Best CPU Cooler For i7 8700k

What’s cooler than the best CPU Coolers for i7 8700k has to offer? Before you go out to find exciting PC components like the best graphics cards to soup up your rig, seriously consider picking out the best CPU cooler first.

Building the best gaming PC you can is more than just about having the most powerful components. It’s also about investing in the best peripherals to support all that power, and getting an excellent CPU cooler is a good start.

I have curated the top liquid AIO coolers and air coolers providing you with a list of the best bang for your buck options on the market.

For those of you wanting a quick answer check out the winners below.  Read on to find out why these are my top picks and how to choose between an AIO liquid cooler or air cooler.

Liquid AIO Coolers vs Air Coolers

Before we get into the list it is important you know the difference between liquid AIO coolers and air coolers. It might sound obvious but there are a lot of pros and cons to each.

Liquid AIO CPU Coolers

Air CPU Coolers

10 Best cpu coolers for i7 8700k:

1. Noctuna NH-U12S

Noctua is a small cooler company that offers a great caliber few manufacturers can match, and all of its products are high quality.

The NH-D15 is their best offering and although expensive, it represents amazing value for money. It’s an air-cooler, but performs just as well if not better than many liquid coolers. So you get great cooling performance for much less.

One major downside of air coolers is that they tend to be noisier, but again the NH-D15 bucks this trend by being near silent.

Compared to its predecessor, the already excellent NH-D14, the fins are widened by 10mm and spaced further apart for even better heat dissipation.

It’s a dual fan arrangement with up to 1500 RPM, coupled with six heat pipe dual radiator design. Their fans are one of the best out there in terms of design. It also comes with an incredible six year warranty.

However, it’s a beast in terms of size, 160 x 150 x 135mm, and weighs a hefty 1.32 kg.

2. NZXT Kraken Z-3

Whether you’re going for 360MM or 280MM, the NZXT Kraken Z-3 is an excellent choice if you’re looking for liquid cooling.

First of all, thanks to its vibrant 2.36-inch LCD screen that’s capable of displaying 24-bit color, this liquid cooler allows total customization so you can fine-tune settings as well as display your favorite images and animated gifs.

More importantly, it delivers impressive liquid cooling performance and is easy to install.

3. Cooler Master MasterAir MA410M

The Cooler Master MasterAir MA410M comes with a few interesting features.

One that caught my eye was the thermal detection sensor. As the CPU heats up, the RGB color will change to red indicating the temperature of the CPU. At default the color lighting displays blue.

The heatsink has 4 heatpipes with CDC2.0 which has 45% more surface area by compressing the heatpipes together.

This cooler is certainly a viable option for the I7 9700K. You will have adequate temperatures due to the CDC2.0 feature.

Overclocking with this cooler makes perfect sense. You may not be able to achieve extreme core speeds, but the thermal detection sensor gives an insight to the temperatures you’re receiving.

Also if you’re into RGB colors, this cooler would look amazing with a transparent case.

4. Cryorig H7 Tower Cooler

Cryorig H7 tower cooler is all you need in a single heat sink system. It has everything made out of one place. The tower cooler has a highly optimized air turbulence reduction system and top-notch airflow optimization when connected to all the newer generation motherboards and gaming systems. This is why Cryorig H7 considered as one of the best tower cooler for i7 8700k.

It gives a relieving feel and looks to the system when installed to i9, i7, or equivalent. The propriety hive fin system is everything summed up in a single fan. The jet fin acceleration and symmetric fan mechanics are made with accurate build to ensure maximum heat dissipation from the system.

H7 tower cooler has three pure copper heat pipes to suck it out from anywhere in the system. The fans include HPLNTM bearing to ensure maximum airflow and reducing heat when overclocking. The noise is reduced to a minimum with efficient and controlled quad air intake and built-in sound buffering.

The total height is 145mm with fan dimensions of 120mm. the dimensions make it easier for a single-fan cooler to fit into any system with ease. There’s a 6-year product warranty for cooler and free lifetime customer support for Cryorig cooling fan.

5. Noctua NH-U14S

A premium quality single-tower model is how the Noctua NH-U14S CPU cooler for i7 8700 can be defined as. It is well suited for both Intel (i9, i7, i5, i3) and AMD (Ryzen series). They not just offer efficiency but also come with quality and longevity.

Using the SecuFirm2 technology, the cooler can be mounted on any system. It also has a system that is multi-socket (suitable for both Intel and AMD systems).

The dimensions of the fans are 140mm, and they are engineered for compactness and comes with all components required. Even during the overclocking (handled using Noctua U-series NH-U14S), there is no noticeable sound, with the running of NH-14S.

Further, no overheating loops can be found, and the cooler provides max RAM clearance and gives the other slots a little more space.

They are the best air cooler for i7 8700k, providing high-end performance. Further, the installation is simple, and the intelligent PWM operation herein together with the 0-RPM mode makes sure to stop the fan when not in use. The cooler weighs 1.7lbs, and it is perfectly customized with the gaming PC.

6. Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4

One of the best coolers for i7 8700k is the Dark Rock Pro 4. You can expect a lot of great things from this cooler. Let’s start with the 2 virtually inaudible Wings PMW fans. Air coolers are loud usually, but this one comes with the advantage of being quiet. The build quality is the finest.

Dark Rock Pro 4 provides excellent performance with a rating of 250W TDP and helps to achieve low temperatures even when the CPU is under high loads. It equipped with 7 copper heat pipes that are of excellent build quality and help to maximize heat conductance.

The cooling fins come with small dots on them, which helps to increase the circulation of air. A perfect transfer of heat this cooler provides. It also contains 2 aluminum heat sinks. It enhances the RAM compatibility. 2 fans are already present however you can also add another fan for better performance. It provides a very user-friendly elegance.

The installation is straightforward. This cooler will surely exceed your expectations. It will give you no problems at all. It’s one of the Best coolers that you can rely on, no matter if you are into Overclocking or any other heavy-duty task.

7. EVGA CLC 280

For the longest time, EVGA has been giving us some great components. Their motherboards, as well as their graphic cards are great as they do give you amazing performance.

However, today, we are looking at something different. Ever since EVGA brought in some coolers in the market, they have been on our radar, today, we look at the EVGA CLC 280. Let’s see how well it fairs.

Now starting from the good things, there are a lot of them; the CPU cooling performance is excellent, and you can cool pretty much any CPU without any issues. Additionally, the voltage regulator cooling is even better when you mount the cooler on top.

The cooler comes with PWM fans, and you can easily control them through your motherboard or the onboard controller as well, which adds great value.

8. Cooler Master MLX

The Cooler Master dual liquid cooler features many advanced functions to enhance the performance of your CPU. It comes with a low-profile design and dual chamber pump that can transfer and dissipate heat effectively.

These two fans are built with high-quality material to ensure overall durability for years base on the rate on Amazon. The operation is tranquil to avoid disturbing your work.

The lighting system is installed on both the fans and pump so that you can customize and enjoy throw software and it also supports AURA sync, POLYCHROME sync, MYSTIC LIGHT sync.

The set also includes a controller for ease of use. You can easily adjust the level of brightness or fan speed to meet your needs.

9. Cryorig R1 Ultimate

Cryorig is a company built-up not long ago and is the manufacturer of many great products as the original owners are themselves great pc overclockers and enthusiasts. Cryorig R1 Ultimate is the finest air cooler of the company, which features a dual-tower dual-fan design.

The cooler also provides great aesthetics, thanks to such beautiful fans. There are seven 6mm heat-pipes infused into the base of the cooler, while the base is made of pure copper and plated with Nickel for premium conductivity.

There are two included fans, Cryorig XF140, which are 140mm fans and Cryorig has implemented a special mechanism for the fan-mounting, which is why the fans are height adjustable and you can easily lift up the fan by up to 5mm.

Despite raising the fan to the maximum, the fan might block some high-profile RAM sticks, which is why the user can buy the Cryorig XT140 fan, which is extremely thin and the body of the fan does not interfere in the area of DIMM slots.

The temperature levels of the processor during the tests were pretty impressive and we noticed readings around 75 degrees which is perfectly fine. This air cooler presents one of the best looks and the temperature levels are also under the safe limit, which is why this product should be on top of your list.

10. MSI Cooling Core Frozr XL

MSI has been serving us with its amazing products, and this MSI Cooling Core is no less. It uses a solid nickel-plated copper baseplate which is in heat dissipation, therefore keeping your system fresh. You can use this cooler without any issues.

We have a higher number of heat pipes here, which is getting the game stronger. The aluminum fins come with the airflow control technology. It can dissipate up to 250W of heat from your CPU. Frozr XL uses a thermal compound for better performance. It also comes with adjustable fans, which makes it of great value.

Another thing which was not in the coolers above is the RGB mystic light. It looks like the refrigerator, and you can match your vibe. This cooler will take everything under control, whether you are gaming or Overclocking. It is a perfect Cooler, and you should go for it if you want to make your i7 8700k cool!

You need CPU Coolers only when you overclock, right?

No, absolutely not. When you purchase a high-level processor like i7 7700K or 8700K, then you may intend for some purpose. As most of the modern processors come unlocked, they can be easily overclocked.

Most of the inbuilt thermal paste can resist against 80C of the CPU, but if you use the system for the extended period while playing high-end games or graphics applications, then you may see that the temperature smoothly goes beyond this limit.

In such situations, even if you don’t overclock your processor, an aftermarket CPU cooler helps to reduce the system temperature and prevents overheating issues.

Conclusion

You can never go wrong with these CPU coolers as they are utmost effective, reliable and durable. If you are looking to get some of the most amazing liquid CPU coolers for your desktop computers, then I hope this guide has been helpful.

Pick one of the liquid CPU coolers that best suits your budget and enjoy its commendable and exquisite performance.