kraken X53 CPU Cooler
NZXT took a balanced approach when designing the Kraken X53. This 240mm cooler has an RGB “infinity mirror” embedded in the water block area, creating the optical illusion of a bottomless abyss receding into the PC’s core. While this adds a bit of an unrealistic feel to the system, the fans included with this cooler are more subdued, with just two standard 120mm fans without LED illumination.
The company does offer a slightly more expensive version that includes RGB LEDs, but if you want high-quality heat dissipation hardware, the non-illuminated model is a more attractive option. The non-RGB Aer P radiator fan pictured is made with fluid dynamic bearings, which helps keep the cooler relatively quiet while still providing strong airflow.
Be Quiet! BW006 Pure Loop Liquid Cooler
Easily one of the best CPU coolers, the BW006 Pure Loop 240mm is the best cooler for gamers who want to focus on their games, not their PCs. 240mm is big enough to easily cool Intel Core-i7 and Ryzen 7 CPUs while keeping your will not be distracted. Its discreet design is all black and uses subtle white LEDs around the processor to let you know it’s powered on. More importantly, as its name would suggest, it is quiet.
Be Quiet! focuses on making cases and components that blend into the background, and that is certainly the case with the Pure Loop 240mm. 9 series processors, you may need to step up to a larger You will need to step up to a size, but this product will keep your CPU running at peak performance with any mid-high tier processor. what sets Pure Loop apart from other elite liquid cooling systems is that it is very easy to maintain. Currently, this is one of the best CPU Coolers that you can buy right now.
Zalman CNPS 10X Performa CPU Cooler
The Zalman CNPS10x Performa Black is a mid-sized quad heat pipe cooler featuring jet-black styling and a single, ultra-quiet 135mm fan that can slice through the CPU heat load of multi-core desktop enthusiast processors. With its $45 price tag and cooling ability to nip at the heels of the pack leader.
the Zalman CNPS10x Performa Black is in a strong position to become a favorite of system builders when they need to spend extra dollars on other components. zalman is a system provided the building community with an excellent, defect-free cooling option that looks good and allows them to focus their funds where they are needed most.
Noctua NH-D15 chromax CPU Cooler
Overall, it is one of the best CPU coolers, that you can buy. the Noctua NH-D15 is one of the best CPU coolers you can buy in 2019, because it performs as well as, if not better than, some liquid coolers at a fraction of the price Noctua’s name is relatively small in the world of CPU coolers, so you may not be familiar with the You may not be, but the company’s business revolves around cooler design, so when you buy their products, you know you’re getting products by people who really know their craft. In addition to great cooling performance, the NH-D15 is virtually silent.
EVGA CLC 120 CL11 CPU Cooler
EVGA’s CLC 120mm water-cooled CPU Coolers is a no-frills thermal solution that is almost as basic as it gets: just a 120mm radiator and a pair of tubes connecting it to a copper mounting plate and pump. The cooler is powered by a single 120mm fan capable of pumping 58.9 cubic feet of air per minute, and EVGA rates the fan noise at 20 dBA to 32 dBA during operation, with the water pump producing an additional 20 dBA of noise.
You won’t need to look for RGB lights or anything else to make this solution stand out, but this is one of the least expensive water coolers you can buy, making it attractive for any budget build. Currently, this is one of the best CPU coolers that you can buy right now.
Noctua NH-L12S
If you are building a small form factor PC, you will be hard pressed to find a better choice than the Noctua NH-L12S. Perfectly suited for home theater PCs, this small CPU Coolers offers incredible cooling capacity, and Noctua says the NH-L12S is compatible and effective with many of Intel’s 12th generation and Ryzen 5000 series CPUs.
Everything needed for installation is included in the box, plus the mounting surface of the fan can be changed for wider memory compatibility. While the NH-L12S is the performance leader among low-profile coolers, it suffers from design-specific limitations. While it works with many powerful processors, it is not the best choice for hardcore gaming or intense processing tasks.
Corsair iCUE H60i RGB Pro XT
The Corsair iCUE H60i RGB Pro XT is a compact yet powerful AIO liquid cooler that manages a small footprint and is ideal when space around the CPU is limited. It delivers liquid to a 120mm radiator with a 120mm fan and gets a cold version of copper pumped in to draw heat away, ensuring that the inside of your PC is nice and frosty. All of this is done quietly, as this cooler is only 37 dBA when running at its maximum setting.
Being an all-in-one option, you don’t have to mess around with priming and filling or spend a ton of money, as the Corsair iCUE H60i RGB Pro XT will set you back less than $100. With the Corsair iCUE, lighting to match the rest of your PC To get the effect, you can even get 16 individually addressable RGB LEDs on the pump head.
Final Words
When buying the best CPU Coolers for your budget, there are certain factors to consider. Things like the type of cooling for your budget determine how good your CPU cooler will be. We’ve listed a few key factors to remember when making your purchase to make things easier for you. such as Use case, Cooler Types, CPU Socket, TDP (Thermal Design Power), Sound.