🔷 Best CPU Coolers 2026

"I had an old i5-2500K that I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of, and decided that it was either time to let it go or get it to run at a useful speed. I was running overclocked at 4.4Ghz on the stock Intel cooler and getting temps of around 81c under full load, so to go further I needed better..."

"Great product, no gripes!NOISE: Out of the box, the RPM curve on these is absurd for a personal/casual setup. You will have to adjust the speeds unless you enjoy sounds akin to a wind turbine. However, if you're putting these in a server, data center, etc. they'll be fine as they come. I rarely expe..."

"This is a review of the Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120SE.I read many performance reviews online before purchasing this. According to those reviewers, this offers top-tier cooling vs noise at a fraction of the price. It even competes with some AIOs.I recently replaced an AIO with this, the first air..."

"This is awesome I wish I'd installed it sooner. I had a Corsair AIO water cooler and it never seemed to act right. I know it was installed correctly (i've built quite a few PC's over the decades), but for example sometimes the CPU block light would come on, sometimes it wouldn't. My CPU would run ho..."

"Outstanding value and fairly straightforward to install, just be careful you don't get into a fight with the radiator, the radiator will win haha. Also be mindful of routing cables to your motherboard ahead of time if your case is on the smaller side, as accessing the connection points may be diffic..."

"Absolutely love the look of this thing. Nzxt Cam works great to control fan speed and making sure the radiator gets good air flow. Very easy to install if you just follow the directions. good airflow in your case keeps noise levels down. all cables are of good length and were easy to install. Keeps ..."

"Fits perfectly my friend has a thermal grizzly contact frame, it is damn near the exact same. I like this one more though because it fits a bit tighter than the thermal grizzly one. Came with the wrench so that was easy to put on. I got it primarily so I can clean up thermal paste easily and it look..."

"Running the Dark Rock Pro 5 paired with an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K. After nearly 10 years on AIOs—cycling through 3–4 units due to pump failures or leaks—I decided to switch back to air cooling, and I’m glad I did. This cooler outperforms my previous 240mm AIO in every way: lower temps, quieter oper..."

"Amazing value and excellent quality. I bought this for an older system that had an ancient AIO cooler on its last limb. This is more efficient than that AIO ever was, and at a fraction of the cost."

"The Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB is easily one of the best CPU coolers I’ve ever used — and that’s saying a lot after years of building and upgrading PCs. It’s rare to find something that combines top-tier cooling performance, silent operation, and clean aesthetics all in one package, ..."

"Couldn't be happier so far with the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE. I replaced a low-profile Noctua cooler with this, and it was a huge upgrade for my mid-tower case. To be fair, the low-profile design of my old cooler wasn't a good match for my setup, but the difference is still night and da..."

"Easy to install, looks good, runs quiet and keeps the chip cooled"

"Installed this cooler in my PC, and it’s honestly one of the best air coolers I’ve used. Temps dropped significantly compared to my old one, and it’s super quiet even under load. Installation was straightforward, and the ARGB lighting looks clean inside the case. Build quality feels premium, and the..."

"These fans are awesome, and the price makes them even better. They’re super quiet, even under load, and push plenty of air to keep my system cool. Build quality feels solid, and installation was easy. For the cost, you’re getting performance that rivals more expensive fans. You really can’t go wrong..."

"My all-in-one cooler failed and I swapped it out with this and the results were absolutely amazing. I didn't even need two fans to keep my CPU at about 68C Max playing Hogwarts in 4K on my i7 8700K CPU. Idle is around 22C. I could put the second fan in but it would protrude and I couldn't get my f..."

"This cooler is an absolute beast! The display software can be a bit problematic but aside from that, this cooler works great! It keeps my Ryzen 7 7800X3D under 65C even when stress testing the CPU. The fans are quite noisy when they are running above 70% but this cooler works so well, the fans hardl..."

"Works great and looks great, I can see the rainbow!!Seriously though it's a solid and quiet performance package that handles the heat well"

"Really good fans, they are really quiet In a push configuration. not crazy in pull configuration, but definitely louder. They perform really well with a radiator or grill. They produce a ton of airflow."

"This was a great air cooler for less than $18!I'm using it to cool an AMD 9800x3D; I think if I stress tested the CPU it might not keep up, but in daily use it cools the CPU quite well. It was easy to install though I had to google to figure out how to attach the fan clips as that wasn't covered in ..."

"This is a nice cooler...it is in a inwin b1 on a 5700G built around the ASRock b450 itx fatality...my main complaint with noctua similar but more popular offering is the direction it vents, it pushes air out left and right vs up and down so basically airflow is cut off by the memory and IO area ..th..."