Good coolers for under $50

[Trypt]

After all this, I think I'm going to have to just get the Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4, it's the only one that will fit no questions asked. I just checked the Dark Rock 4, and it will fit height into the case, but I, thankfully, checked BeQuiets site and guess what, it says that it will block the pci-e slot in the Asus Prime-Pro x570, somehow (I have no idea how that makes sense but ok). Unless they don't mean the pci-e x16 slot maybe there's a x1 slot just above that, I better check as I really want that cooler, although the NH will do.

 

[Blaylock]

I'm pretty sure you came here asking for recommendations on a budget cooler.

Can someone recommend a good CPU cooler for x570 boards with a Ryzen 3rd gen cpu?

Don't get discouraged if people give you suggests on what to buy and what to stay away from. That's what this forum is all about. There are other options besides the ones you have listed.

Here are some suggestions

Silver Arrow

Le Grand Macho

Scythe Ninja 5 (watch you clearances for sure with this one!)

Thermalright Macho (Rev C)


I hope this helps.

 

[Trypt]

The silver arrow looks great but again, it won't fit into the Phanteks. I think I'm resigned to a top flow, and I did find this Dark Rock TF that is 220W and will definitely do the job, but is so expensive, I almost feel like for that money I should be getting something else. I guess I'm not ready to bite the bullet yet, I can't believe how tough it is to fit a cooler into my case!

The Macho rev C does seem to fit, but now that I am worried also about the pci-e slot for some reason, I have to look deeper into it. It does seem to be the best so far, better than the Noctua U12 I know, but also bigger.

 

[Blaylock]

Wait a minute. Am I missing something? Is your case modified or has Phanteks misrepresented the CPU cooler clearance?

I am missing something! PCPartPicker is listing the height wrong and Amazon isn't listing it at all!

I had to go to teh Thermalright site to get the actual size which, as you are saying, will not fit.

Crazy.

 

[Bustos]

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/JCq48d

I image searched your case. Nearly every build I looked at was AIO or flat air cooler, until I came across the above. He could fit a NH-D15 into it. How sure are you that the El Grand Macho will not fit? Seems to me you have room for it.

 

[freeagent]

 

[ehume]

You asked for $50 or less. The prices from China are going up because of the tariffs. And Scythe is usually relatively cheap and is made in Japan, not China.

The Ninja line from Scythe uses 120mm fans. Alone among what have been suggested, Scythe uses 120mm fans. And if a heatsink uses 120mm fans, it is usually lower in height. I have always found that to be true of Scythe coolers.

To get better dimensions, look at listings on Newegg. You may still buy from Amazon, but in my experience, Newegg is often cheaper.

 

[Bustos]

FYI, he changed his mind on the budget for the cooler and opened it up.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Water cooling sounds like a fish tank but can typically be quieter than air cooling....

Lol.

 

[freeagent]

I just looked at that phanteks case, it has clearance for 160mm cpu cooler, not sure why LGMRT would not fit, as it is 159mm tall. The fan does not extend past the heatpipes, so clearance wouldn’t be an issue. It is also offset so it shouldn’t block much of anything. On mine it does block the 8 pin cpu power. Plug it in before the cooler I’ve seen people use that cooler in matx systems. Looks badass in that environment lol. Seems like you have your mind set on a downdraft.. good luck!

 

[Trypt]

Thanks for EVERYTHING guys, it was a tough one, and I was going to take a chance on the Dark Rock 4 (or the more expensive but definitely fit Dark Rock TF which looks awesome), but since it couldn't be here until Monday, I just went for the Noctua U12S AMD model. I will install it in an hour, and if it fits and the temps are ok, I'm keeping it. If not, for whatever reason, it's going back and I'll go with the Dark Rock TF (top down two fans).

I will post an update once I'm done, maybe I'll figure out how to add a picture to show you how tight everything is.

I still don't get exactly how BeQuiet! site says that the Dark Rock 4 Pro fits my mobo without obstruction, but the Dark Rock 4 doesn't, but I wasn't about to take a chance on that. It says on their site that the Dark Rock 4 obstructs the pci-e slot, which seems totally weird to me, as the dimensions don't seem to make sense (that one is 159mm high so it would have fit and it's not as prices as the TF model). Oh well, Noctua looks great, it came this morning (Amazon 1 day shipping, which wasn't available for the Dark Rock, either of them).

 

[ehume]

Don't go with the Dark Rock TF unless you want a headache. I reviewed it here: https://www.overclockers.com/quiet-dark-rock-tf-review/
I would recommend the Noctua. In fact, Noctua also makes low profile heatsinks which you can explore.

 

[freeagent]

Enjoy!

 

[Trypt]

Ok, here is an update.. better late than never (picture at end of this post, my first time with a pic, hope it goes)..

Before I get into the temps, just look at the space on the rear/top where the 5th fan should go, it's empty cuz there is no way in heck I can fit a 140mm in there due to the two cpu power cables on the top left of the mobo, unless I don't want to do cable management. This mobo barely fit into the case as it is, I had no idea the Phanteks was such a tight fit (but I do love it). I believe I can force a 120mm fan into the top slot though, I tried already and I think it'll fit but I need a better fan than I have, probably will get the same type as the 140mm.

If you guys see anything else I should do let me know.

About the temps. So idle, not much diff at all, it still jumps between 40C and 50s, right now as I type (that's all I'm doing), it's about 43C and jumps to 49C on occasion.

With the P95 blend test, it goes into the low 70s and the PC is still quiet, but the torture core test, CPU max heat, it goes into sounding like a vacuum right away, but at least this time it doesn't hit the 95C limit, it goes to 92C right away and stays there (I only let it for a few mins, it fluctuated between 91C and 93C).

At that temp on the torture test, Ryzen Master said I'm hitting 4.1GHz all cores, I guess that is acceptable for a torture test, now I do see that there is nothing I can do about this, I read more online and sure enough temps for this sucker are high, most people can't run the torture test without hitting the limiter so at least I got away from that.

That being said, playing ANY game so far doesn't spin up the fans at all, PC is ultra quiet and playing Witcher 3 or Middle Earth barely uses the cpu anyway so maybe that's why, like 9% usage at 1440p. Probably a cpu intensive game would go up a bit, but I doubt I'll ever use the cpu like P95 does, although I'll have to test handbreak encoding, and if that makes the cpu go 93C I'll have to get some other solution, as that is part of what I do.

 

[Zerileous]

I wonder if your temps would be better without the top exhaust. It appears as though it would just suck cool air away from the CPU cooler. Every other fan is oriented vertically so it could just be interfering with an otherwise pretty smooth flow pattern.

 

[ehume]

Ok, here is an update.. better late than never (picture at end of this post, my first time with a pic, hope it goes)..

Before I get into the temps, just look at the space on the rear/top where the 5th fan should go, it's empty cuz there is no way in heck I can fit a 140mm in there due to the two cpu power cables on the top left of the mobo, unless I don't want to do cable management. This mobo barely fit into the case as it is, I had no idea the Phanteks was such a tight fit (but I do love it). I believe I can force a 120mm fan into the top slot though, I tried already and I think it'll fit but I need a better fan than I have, probably will get the same type as the 140mm.

If you guys see anything else I should do let me know.

About the temps. So idle, not much diff at all, it still jumps between 40C and 50s, right now as I type (that's all I'm doing), it's about 43C and jumps to 49C on occasion.

With the P95 blend test, it goes into the low 70s and the PC is still quiet, but the torture core test, CPU max heat, it goes into sounding like a vacuum right away, but at least this time it doesn't hit the 95C limit, it goes to 92C right away and stays there (I only let it for a few mins, it fluctuated between 91C and 93C).

At that temp on the torture test, Ryzen Master said I'm hitting 4.1GHz all cores, I guess that is acceptable for a torture test, now I do see that there is nothing I can do about this, I read more online and sure enough temps for this sucker are high, most people can't run the torture test without hitting the limiter so at least I got away from that.

That being said, playing ANY game so far doesn't spin up the fans at all, PC is ultra quiet and playing Witcher 3 or Middle Earth barely uses the cpu anyway so maybe that's why, like 9% usage at 1440p. Probably a cpu intensive game would go up a bit, but I doubt I'll ever use the cpu like P95 does, although I'll have to test handbreak encoding, and if that makes the cpu go 93C I'll have to get some other solution, as that is part of what I do.

View attachment 206975

The top fan is stealing intake air from your Noctua heatsink.
You have slot covers on empty slots. Remove them.
The spot your top fan is in is bad. Either you should flip the top fan and make it an intake, or move the fan to the back and leave it as an exhaust.
You can put a pull fan on your heatsink. You should do it: if you remove the rear grill and current exhaust fan, a pull fan on your heasink will exhaust your case.
Finally, I cannot see your side panel. If you want to put a fan on it and you have a 120mm window, remember the area fans actually sweep. A 120mm fan only sweeps about 75% of the square area. A 140mm fan with 120mm standard fan holes (Scythe for makes one called the Kaze Maru) sweeps 100% of the window, with just a little exceeding the square.
Stuff to think about.

 

[Bustos]

playing Witcher 3 or Middle Earth barely uses the cpu anyway so maybe that's why, like 9% usage at 1440p

A little off topic but what FPS are you getting on 1440p and at what settings?
Is it me, or is that very low for CPU usage while gaming?

On topic, what cooler is that?

 

[Zerileous]

Not sure how many cores those games use, but 9x12 = 108. In other words that's one thread at 100% + some background. With multi-core CPUs load % can be deceptive with single threaded workloads.

 

[Blaylock]

I can confirm for you that handbrake will load your cpu very much like P95 with AVX.

 

[Vendition]

Check them online and based on the reviews select one which meets your requirements.