Nowadays, though, $100 air CPU coolers aren’t rulers of the realm anymore.
They’ve been superseded by a new generation of tower coolers offering both performance and affordability.
However, when you combine said performance with the price of admission, things go south.
Den Rozhnovsky / Shutterstock.com
The reviewover at TechPowerUppaints a pretty clear picture of what this $50 cooler is capable of.
This is in the realm of quality 240mm and 280mm AIO liquid coolers!
For comparison, the Noctua NH-D15 is able to dissipate 298W of heat, the be quiet!
Thermalright
Dark Rock Elite sits at 301W, and the Assassin IV can’t exceed 290W.
On the other hand, the most affordable member of the high-end cooler group, the be quiet!
Dark Rock Elite, is priced at $99.90.
Thermalright
That accolade goes to its $35 relative, theThermalright Phantom Spirit 120SE.
ThePhantom Spirit 120 EVOis technically better, but its $50 price works against it.
This is yet another beefy CPU air cooler sporting a price of about $39.
DeepCool
It sells at $80, which is a lot compared to the other two options listed above.
If you need a fully passive CPU cooler, theNoctua NH-P1is unbeaten in what it does.
The company will provide one for you free of charge.
you might’t put a price on that.
Other cooler manufacturers simply don’t offer this level of long-term support for their products.
