We give you our picks for the best CPU cooler for Ryzen 5 2600 and 2600X in this guide.
The Ryzen 5 2600 and Ryzen 5 2600X are two of AMD’s second-gen Ryzen desktop CPUs based on the 12nm Zen+ architecture. Both are very capable processors for gaming and productivity work — as they are essentially identical with the only differences being the faster clock speeds and inclusion of a better stock cooler with the 2600X. Aside from that, both SKUs share the same six-core and twelve-thread count.
The AMD Wraith coolers that are bundled with the following Ryzen 5 chips keep them adequately cool at stock clock speeds. However, pushing them past factory speeds needs better cooling solutions unless you are totally fine with your rig sounding like a jet engine. If you happen to have one of these CPUs, getting a beefy aftermarket cooler makes a lot more sense in the long term.
With thermals being such a vital aspect, the best CPU cooler is a must-have for your kitted-out gaming PC, especially when you have a capable, second-gen Ryzen 5 processor at the heart of your rig. In this guide, we will help you choose the best CPU cooler for Ryzen 5 2600 and 2600X, allowing them to maintain optimal temperatures even when overclocked to their maximum potential.
Best CPU Cooler for Ryzen 5 2600 & 2600X Reviews
Whether you are trying to get record overclocks, or you just want a near-silent PC that doesn’t get loud even under heavier loads, the following CPU coolers in the below list should meet your requirements.
We have included both air and liquid AIO coolers in different price brackets, so you have plenty of options to choose from depending on the budget you have assigned to a CPU cooler.
1. Noctua NH-D15
- Type: Fan and heatsink
- Dimensions: 165 x 150 x 161mm (with fans)
- Fans: 2 x 140mm
- Fan Speed: Up to 1500 RPM
- Noise Volume:20dbA – 24.60dbA
- Warranty: 6 years
The NH-D15 from Noctua may be one of the costliest air coolers on the market, but it’s the best choice among overclockers and silent enthusiasts for its exceptional cooling performance since 2014.
It’s a dual-tower air cooler designed and built based on the company’s legendary NH-D14, and it performs similar to, if not better, than a few all-in-one liquid coolers both in thermals and noise levels. The two 140mm NF-A15 fans offer high airflow and are built to last, allowing the cooler to reach its peak efficiency at all times.
When running modern AAA titles and resource-intensive applications, the NH-D15 will keep your Ryzen 5 2600 or 2600X cooler than all of its competing products. If you don’t like liquid cooling or there’s not enough clearance in your case to install a beefy radiator, then the NH-D15 with its SecuFirm2 mounting system is the ultimate air cooler to go for.
The only caveat of this cooler is its bulkiness, which can have clearance issues with taller memory sticks. So make sure to confirm that before you buy the Noctua NH-D15 for your Ryzen-powered PC.
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| Pros | Cons |
| Near-silent operation | Bulkier and heavier than most air coolers |
| Dual 140mm fans for better cooling efficiency | |
| Noctua’s robust 6-year warranty includes free mounting kit upgrades for newer sockets | |
| Comes with Noctua’s high-grade NT-H1 thermal compound |
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If you don’t like Noctua’s signature beige-and-brown color scheme, get the Noctua NH-D15S chromax for its all-black aesthetics. Its offset, asymmetrical layout also offers better RAM compatibility, but it’s also slightly expensive than the standard NH-D15.
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2. NZXT Kraken X63 280mm
- Type: Pre-filled liquid cooling system
- Dimensions: 143 x 315 x 30mm (Radiator)
- Fans: 2 x 140mm
- Fan Speed: 500 – 1800 ± 300 RPM
- Pump Speed: 800 – 2,800 ± 300RPM
- Noise Volume: 21 – 38 dBA
- Warranty: 6 years
The NZXT Kraken X63 is the successor to the popular Kraken X53, featuring incremental yet noticeable improvements in terms of both cooling performance and aesthetics. If you are looking for a 280mm AIO for your Ryzen 5 2600, this is one of the better choices.
The Kraken X63 is based on Asetek’s latest generation of pump design, a company renowned to provide superior liquid cooling performance and reliable operation for years. The two 140mm AER P fans on the radiator are virtually silent thanks to the fluid-dynamic bearings, which also give them a longer lifespan than most other fans.
If you are particularly picky about color schemes, the NZXT Kraken X63 with its matte black design and nylon-sleeved tubes won’t disappoint. Just like the X53, the 360° rotatable top pump cover features a unique infinity mirror design that creates a convincing illusion of unlimited color rings. Of course, you can adjust the RGB LEDs underneath the cover to your heart’s content from the NZXT CAM software.
On top of everything, the cooling performance of the NZXT Kraken X63 is in another league compared to a handful of 280mm AIOs and most air coolers. Even when using with an overclocked Ryzen 5 2600 or 2600X, you should see idle temps and load temps well under 60C, at least in a case with better airflow.
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| Pros | Cons |
| Great thermal performance | Slightly expensive than the best air coolers on the market |
| Near-silent 140mm fans | Fans don’t have RGB lighting |
| Fancy top pump cover design |
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3. Deepcool GamerStorm Assassin III
- Type: Fan and heatsink
- Dimensions: 161 x 140 x 165mm
- Fans: 2 x 140mm
- Fan Speed: Up to 1400 RPM
- Noise Volume: ≤29.5 dBA
- Warranty: 5 years
The Deepcool GamerStorm Assassin III may sound like a terrible Xbox Gamertag, but it’s a surprisingly performant air cooler that gives even some decent liquid chillers a good run for their money.
The Assassin III is a fairly big dual-tower cooler with a dense fin stack and seven nickel-plated heat pipes. Combined with a pair of high-airflow 140mm GamerStorm TF-140S fans rated up to 1400 RPM, this cooler is capable of delivering impressive thermal performance under full CPU utilization at nearly-silent noise levels. It gives you a reasonable overhead to push your Ryzen 5 2600 or 2600X chip to its limits.
The GamerStorm Assassin III is a good alternative to Noctua’s NH-D15 if you are on a budget. However, That cooler is often available at almost the same price as the Assassin III, so make sure to keep an eye for discounts. If you are chasing a minimal color scheme for your Ryzen gaming rig, this is a better choice over the classic NH-D15, but the Noctua cooler is still the performance king.
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| Pros | Cons |
| Solid thermal performance and silent operation | Bulky design with only 54mm RAM clearance |
| Minimal and stealthy aesthetics | Lack of RGB lighting |
| Budget-friendly |
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4. Corsair iCUE H150i Elite Capellix 360mm
- Type: Pre-filled liquid cooling system
- Dimensions: 397 x 120 x 27mm (Radiator)
- Fans: 3 x 120mm
- Fan Speed: Up to 2400 RPM
- Pump Speed: Up to 2650 RPM (on Extreme mode)
- Noise Volume: 10 – 37 dBA
- Warranty: 5 years
In the computer market, Corsair has been the main driving force behind AIO liquid coolers for almost a decade now, and its iCUE H150i Elite Capellix continues the tradition with its excellent cooling coupled with industry-leading RGB integration.
The iCUE Elite Capellix series of AIOs come in different sizes, with the H150i being a 360mm variant. Its low-noise centrifugal pump, split-flow copper cold plate, and 27mm aluminum radiator are mostly carried over from the RGB Platinum (2018/19) and iCUE RGB Pro XT (2020) models, but the fan curves and pump speeds have been newly tweaked to squeeze out more cooling performance.
Combined with the three high-speed fans, this Corsair cooler is capable of moving large amounts of heat from HEDT AMD and Intel CPUs, so it can easily keep a Ryzen 5 2600 or 2600X below 50C at full load and also leave significant overclocking headroom. Additionally, the ML120 PWM fans use magnetic levitation instead of standard bearings, which delivers powerful airflow for the radiator while maintaining very low noise levels.
The RGB lighting, in true Corsair fashion, is where the iCUE Elite Capellix 360mm surpasses every AIO in the current market. Both the pump head and the fans use the new Capellix RGB LEDs, which are significantly brighter and more power-efficient than traditional LEDs.
All of them are individually addressable through the proprietary iCUE software, which also allows for synchronized lighting effects between other Corsair iCUE-compatible products. Fortunately, the AIO comes with an iCUE Commander Core hub that enables lighting control and precise fan/pump RPM adjustments.
If you want the best cooler for Ryzen 5 2600 and add some head-turning appeal to your overall setup, the 360mm Corsair iCUE H150i Elite Capellix AIO is for you. Surprisingly, it isn’t even that expensive compared to most 360mm all-in-one liquid coolers from other brands.
It’s worth mentioning that you can get this CPU cooler in either black or white to match your PC’s color scheme.
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| Pros | Cons |
| Top-notch thermal performance | Slight performance improvement over its predecessor |
| Three maglev fans for high airflow and low noise levels | |
| Over-the-top RGB lighting with great software integration |
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5. Noctua NH-P1
- Type: Fanless passive air cooling
- Dimensions: 158 x 154 x 152 mm
- Fans: NA
- Fan Speed: NA
- Noise Volume: 0 dBA
- Warranty: 6 years
It’s no secret that Noctua has the best air coolers, but the NH-P1 is the company’s first passive CPU cooler that has been engineered from the ground up specifically for fanless operation.
Don’t make the mistake of comparing the NH-P1 with any ordinary heatsink without a fan. It has thicker, widely spaced aluminum fins that have minimal airflow resistance and allows for natural convection cooling. This fanless system is capable of dissipating heat from high-end Ryzen 7 and Core i7 CPUs and running them at their standard clock speeds. Hence, keeping a Ryzen 5 2600 or 2600X relatively cool at its standard performance shouldn’t be a problem for this cooler.
Since the NH-P1 doesn’t require a fan, it offers a completely silent operation. Plus, there are no moving parts, so it’s basically a fail-proof cooling solution. Of course, overclocking is out of the question unless you throw a 120mm Noctua NF-A12x25 LS-PWM fan into the mix. The fan significantly increases the NH-P1’s max heat dissipation capacity while being near inaudible.
Since Noctua hasn’t found a way to break the laws of physics yet, the NH-P1 will still take up a lot of space in your case. The case must also have enough room for airflow or else you may run into throttling issues when running CPU-intensive applications.
However, its offset asymmetrical layout won’t cause any clearance issues with the DIMM and PCIe slots on an AM4 motherboard. The cooler also uses Noctua’s signature SecuFirm2 mounting system, which allows for easy and secure installation.
The Noctua NH-P1 is a niche CPU cooler for silent PC enthusiasts, but it’s also an impeccable passive cooling solution that could well keep your Ryzen 5 2600’s temperatures at bay. It comes with a six-year manufacturer warranty, as well as a vast accessory kit.
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| Pros | Cons |
| Impressive cooling capabilities for a fanless solution | Massive cooler means limited case compatibility |
| Completely silent since it doesn’t require a fan | Requires adequate chassis airflow |
| Comes with a complete accessory kit, eligible for free-of-charge mounting bracket upgrades |
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6. Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition
- Type: Fan and heatsink
- Dimensions: 120 x 79.6 x 158.8mm
- Fans: 1 x 120mm
- Fan Speed: 650 – 2000 ± 10% RPM
- Noise Volume: 5 – 26 dBA
- Warranty: 2 years
The Hyper 212 from Cooler Master has been the king of budget air cooling for well over ten years now, but you may find its aesthetics a bit bland and dated. This is where the Hyper 212 “Black Edition” comes into play.
Unlike the original or EVO variant, the heatsink and fan on this model share an improved all-black design, and an anodized aluminum shroud with a gunmetal black finish covers the top part. It also features four direct-contact heat pipes for effective heat dissipation, along with a single 120mm Sliencio FP120 PWM fan that provides active airflow into the heatsink. The fan also has RGB LEDs, which you can customize from your Asus, ASRock, Gigabyte, or MSI motherboard lighting software.
Compared to the Ryzen 5 2600 stock cooler, the Hyper 212 Black Edition delivers significantly better cooling performance at lesser noise levels. The cooler is designed to take another 120mm fan in push-pull configuration, which is something you may find useful for getting a better overclock out of your CPU.
Another added advantage is that the Hyper 212 Black Edition doesn’t take much space, so you won’t need to worry about RAM module and case height clearance. Its universal mounting bracket design makes up for a simple and relatively painless installation.
If you are on a budget and don’t want to spend too much on an aftermarket cooler, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition is a stellar bargain for the price.
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| Pros | Cons |
| It offers marginally better performance than stock AMD Wraith coolers | Comes with only a single 120mm fan |
| Very affordable | Pre-applied thermal compound is mediocre |
| All-black design and RGB fan |
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Quick Shopping Tips for CPU Cooler For Ryzen 5 2600 & 2600X
Since you are in the market for the best CPU cooler for Ryzen 5 2600 or 2600X, make sure to consider the following before making a purchase decision:
Compatibility
Most air coolers and AIOs come with all the mounting brackets you will need for using with a recent or older AMD or Intel processor. However, please double-check the product description for AM4 compatibility, which is what the current AMD Ryzen CPUs use.
Sometimes, manufacturers sell the AM4 bracket separately for their older coolers, though brands like Noctua do offer mounting kit upgrades free of charge for their customers.
Case clearance
Tower air coolers and all-in-one liquid coolers with larger radiators can cause clearance issues with your PC case, so make sure you check its specification chart for maximum cooler height or radiator size to determine whether the selected cooler will fit or not.
Sometimes, tall memory modules and beefy motherboard VRM heatsinks can also cause clearance problems. Hence, you should always verify the cooler’s dimensions properly.
Noise levels
More fans on a cooler generally equate to better thermal performance, but they also increase noise levels. If you plan to keep your rig in a noise-sensitive environment, it sounding like a jet engine probably wouldn’t be the most ideal condition.
Thus, we strongly advise you to check what the stock fan noise levels are and whether they have PWM support. The latter is critical since it allows for granular RPM adjustments and setting fan curves through proprietary software or the motherboard BIOS.
Alternatively, you can go for a fanless cooler like the Noctua NH-P1 for a completely silent operation.
Thermal compound
Thermal compound is what minimizes the microscopic air gaps and unevenness between the cooler’s surface and the processor’s heat spreader. Without it, it gets more difficult for the CPU to transfer more of its waste heat to the cooler and ends up throttling down its clock frequencies, resulting in worse performance.
Most air and all-in-one liquid coolers come with pre-applied thermal paste on the base plate, but they don’t always provide the best thermal conductivity out of the box. If you want to hit higher overclocks on your Ryzen 5 2600, you must use good thermal paste before installing the cooler. Here are a few best options preferred by performance enthusiasts:
- Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut The High Performance Thermal Paste for Cooling All Processors
- Prolimatech Pk-Zero Nano Aluminum Thermal Compound – 5g
- ARCTIC MX-5 (4 g, Incl. Spatula) – Ultimate Performance Thermal Paste for All Processors
- Noctua NT-H2 3.5g, Pro-Grade Thermal Compound Paste incl. 3 Cleaning Wipes (3.5g)
RGB lighting
If your air or liquid cooler has RGB fans or pump, chances are the manufacturer has shipped a controller hub inside the box. However, you may have to buy one separately depending on the cooler’s brand.
Most lighting controller hubs require a single USB 2.0 header on the motherboard, so make sure that yours have one. If you run out of internal USB headers on the board, consider buying a cheap extension splitter like this one (9pin USB Header Male 1 to 2 Female Extension Splitter Cable Connector Adapter).
Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q)
Q1. What’s the best CPU cooler for Ryzen 5 2600?
If you aren’t sure whether you want an air cooler or an AIO liquid cooler for Ryzen 5 2600 or 2600X, it all comes down to your budget and personal preference. If you are working with a limited budget, the stock AMD Wraith cooler should be fine, though really we wouldn’t recommend using it if you are a gamer.
Aftermarket air coolers can be found for relatively cheap, and they offer a whole lot more thermal performance compared to the stock CPU cooler. Liquid coolers are theoretically better and provide cleaner aesthetics, but they can be pretty expensive. AIOs are also more prone to failure due to more moving parts.
However, it’s worth noting that leakages are extremely rare on all-in-one liquid coolers. Though in the event of a colossal failure, most brands offer replacements for all the parts that get damaged from a coolant leak.
Q2. Are AIO liquid coolers quieter than air coolers?
An all-in-one liquid chiller is generally quieter than an air cooler that’s mounted directly on top of the CPU. This is because the fans attached to the radiator get a bigger surface area to work with and can therefore spin at a slower speed. Additionally, the pump on top of the block itself is often padded to suppress noise.
However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any quiet air coolers. Noctua offers some of the quietest air coolers on the market. It even has an entirely passive cooler that relies on natural convection cooling system and doesn’t require a fan. Having said that, such coolers aren’t always effective against more powerful CPUs with bigger TDP values.
Q3. What about custom water-cooling loops?
Building a PC with custom water-cooling loops requires experience and much more effort than you expect. You have to not only select the pump, radiator, reservoir, tubes, fittings, and coolant individually but also have to find a chassis that allows the installation of the parts.
Even though they offer best-in-class thermal performance, building a custom water-cooling loop can get very very expensive and need frequent maintenance in order to function properly. Plus, they are overkill for a mid-range CPU like the Ryzen 5 2600 or 2600X.
TLDR: Air coolers and pre-filled liquid coolers are a hundred times simpler to install and easier to maintain than a full custom water-cooling loop.
Bottom Line
AMD’s Ryzen 5 2600X and its non-X sibling are very capable and power-efficient processors, but they do require adequate cooling if you plan to run intensive applications or reach higher clock speeds. The bundled OEM cooler isn’t simply up to the task.
Luckily, this buying guide to the best CPU cooler for Ryzen 5 2600 and 2600X will find you a marginally better aftermarket cooling solution. We have made sure to include both air and liquid coolers in different price points to help you make an easier, worry-free purchase.
If you need to know anything else about CPU coolers, don’t hesitate to drop us a line in the comments!
