you buy a heatsink and fan based on what it looks like?

I wasn't overly impressed with the cooling function of the evo either. probably just looks "cool" rather being functional...

I must say that after installing this in I confirm this is a POS, base gets super got, but it doesn't really transfer the heat up where the fan can cool it off. Straight to the skip.

Mine arrived yesterday. Large, meaty HSF! Seems like stupendous value for a tenner. Was going to stick it on my FX-6300 system but I removed the backplate from the motherboard years ago and this seems to need it (the 212 Evo I swiped from it didn't). Hope I can find it!

clipped the rest

Build
For me it's a nice looking unit, build quality looks good (but not perfect). If I was picky I would've liked a sticker on the front of the fan which looks a bit bland. Stating the obvious, it's quite big so make sure it fits in your case, it requires 157mm clearance according to the box.

Accessories
Came with 4 pairs of brackets and will fit most sockets: AM2/AM3, 1366, 1150/1155/1156, 775. A lot of those I believe are cross compatible with others too. Eg: FM2 = AM2/AM3 which someone was asking about earlier.


My conclusion: Hot deal...unbelievable value for £10. There is nothing else in the price range that can touch it performance wise and it's cheaper than everything else too. Whether it is the right cooler for you is another matter, if you want silence look elsewhere. If you want an improvement from stock this would be a giant leap cooling wise. Even if you restricted the fan to run at circa 70% it would still be a huge improvement.


Just for reference I've had AMD stock > Arctic Freezer Pro Rev2 > Cooler Master 212 Evo > Noctua DH14

Mine arrived today.

Noise
Noise is very subjective, but for a baseline I found the Hyper 212 Evo borderline loud at max speed so would restrict that to run at about 80-90% fan.
I've plugged the Antec Kuhler in then adjusted the fan speed % from 50% to 100%. At 100% max fan speed, the Antec Kuhler is louder than the Evo. Personally I likely wouldn't be able to use it at max speed (2200rpm). Around 1500-1600rpm (70%-75%) it's quite good, but still not quiet. At 50% it's silent. Otherwise if you've got a spare high static pressure fan floating around you could easily replace.

Performance
I haven't personally tested it (sorry too lazy to take my Noctua off my 4690k). However, hardware info had masses of data and comparisons to other coolers. The key take aways I drew were:
(a) the Kuhler cools far better than everything in the low end price range. Eg: Cooler Master Hyper TX3
(b) the Kuhler is about 3-6 degrees off a Hyper 212 Evo in the 80W - 140W tests
(c) would be fine for a low-medium overclock (CPU dependent <140W when overclocked)

I initially used the stock AMD cooler and bought a CoolerMaster of the style you mention.

The AMD cooler was ridiculously loud but in all honesty the Coolermaster was disappointingly loud as well.....

"There’s been a lot of hype about Intel’s Core 2 recently"
gotta get me some of that latest tech! :smile:

So this is not that great then? I have stock cooler on my a8 5600k and on GTA 5 it gets quite hot and loud dont like spending money on cpu coolers but if this would be better than stock I would give a go

how come u don't use the one u get with the CPU?

You can always slap a noctua fan on this :smiley:

​How do you get it to £20? I only get free delivery when spending over £50(ex. VAT).

I have this in my system, it performs really well, specially for the price I paid for it (£10). it runs near silent, (though I do have a bequite silent 800 case.) and cpu temperatures usually sit around the 30degrees for my 4690. You are usually looking at paying atleast £30 for this level of performance and noise.

One thing to note, this isn't the easiest cooler to install while the right side is clear, the heatsink makes it difficult to access the left side so I would recommend installing the heatsink before installing your motherboard inside you case.

Edit: Ran the Cpu-Z stress test and temps went up to 50 degree, and fans do get noticably louder, but that's not bad, compared to a stock fan.

Try their eBay shop for cheaper delivery. Would link, but I'm on my phone.

Thanks for the update on the delivery costs, I have edited the original post

Cost me £10.48 and I have Scan free delivery - but still looks like a good deal. I think the Hexus free delivery thing only applies to orders over a certain cost.

My pc revs up like an F1 car......gets on my wick.

Maybe he means it looks like it's not that great of a cooler, not the aesthetics. I'm sure you'll see an improvement over a stock cooler so it looks decent for £5 but if you're intending on overclocking you probably should just spend the extra £15 and get a 212 Evo.

Nice price for the class and it won't cost you the first memory slot. You may want to upgrade the default fan if overclock.

Looks excellent value what with being a 12cm fan. Looks like the heatsink is slightly offset so may be helpful in clearing tall RAM modules.

looks awful sorry