Final thoughts and rating
So which cooler would we recommend?
Well, as pointed out in our last cooler group-test, which cooler you should go for very much depends on what you hope to achieve.
If for example you're just looking for a replacement cooler for the retail-boxed solution that shipped with your CPU, and you're going to be running at stock speeds, then out of the candidates on test here, the Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme Rev. 2 will fit the bill. At just under £30, it's one of the cheapest on test and also one of the quietest.
If however your main priority is to achieve lower temperatures than either the retail-boxed cooler, or indeed a budget cooler, to allow for some overclocking or near-silent operation at stock speeds, then either the Zalman CNPS10X Flex with one or two quiet fans such as the Noctua NF-P12 or (if your case can accommodate the radiator), the Corsair Hydro Series H50 will meet these requirements rather well. However, if near-silent running is your goal and you choose the Corsair, then you'd either need to swap out the standard fan supplied, or use some form of PWM controller (your motherboard might have the required functionality in the BIOS), to throttle the fan down to around 1,200 rpm or less.
HEXUS Ratings
We consider any product score above '50%' as a safe buy. The higher the score, the higher the recommendation from HEXUS to buy. Simple, straightforward buying advice.
The rating is given in relation to the category the component competes in, therefore the coolers are evaluated with respect to our 'high-end components' criteria.
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Arctic
Cooling
Freezer Xtreme Rev. 2 |
Corsair
Hydro Series H50
|
Scythe
Kabuto
|
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Zalman
CNPS10X
Flex (1-Fan)
|
Zalman
CNPS10X
Flex (2-Fans)
|
HEXUS Awards
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Arctic
Cooling
Freezer Xtreme Rev. 2 |
Corsair
Hydro Series H50
|
Zalman
CNPS10X
Flex (2-Fans)
|
HEXUS Where2Buy
The Arctic Cooling
Freezer Xtreme Rev. 2 can be purchased from Quiet PC
at a cost of £29.99.
The Corsair Hydro Series H50 can be purchased from SCAN.co.uk*
at a cost of £56.89.
The Scythe Kabuto can be purchased from SCAN.co.uk* at a
cost of £39.09.
The Zalman
CNPS10X Flex can be purchased without fans for £28.62
at SCAN.co.uk or at Quiet PC for £29.99.
The Zalman
CNPS10X Flex with 1 x NF-P12 fan can be purchased from Quiet
PC at a total
cost of £47.98 (Heatsink,
Fan(s)).
The Zalman
CNPS10X Flex with 2 x NF-P12 fans can be purchased from Quiet
PC at a total cost of £65.97
(Heatsink,
Fan(s)).
HEXUS Right2Reply
At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
*As always, UK-based HEXUS.community discussion forum members will benefit from the SCAN2HEXUS Free Shipping initiative, which will save you a further few pounds plus also top-notch, priority customer service and technical support backed up by the SCANcare@HEXUS forum.
