best fan cpu cooler reddit

Best CPU coolers (AIO and air)

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The deep cool ak620 is on par with the noctua for way less $$$ Answer from Deleted User on reddit.com

reddit.com › r/buildapc › best cpu coolers (aio and air)

r/buildapc on Reddit: Best CPU coolers (AIO and air)

December 2, 2025 -

Here is my list. Do you agree?

Split into 3 categories: AIOs, dual towers, single towers. No the list from 1 to 10 - just the best without order (you can say s tier)

AIOs S-tier :

ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 420/360/280. Great qualit/price. Best for AMD due to offset (only customs can fight on Ryznes with these monsters), still great for intels, and not to loud. 6 year warranty
EK-AIO 360/ EK-NUCLEUS AIO 360. Best pump, best block, top performance, only flaw can be with the fans - for some can be to loud, but still aren't that bad (especially when you correct the curve).
Thermaltake Toughliquid ARGB 420/360/280. Good pump, great fans, top performance.

Honorable Mention (s-/a+): Endorfy Navis f360/f280 (great fans, good performance).

That's it. Deepcool LT720 and Fractal Celsius s36 can have top performance, but their pumps aren't the greatest as well as fans. Both AIOs can get very loud (and working with fan curve don't give them any near results to EKWB aios after curve optimalization - which can be seen in noise normalized test).

Don't get me wrong - there are still many great AIOs (A tier - e.g. Alphacool and Corsair), but compare them to S tier and you will find some flaws.

The problem with picking best AIO is the testing. Most 280/360 AIOs are more than enought for 99% users. So you will be happy with any, as it would get loud with 200W CPU like Ryzen 9 5900x. Newer CPUs like i9 13900 or Ryzen 9 79xx are more challenging as there is more heat per square inch as well as there are some heat transfer bottlnecks like with AMD Zen 4 ihs thickness. So yeah, considering that, I would select form 3 s tier aios.

Air dual towers

We get great test from Hardware Canucks but they did one flaw - they didn't include functionality in the equation. + they misinterpret the results of be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 as it has the presure issue on LGA 1700 (not the fans bottleneck).

The problem with air coolers is very simmialr to AIO - the fans. Any coolers have outdate, loud fans.

So due to that I preffer one fan dual tower+ they have much better functionality insside the case.

· Noctua NH-D15s. Great perf; great fan, great functionality. Compare to standard, dual fan D15, the "s" model: - has offset so you can use 1st pci slot; - has much better ram clearance; - is quieter; - is cheaper; - has one fan less to broke down; -still has top perfomance (even when 1-2 degree hotter, still better then other dual towers).

- Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE (budget option)

That is the only s-tier dual tower.

I will mention the top 3 performance+sound: Noctua NH-D15 (dual fan), Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE and Zalman CNPS20X, and even when these aren't the loudes (not like other top perf dual tower - e.g. Deepcool Assassin III or Cryorig R1 Ultimate), are just one or two degree better than singel fan NH-D15s, with much wores ram/pci clearance + fewer space in the case. If you are not planing 200W+ CPU you can go with Scythe Fuma 2, but it still has some clearance issues.

The story is simmilaor to AIOs. In most test the are CPUs from 100 to 200W range. Only few tests show 200W+ story, and ther only Noctua and Thermalright are on the lead of performance.

I can mention old dual towers - from golden era of air cooling as some still have mounting kits for am4/am5 or even lga 1700. The gold days when Noctua had tought comeptition and air coolers were ment for HEDT CPUs: Prolimatech Genesis, Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E/IB-E (am4/5, LGA1700 kits) , Phanteks PH-TC14PE; be quiet! Dark Rock Pro.

Air single tower:

Simmlar to dual towers - the golden era of air cooling is the past. But we still have some

Noctua U14s - a little outdate, but still very good. Great performace even today, great fan (even if outdate). will cool of even the hotest CPUs like Ryzen 9 or i9.
Endorfy Fortis 5 (budget option) - great, modern fan, very good performance, but I wouldn't recommend it for the hottest Cpus. 150-200W+depends on the heat dsitribution to and from IHS;

Honorable Mentions (A+): Zalman CNPS17X - great value (right now); as well as Zalman CNPS20X, great heat transfer from IHS, but not the quietest fan with high power CPUs. A little cheaper you have Arctic Freezer A35 which is still good for it's price

You can go with DeepCool AK500, but it hasn't as good fan as Fortis 5, and the price**.**

No space for be quiet! Shadow Rock 3 - simmilar level to Zalman and Endorfy, but Zalamn has the price but not the fan, when Endorfy fas the fan and the price; and simillar to bq coolers.

I can mention old single tower - from golden era of air cooling as back then, single towers were even made for HEDT CPUs and were BIG boys. Thermalright Le Grand Macho RT; Prolimatech Megahalems; Thermalright Ture Spirit 140 Power; Deepcool Gamer Storm Lucifer; Thermalright Archon, Scythe Ninja.

Some of them like Lucifer could compete with Noctua U14s ot of the box, some were even better when used with Noctua fan (Ture Spirit 140 Power), as low pwm fans for such big coolers were the bottlenecks. For Thermalright you can still buy lga1700 kits (am4/am5 was supported by newer rev.)

But today it's like Noctua U14s is the only single tower for high power CPUs. Ok in some shops you can still find Le Grand Macho RT, but it will be hard to find lga 1700 kit, so it's only for amd.

BTW Is Scythe Ninja 5 a single tower? as it is bigger then most dual towers?