Having a good CPU cooler is a must, especially if you want to build a beefy PC setup. You will find many kinds and sizes of coolers in the market, but not all will fit well within your device and budget.
Your CPU cooler compatibility depends a lot on your motherboard, CPU, and case. It also relies on the placement of other hardware components. So before you decide which cooler you wish to buy, you need to verify if it is compatible with all these components.
In this article, I will only be talking about standardair and AIO liquid coolers. The custom loop is a whole different story, as you may usually personalize their design in any way you want.
Check the Compatibility List Online
Manycooler manufacturershost acompatibility-checking platformon their official website. With it, you may check the compatibility of their products with different motherboards. Some manufacturers also host similar lists for your CPUs, RAMs, and Cases.
you may search for such platforms and go through the options/list to find all the coolers that are compatible with your setup.
Similarly, you will find manyother online sourceslike forums, videos, third-party platforms, and so on, whichhelp in PC building. you may also search for and check out those sources to look out for compatible CPU coolers.
Manually Check for Compatibility
All hardware products come with unique specifications, which also include compatibility information so that the users can know what other components to get.
You will be able to find the compatible cooler by comparing its specifications with those of your PC components. Themotherboard, CPU, and case matter for both AIO and air coolers. However, mostAIO coolers should be compatible with all types of RAMsor other internal components on your PC.
Motherboard’s CPU Socket Type/Size
The processor socket size that your motherboard supports is one of the most important parameters you need to look out for while checking the CPU cooler’s compatibility.
Intel and AMD processors use different socket size metrics. It may not matter for most modern coolers as they come with support for both types of processors. However,some coolers only target one type of CPU, so you have to be careful while choosing it.
Also, the socket sizes vary a lot between individual processors. you may’t fit a cooler that targets a larger socket size on a much smaller size CPU socket.
You also need to ensure that the cooler provides enough cooling capacity to support yourCPU’s Thermal Design Power (TDP). While most coolers nowadays should be suitable for standard CPUs, higher-end CPUs need coolers with high cooling TDP.
