When you’re building a PC, it’s easy to overlook your CPU cooler. Unless you’re making an extravagant custom watercooling system, many of us just find something with good ratings, plug it in, and move on. Still, your cooler is one of your most important components, and picking a reliable one is critical for your PC’s longevity.
Air coolers are favored for their low volume and affordable price, as well as their simplicity. While they’re often a bit bulkier than their AIO counterparts, they still provide an enjoyable aesthetic and fantastic performance. We’ve gathered our favorite air coolers together into one list to help you find the perfect CPU cooler for yourupcoming PC build.
Updated on June 09, 2025, by Kenny Kimberly:I’m back! A few months have passed since this piece’s original publication, so we’ve stepped back into this piece to clean up, clarify, and update some information. We’ve also added two new air coolers and better highlighted why you may prefer these coolers over an AIO. Enjoy!
Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4 CPU Cooler
Silent, Effective, and Affordable
The Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4 air CPU cooler is among the most affordable and effective units on the market. However, some motherboards and cases can have clearance issues.
Stylized as “be quiet!”, this brand is well-known to anyone who’s been building computers over the last decade or so. They’re among the leading brands of air coolers, with one of their main selling points being the near-silence of their products. The Dark Rock Pro is one of their flagship products that helps solidify their reputation.
Utterly silent and phenomenal at cooling, the component is also affordable even at full price. The only drawback is that it’s alsoverytall compared toother coolers, making clearance an issue. On some motherboards, it also blocks one of the RAM slots, so check for this before buying.
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO V2
Great price, unique construction, good clearance
Cooler Master’s Hyper 212 Evo V2 is one of the newer iterations in their famous line of CPU coolers. This air cooler offers their unique SickleFlow fans and a heat pipe layout that makes sure you aren’t blocking any of your RAM slots.
Science proves that nothing is more annoying than going to put your RAM in while you’re building your PC and realizing your PC cooler is blocking your RAM slots. Not only is this annoying, this can outright disqualify some coolers from use or force you to shift your RAM layout. Cooler Master agrees that this sucks and set out to fix the problem with their Hyper 212 Evo V2.
The Hyper 212 Evo V2 has a unique heat pipe layout that keeps it away from your RAM slots. It also has the company’s stellar SickleFlow fans which help to provide an advanced airflow to keep your CPU cool. Best of all, these features are available at a steal of less than $60, making this a fantastic mid-range budget option.
Noctua NH-L12S
For compact and small builds
Noctua’s NH-L12S is a low-profile, compact CPU cooler that delivers phenomenal cooling. Despite its niche design, Noctua offers this piece at an exceptionally affordable price. We recommend this cooler for compact builds.
Mini-PC’s and builds that focus on compact form factors have become popular over the last few years. But as anyone who’s shopped for an air cooler knows, the enormous heatsink blocks don’t really mix too well with a slim, compact case. If you’re looking for air cooling for a compact case, Noctua’s NH-L12S is undoubtedly one of the best options you’ll find.
This ultra-compact CPU cooler doesn’t compromise on performance to get as small as it is. It still provides some of the best cooling you’ll find in air coolers despite being about the size of a standard 120mm fan. The tiny cooler also shouldn’t cause any issues with RAM clearance. If you want an air cooler but don’t want the large heatsink blocks that other competitors like Be Quiet! offers, this is an unbeatable option.
Noctua NH-D15 CPU Cooler
A Break From Monochromatic Designs
Noctua’s NH-DH15 CPU cooler is one of the titanic brand’s best products. If you don’t prefer the beige-and-brown appearance, the NH-DH15 is also available in black.
Noctua’s coolers are often touted as some of the best on the market. They’ve seen strong endorsement from tech-reviewing outlets with particular praise given to their brown-and-beige options. Since most coolers are black fans with some RGB options, this stylistic option helps them stand out.
In terms of performance, Noctua is tough to beat. The NH-DH15 CPU cooler is quiet and will help yourCPU stay cool. However, as with any air cooler, it’s crucial to orient your fans in a way that helps air flow properly.
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Halo Black CPU Air Cooler
Colorful, Affordable, Effective
Cooler Master’s Hyper 212 Halo is our choice for an RGB air cooler. It’s also slim, effective, and provides a slimmer look than most air coolers
If you’re looking for somethingslim and stylish, the Hyper 212 Halo is an excellent choice. This option has dual-loop ARGB customization with an otherwise sleek, black aesthetic to help the colors pop. Helping that aesthetic is the jet-black color of the heat pipes, which helps them stay hidden.
The aluminum cover helps keep this fan system safe from any chance of being knocked around while also helping to disperse heat. One flaw is that this system’s slimmer design makes it slightly less efficient than some of its bulkier competition. That said, this isn’t an option that’ll leave you needing better performance, either.
Be Quiet Shadow Rock 3 CPU Cooler
Unbeatable At Its Price
Be Quiet’s Shadow Rock 3 is effective and affordable at the cost of clearance. Make sure your case and motherboard have room for this large cooler.
For a quiet fan, you’re able to’t beat Be Quiet products. The Shadow Rock 3 is an incredible option for anyone looking for affordability without sacrificing performance. You’ll regularly find this component for less than $50 even without a sale, making it one of the best options for a budget PC. That said, as a gamer using this CPU cooler in my current build, you should expect it to block a RAM slot or two depending on your board.
Despite fitting in well with budget builds, the performance is far from cheap. Its installation kit makes it easy to mount from above, making lining it up with your CPU the only task that’ll take some practice. Otherwise, it’s whisper-quiet at 24 dB with a rotational speed that goes as high as 1600 RPM.
DeepCool AK500 Zero Dark CPU Cooler
Rapid Fan Speeds At A Good Price
This enormous cooler has a performance that’s tough to beat at the cost of clearance problems. It’s available at an affordable price with hard-to-beat fan speeds.
Looking for an absolute block of a cooler? DeepCool’s AK500 ZERO DARK perfectly blends cooling performance and affordability. While not the cheapest option available, it comes close to anything that can boast a similar price. It also uses an enormous 90mm-thick heatsink to help draw heat away and disperse it evenly.
One drawback is that this cooler stands at 158mm tall, making it a snug fit in some cases. It also rests at 32 dB, which is louder than some competitors. As a trade-off, that noise and size match a rotational speed of up to 1850 RPM, making its performance difficult to top.
Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE CPU Cooler
For Extreme Budget Builds
Thermalright’s Peerless Assassin 120 SE CPU Cooler is a great choice for a budget cooler. This cooler has six heatpipes and a powerful fan to make sure you’re getting good cooling.
For PC enthusiasts who are looking for the cheapest option available, the Thermalright Peerless Assassin is a strong choice. We haven’t named it our budget pick due to some performance concerns, but looking purely at the price, it’s nigh-unbeatable.
This cooler is also quieter than most of its competition at about 25.6 dB. Part of this is due to its fan spinning slower than most competitors at a max of 1550 RPM. While this isn’t our top choice, it’s certainly one of the best ones you’re able to find at its price.
FAQ
Are Air Coolers Cheaper Than Other Cooling Options?
Air coolers are often the cheapest options available. Some AIO coolers can rival the pricing, but these often perform worse. Air coolers are the favorite option for budget PC builds.
How Long Do Air Coolers Last?
With proper maintenance, an air CPU cooler will last as long as the rest of your system. The most important thing is to dust their fans regularly, as dust can worsen air flow, which will make your cooler less effective.
How Important Is Maintenance To My Air Cooler?
It would be best if you made a habit of cleaning dust out of your fans and any that gets into your heatsink. Proper airflow and heat dispersion are crucial to your CPU cooler’s function. We recommend cleaning it out a couple of times a year. If you have pets, hair can get sucked into your fans, so change this to once every few months at a minimum.
