I'm looking around for an aftermarket cooling setup for my i5 750. I'm reading reviews and such, but I was wondering what, if any, do my fellow SimHQers use.

The beast:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

What I use:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103089&Tpk=cool%20master%20v6

What I would get today:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181017&Tpk=corsair%20h100

The sensible choice:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

Lol, yeah. The first 3 links are way over my budget. I'm not going to severely OC my machine, so not really looking for "hardcore" cooling.

Seems like the Hyper 212 is a crowd fave, though I can't seem to find a review of it on Tom's found it! It's in my budget range though so I suspect this is what I'll be getting in the end.

Hey!!! Don't call it the beast!? It's very sensitive, you know? I don't want to have to console it, after being called names.

I have one of these, but paid 40 bucks for it. Also have another 120mm fan on it for push pull so my CPU never gets hot.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233040

Is this a replacement for the Gaia? I use a Xigmatek LOKI 92mm myself. It works nice and is rather quiet. Requires backplate installation, which means removing your motherboard. Actual install was easy. If your case is small you might want to look into getting a a 92mm, but if you have the space go into a 120mm.

They are the same I think.

My case has a huge cut out on the back side of the mobo tray so you can mount CPU socket back plates later. I would not buy a case without that cut out in this day and time.

So that is what the hole is for!

I guess the thing about my cooler it is so shiny.



It's big too.



Super heavy duty back plate. Shiny too.



Then it comes with this nice 120mm led fan.



I have a thing about fans.



The sink is plated on the bottom to prevent oxidation.



For many years I have studied the art of OC and also the proper application of TIM. And this is what it comes down to.



You can see that with a case that is not deep enough, you could have a problem.



I love that big cutout.

I guess your studies aren't done yet.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=170&Itemid=1

Take this article with grain of salt, interesting as it is. Since CPU gets hottest in the center, a single small drop of thermal compound in the middle of the CPU works best i.e. no bubbles and no excess thermal compound which can actually deteriorate your cooler performance.

Just don't remove the cooler once you placed it on the CPU, and try (if possible) to move it in circles for the compound to spread out as much as possible before securing it to the MBO.