I have the opportunity to get a H80 for around £45. I have looked at some reviews and information and I see it has about a 28-35% temperature decrease over the stock Intel cooler (which I currently use). I would be using it to cool an Intel i5 3750k.
Should I snap it up as fast as possible or save up and go for a H80i or something? I also have two Noctua 120mm fans I could use on it. The reason I am looking to upgrade is to OC my CPU and so my CPU cooler is quieter and my current stock Intel cooler.
the H80 is fine but I would look for an air cooler and put those noctuas on that
It's a decent cooler. Fitted one to a friend's custom built rig and it does the job at cooling his i7 2600k @ 4.2GHz more than adequately. I'm currently running a Noctua NH-D14 for my 3570k and it runs cooler than his on idle but around the same at load, even though Sandy Bridge tends to run cooler than Ivy Bridge, so bearing that in mind the NH-D14 would probably keep his i7 cooler than the H80; I've also got a 4.2GHz overclock.
I have a H80i its loud and not much better at cooling than a £25 212 evo....
If you what to spend £45 on a closed loop have a look at this (if you can fit it in your case) http://bit.ly/1c7Ow5M
That's actually where I was looking at the H80, turns out it's only £40. The shop is only around the corner from me hence why I shop there :D
I'm currently using the Noctua's as case fans, and the radiator would also sort of act like a case fan. I don't know how I'd feel about removing 2 case fans for the cooler, overall having less air movement.