Air, water and copper pipes: 5 best CPU coolers of 2017

Due to the low cost, the Deepcool GAMMAXX 300 has been one of the most popular tower coolers for many years in a row. Its price is commensurate, rather, with simple non-tower coolers like Deepcool Gamma Archer Pro Price from 489 up to 729 ₴ than with towers of other brands.

GAMMAXX 300 has not lost its relevance even after the release of the AMD AM4 platform, which, due to incompatibility with the AM3+ socket, put an end to many other coolers. The GAMMAXX 300 is attached not with the help of a back plate (backing plate), which is of a different size for the AM4, but with a universal latch. Thanks to this, the cooler is also very easy to install. The claimed noise level is only 21 dB, but in fact the fan is far from silent, although still within the comfort range.

It will not be possible to install GAMMAXX 300 except on Intel LGA2011-v3 and 2066 processors, since they require a separate backplate that is incompatible with LGA1150 and 1151. However, there is little loss: it is not recommended to put a cooler with only three heat pipes on processors with a TDP of 140 watts. But the Deepcool GAMMAXX 300 is great for building a quiet PC with an Intel Kaby Lake processor (up to 91 watts) or AMD Ryzen (up to 95 watts), even if you plan to overclock it a little.

The choice of low-profile coolers for assembling a PC in a thin case, such as Fractal Design NODE 202 without PSU Price from 2 799 up to 16 105 ₴, small in east european retail. Noctua NH-L9i Price from 1 999 up to 3 226 ₴ undoubtedly, it is good, but it costs a little expensive. In fact, the only low-cost alternative is Deepcool HTPC-200.

The cooler radiator consists of separate aluminium and copper heat pipes. Given that there are only two tubes and they are placed exactly in the centre, there will be guaranteed contact with the processor chip, so the absence of a contact plate intermediary is excusable.

The fan diameter is 8 cm, which is comparable to box coolers. I would like more, but in this case the impeller could rest against the radiator of the processor power circuit on the motherboard. As a result, the modest dimensions of the Deepcool HTPC-200 allow it to effectively cool only processors with a TDP of up to 80 watts. Fortunately, for the Intel LGA1151 platform, which is now the only relevant one for assembling Mini-ITX format computers, this is more than enough, with the exception of chips with an unlocked multiplier.

Thermaltake Contac 21 belongs to a new class of compact and cheap processor coolers called small towers. Other representatives of this class are Zalman CNPS5X Performa, Xilence M403 and be quiet! Pure Rock Slim.

Despite the relatively small height of the radiator (14 cm) and the diameter of the fan (9 cm), the Thermaltake Contact 21 is able to remove 140 watts of heat, that is, as much as full-size towers like Deepcool GAMMAXX 300 similar in cost. This was achieved by increasing the number of heat pipes from three to four and increasing the maximum speed of rotation of the impeller from 1600 to 2400 rpm. At maximum rpm, the fan emits a buzzing (30 dB) that is clearly distinguishable against the background of other PC components. In addition, the bushing bearing of the fan is less durable (30K hours of operation) than hydrodynamic.

However, if you install Thermaltake Contact 21 on a less hot processor (Kaby Lake or Ryzen c TDP 54 – 95 W), the fan will rotate at half power, while remaining very quiet. In addition, versions of this cooler with mounting on AM4 motherboards in the kit are already starting to go on sale (check the availability of this part before buying).

Enermax ETS-T40F-RF is the largest and most expensive air processor cooler, which now generally makes sense to buy. Structurally, it is far from a supercluster: there is only one tower, four heat pipes and one fan. Nevertheless, the manufacturer claims the removal of as much as 200 watts of heat, which is enough even for extremely overclocked processors.

The ETS-T40F-RF fan deserves special attention: the diameter of 14 cm allowed to reduce the rotation speed to 1200 rpm. And thanks to the bearing with magnetic centering, the impeller is not heard at all (19 dB). But keep in mind that the height of the cooler is 16.2 cm, so it will not fit into every computer case (see the article "TOP 5 best computer cases of 2017").

We can advise Enermax ETS-T40F-RF to owners of Intel LGA2011 and 2066 processors, experienced overclockers and lovers of complete silence. For the rest, it is more reasonable to buy a single—section dropsy for this price — it may not work more efficiently, but it will definitely look more spectacular.

Cooler Master Seidon 120V V3 Plus is one of the cheapest CPU water cooling systems on the market. Many air coolers, especially double-towered supercoolers, are more expensive. You can argue endlessly about what cools the processor more efficiently — air or liquid, but its definitely looks cooler.

The single-section design of the Seidon 120V V3 Plus allows you to fix it in almost any PC case in place of a conventional 12-cm fan: at the back, top, front or even side, if only the length of the tubes (31.5 cm) is enough.

The Seidon 120V V3 Plus heat spreader is blown by two 12-cm fans with red backlight. They rotate at speeds up to 2200 rpm, which in itself is quite noisy. To this it is worth adding also the sound of the working pump of the water block. In total, we get noise from 20 to 39 dB, which is louder than most air coolers. Therefore, we can recommend Cooler Master Seidon 120V V3 Plus only to those who assemble a PC in a case with a transparent side wall and are ready to sacrifice silence for the sake of a spectacular exterior.