I’m looking to build a new gaming desktop. I’d like to do air cooling and am wondering which CPU cooler would be the best to go with. You can’t go wrong with an NH-D15 but has anything else come out recently that’s worth looking at?
On a 5800X3D you could easily get away with a Pure Rock 2 which also comes in all black. A Shadow Rock 3 is a bit beefier. A Dark Rock 4 might be a little overkill, but also a fine choice. There are plenty of others from other brands as well, but the be quiet fans are top notch.
I would get whatever is the better price, but since the 5800X3D isn’t overclockable, I wouldn’t spend more than necessary. The 5800X3D has a “TDP” of 105W, so anything that can handle a “TDP” of 150W+ would be more than sufficient.
I would also highly recommend watching Hardware Canucks cooler reviews as they do have a forward focus on cost to performance.
theres lots of choices, all cost about the same and offer similar results.
there are alternatives also…
thermalright have a good rep for coolers that work within 1-2% of coolers x2 the price. sometimes even beating them.
typically there coolers can go for 30-60 with there assassins range being comparable in both looks and performance to NH-D15 but at a lower price…
so as long as you pick on with a high enough tdp rating.
you can save a chunk of change
thermaltake also have some decent coolers as does arctic.
shit even zalman have relaunched there all copper, looked cool-af back in the day, 9900
(i dont recommend you put it on anything with more than 65w, but still… its a centre piece cooler on the right cpu )
I’m currently building a 7950X system (having problems) which i’m putting a NH-D15 on. I built a 5950X system last year (no problems whatsoever) on which I put a NH-U12A and it’s absolutely fine with temps - runs about the same as my i9-12900 build with a Fractal 280mm AIO.
ETA: You might want to check out Paul’s Hardware channel on YouTube. He’s been at CES 2023 where there are plenty of new cooling solutions from manufacturers such as ThermalTake, BeQuiet! and the big case and mobo manufacturers. He’s been doing very good coverage. There are a bunch of YouTubers there (or there were).
Just keep in mind that there is more to cooling than TDP and the number of heat pipes/fans. Process node size, IHS thickness, thermal interface material, mounting pressure, fan static pressure, fans curves, and ambient/case temps all play a role in the larger cooling solution as well. Even the overall flatness of the IHS and cold plate matter to some degree.
The D15 should be able to handle anything less than 250W all day (including the 5800X3D), but the stock fans definitely hold it back quite a bit and for that reason it is starting to get outclassed by coolers that cost significantly less. At the end of the day if I were planning on using a chiplet CPU with something like PBO I would definitely go with a liquid cooler for no other reason than they have a much higher thermal density than an air cooler ever could.