Top-rated CPU coolers for the future: A guide to the best options in 2024

The Noctua NH-D15 is a huge air cooler consisting of two 140mm fans and two heatsinks with compatibility for both AMD and Intel sockets. Despite its drab brown and beige color scheme, it’s the best air cooler in the business, with whisper-quiet operation and temperatures almost identical to some custom water cooling solutions under full loads.

The two main caveats with this cooler are that it’s expensive for an air cooler – though still a lot cheaper than top-tier AIO liquid coolers – and, again, it’s huge! Make sure to check the CPU cooler height clearance of your case, your memory height, and be aware that it won’t make for a clean, airy, RGB-filled interior to your PC – it’ll fill the thing with beige and brown.

Nonetheless, if you’ve got the room and you’re a fan of beige, this is a really top-quality piece of hardware that stands on the shoulders of countless previous generations of Noctua coolers. Its cable splitter helps you to avoid clutter, and it’s really simple to install and set up. Even on high-end Intel CPUs, it can handle extended multi-threaded workloads so it more than deserves its spot on the top of this list.

Read our full Noctua NH-D15 review.

Sure, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Halo White might struggle if you’ve got a really powerful, high-end CPU that you need it for, but for the majority of readers we reckon that this is the perfect choice. It’s really easy to get it installed and is compatible with all current AMD and Intel systems, plus a broad selection of older models.

You’ll often find that it reaches 2,000rpm during gaming sessions, but the good news is that it manages to stay pretty quiet, even when it’s pushed to its limits. Meanwhile, its single 4-pin PWM cable will power the lighting and the fan at the same time, so you don’t need to worry about factoring additional cables in if you like a bit of RGB. However, if you don’t enjoy RGB lighting, then you may be disappointed that its inclusion on this cooler does hike up the cost (though there are cheaper, RGB-less alternatives available).

Anyway, all things considered, if you’re after a cooler that’s small, cheap, quiet, and gets the job done on all but the most powerful CPU cooler, this is the one for you.

Read our full Cooler Master Hyper 212 Halo White review.

This is the option to go for if your PC’s built-in fan has broken and you just want to get it replaced. It’s one of the cheapest products that Cooler Master has to offer and while you could probably find something even cheaper from random and obscure brands on Amazon, it’s always going to be safer to go for something like this.

However, while you can count on this as a reliable product, you can only rely on it to do so much. This is not something that has been designed for use with a powerful gaming PC, or any other high-end rigs that are on the cutting edge of what PCs can do. It’s a well-made product, but a basic one, and while it’ll be fine for regular use, and maybe for a few things like simple browser games and other less taxing things, don’t expect any miracles from it.

For it’s low price, we don’t want to be too harsh. You don’t go to McDonald’s and complain that they don’t have the finest foods in all the land. It’s cheap, cheerful, and small enough to fit into most setups inoffensively.

Do you have a beautifully synchronized RGB lighting setup in your gaming space? If so, you’ll no doubt want to obtain a CPU cooler that fits in among it all. If that’s your top priority, then we recommend the Corsair iCue H60x RGB Elite. It’s reasonably, flashy, and it will do the job.

Admittedly, there are more powerful fans out there, but this one is by no means bad. What helps make it an especially convenient choice is the fact that it has a modular mounting bracket, making it easy for you to fit it into any setup. Annoyingly though, you will need your smartphone handy so you can scan the QR code and access the manual online, as it doesn’t come with any instructions. Bad news if you’ve got connection troubles at the time.

That’s about all we can say against it though. It’s a mid-tier CPU cooler that does a great job with AMD and Intel processors and is pretty quiet while it does it too. The RGB lights make for a lovely cherry on the cake for anyone who appreciates them.

First, we need to explain why we haven’t chosen a specific model here, like with the other listings. It’s because the NH-L9i will fit Intel sockets and the NH-L9a will fit AMD sockets, but both are the same heatsink and fan design. We believe this to be the best low-profile CPU cooler you can purchase.

You won’t have to worry about any size issues, with Noctua claiming 100% compatibility with all RAM sticks and the best graphics cards on Mini-ITX boards, and a total height of just 37mm. The built-in 92mm PWM-controlled Noctua fan stays nice and quiet, too.

Its main limitation, which Noctua is very transparent about, is that it is not suitable for overclocking. For that, you’re going to need a more powerful cooler, but this is still going to be an absolutely fantastic choice for the majority of gamers – especially those after a discrete cooler.

Just showing that you don’t have to spend a ridiculous amount of money to get top-tier CPU cooling, the mammoth Thermaltake TH420 V2 ARGB Sync offers loads of cooling power for just $119.99.

It even looks good, with the RGB lighting on the fans and pump unit adding a touch of color to your build. the latter even has an infinity mirror effect that looks quite fancy when it’s all lit up.

The elephant in the room (or mammoth in the case?), however, is that this cooler is enormous. It has three 140mm fans on its radiator, adding up to a colossal width of 456mm – you’ll need to properly measure up your case to make sure you have room for it.

The result is worth it if you have a high-end CPU, though. Even when running at full load, our Core i7 13700K test chip only hit 76°C, while it’s around 5°C hotter on most coolers we’ve tested.

A wide range of CPU sockets are supported as well, going all the way back to AMD’s Socket AM2, and forward to Intel’s LGA1700 and AMD’s latest Socket AM5 chips. If you want superb CPU cooling for a low price, and you have a big case, this is the AIO cooler for you.

If you’re taking a serious look at overclocking your CPU then an AIO water cooler is one of the best options. This 240mm liquid cooler from NZXT is our pick. The virtually silent fans on the radiator have fluid-dynamic bearings, giving them a longer lifespan and quieter operation than any other fan technology. Naturally, there’s RGB lighting on the pump cover so people know you’re not running any old stock solution.

With this, you’ll see idle and load temps in another league to air coolers. If you are overclocking, make sure you’re picking up one of the best gaming motherboards to match, and make sure you pick up the best PC case that has space for that 240mm radiator.

In terms of aesthetics, it may not have any RGB lighting, but then, you’d be hard-pressed to find a cheaper option offering that kind of feature. If RGB is essential to you, read on to our next listing…

There’s no reason you can’t be serious about your cooling and want to add a splash of color to your gaming PC in the process – after all, the best gaming keyboards and best gaming headsets all have RGB nowadays, so why shouldn’t your CPU cooler match?

Cooler Master’s MasterLiquid series does this beautifully with its bright CPU block, and it comes in a handful of different sizes to make your next CPU upgrade a bit easier. The MasterLiquid ML360R has plenty of surface area and three 120mm fans to dissipate heat across its large radiator, but if you don’t have space for that in your case, then the MasterLiquid ML240R with dual 120mm fans might be more your pace.

While everything it does is top-notch, you might face some difficulty with the initial setup. It comes with loads of cables which can be difficult to smoothly integrate into your setup, and if you want to mount it, you’re going to have a bit of trouble because of its size. These things aside, it looks and performs admirably.

It’s true that the bigger the radiator, the better the job an AIO cooler can do, but sometimes you just don’t have the space for one. This doesn’t mean you should sacrifice the chilling effects a liquid cooler offers, however, as there are smaller options to choose from that might be easier to shimmy into your case.

The NZXT Kraken 12o is the little brother to our favorite AIO cooler and comes with many of the same perks. It keeps things quiet, goes easy on your wallet, and keeps your CPU at the right temperature for gaming, and on top of all that, it looks absolutely fantastic too, with its RGB lighting options.

The two main drawbacks of this model are the fact that it is slightly more expensive than some of the other options, and it can reach some pretty high noise levels. Both are relatively minor complaints in the grand scheme of things and if you’re after a 120mm AIO cooler, then this is going to be your best option.

Having an LCD on your AIO cooler’s pump block may not make your CPU run any cooler, but neither does RGB lighting, and the screen on the NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB looks gorgeously sharp and vibrant. You can customize what’s shown on the display with NZXT’s CAM software too, courtesy of a USB 2 header that connects to your motherboard.

Of course, this mammoth cooler is also great at its job. Not only did it achieve the best temperature result we’ve ever seen on our Intel LGA1700 test rig, and it also had no trouble keeping our AMD Ryzen 9 7900X in check.

What’s more, this cooler runs really quietly, thanks to its three 120mm fans having enough capacity to cool a high-end CPU without spinning at full speed. It also has one of the quietest pumps we’ve ever tested, and the RGB lighting on the fans looks great as well.

The only downsides are firstly the sheer numbers of cables with which you have to contend, and secondly the price. If you want the best AIO cooler that money can buy, though, then this is the one for you, and you can often find it discounted in online deals as well.

Read our full NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB review.