Best Air CPU Coolers 2023 – Hardware Busters

You will find the best air CPU coolers we have tested in the following paragraphs. There will be another best picks for liquid coolers soon. Compared to liquid coolers, air coolers usually offer lower noise output, but to achieve high performance, they have to be enormous. Besides lower noise output, compared to all-in-one liquid cooling solutions (AIOs), air coolers don’t need any special maintenance. Their performance doesn’t drop in the long run, which can happen in AIOs depending on the quality of the cooling liquid they use and the operating conditions, leading to its evaporation over time.

UPDATED 1 January 2023

On the other hand, large air coolers might not be compatible with your mainboard or your RAM if the latter has tall heatspreaders. Moreover, you should check the maximum heatsink height that your chassis supports. Most chassis don’t have a problem with 160mm height coolers.

We use a fully automated, custom-made CPU cooler testing station to evaluate cooling solutions that can apply any load from 1W to 500W. At the same time, the fan speed can change automatically, so many test scenarios can be applied without supervising the whole procedure, which can last for several hours. Using a simulated load has several advantages, the most important being that you don’t have to rely on a specific CPU, which will eventually become outdated.

Watch the following video to learn more about our load-testing tool, Jalapeno.

There are two essential things that products need to be added to our best picks: to be available on the market and excel in terms of performance and reliability (cooling fans quality). Their build quality should also be the best possible, given their price tag.

We will put affiliate links for the products that we will recommend. You don’t pay more by using these affiliate links, but you help us keep this site alive and kicking!

Best Budget CoolerBest Mid-Size CoolerBest Heavy-Weight Cooler

be quiet! Pure Rock 2

Cybenetics Database: be quiet! CPU Coolers

Buy Pure Rock 2

Buy Pure Rock 2 Black

Specs:

  • TDP (W): 150W
  • Fin Material: Aluminum
  • Base Material: Aluminum / Copper
  • Heatpipe number / Diameter (mm): 4 / 6
  • CPU contact surface: Heat pipe direct touch
  • Socket compatibility AMD: AM5 / AM4
  • Socket compatibility Intel: 1700 / 1200 / 2066 / 1150 / 1151 / 1155 / 2011(-3) Square ILM
  • Fan: 120mm Rifle Bearing Fan (Pure Wings 2)
  • Max Fan Speed (RPM): 1500
  • Fan Connector: 4-pin PWM
  • Dimensions (L x W x H), (mm): 87 x 121 x 155
  • Weight (g): 580
  • Warranty: 3 years

Pros:

  • Compact dimensions
  • Good RAM and graphics card clearance
  • Rifle-bearing fan

Cons:

  • Low TDP (Not suitable for high-power CPUs)

Alternative Options

DeepCool AK400

 

Cooler Master Hyper 212

 

be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim 2

 

Arctic Freezer 34 eSports Duo

Specs:

  • NSPR (Noctua doesn’t use TDP): 169
  • Fin Material: Aluminum
  • Base Material: Aluminum / Copper
  • Heatpipe number: 7
  • CPU contact surface: Heat pipe direct touch
  • Socket compatibility AMD: AM5 / AM4
  • Socket compatibility Intel: 1700 / 1200 / 2066 / 1150 / 1151 / 1155 / 1156 / 2011(-3) Square ILM
  • Fans: 2x 120mm SSO2 Fan (Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM)
  • Max Fan Speed (RPM): 2000
  • Fan Connector: 4-pin PWM
  • Dimensions (L x W x H), (mm): 112 x 125 x 158
  • Weight with fans (g): 1220
  • Warranty: 6 years

Pros:

  • High performance combined with a not-huge footprint
  • High build quality
  • Bullet-proof fans

Cons:

  • Expensive

Alternative Options

Cooler Master Masterair MA612 Stealth ARGB

DeepCool AK500

Noctua NH-U12S

Specs:

  • NSPR (Noctua doesn’t use TDP): 183
  • Fin Material: Aluminum
  • Base Material: Aluminum / Copper
  • Heatpipe number: 6
  • CPU contact surface: Heat pipe direct touch
  • Socket compatibility AMD: AM5 / AM4
  • Socket compatibility Intel: 1700 / 1200 / 2066 / 1150 / 1151 / 1155 / 1156 / 2011(-3) Square ILM
  • Fans: 2x 140mm SSO2 Fan (Noctua NF-A15 PWM)
  • Max Fan Speed (RPM): 1500
  • Fan Connector: 4-pin PWM
  • Dimensions (L x W x H), (mm): 161 x 150 x 165
  • Weight with fans (g): 1320
  • Warranty: 6 years

Pros:

  • Impressive performance
  • High build quality
  • Fans that will outlive anything out there

Cons:

  • Expensive
  • Huge dimensions & heavy

Alternative Options

be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4

 

CoolerMaster MasterAir MA624

 

DeepCool AK620

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3 thoughts on “Best Air CPU Coolers 2023 – Hardware Busters

  1. Hi,

    How does the Deepcool ak500 compare to the Noctua NH-U12A (Thermals and noise) ?

    Thanks for all your reviews. You do excellent work!

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