What's the cheapest reasonably quiet (not silent) cooling solution (taking into account cost to replace HS fan if needed) I could use on a Pentium G630 in this system:

ASRock H61M/U3S3
Pentium G630
GeForce 7900 GTX
Samsung HD502HI
SeaSonic S12II 430W
Fractal Design Define Mini

Cooler Master Hyper 212+ @ $20 after MIR.

More choices.

The Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO is way overkill, IMO. You only need to cool a very efficient dual core that doesn't dissipate much heat. And since you don't require complete silence, that means the fan can be run at higher speeds than say, 300-500 rpm.

So why not consider the Arctic Cooling Alpine 11 Pro? The performance is only on par with the stock cooler, but it runs MUCH quieter. And it's so cheap, that even if you regret, you won't regret giving it a chance since it only costs 10-15 USD. The 92 mm fan (the GT-version and standard-version has a 80 mm fan) can run as low as 500 rpm as long you control the fan via PWM. I have a Alpine 64 Pro (the same cooler, just compatible with AMD sockets instead) to cool a 95 W triple core AMD Athlon II X3. This CPU has three cores, TDP at 95 W opposed to 65W for the G630, and a single core dissipate more heat than a single core from the Pentium G630 core since it's from AMD and 45 nm. So my CPU dissipates much more heat than the G630. When I play Diablo III for a long time, and running Folding@Home in the background, temps are 60-65 C and the fan runs at 6-800 rpm. And it's inaudible!

So give the Alpine 11 Pro a chance

Cheapest... probably something like Coolermaster 212 (if you dont find it quiet enough, swap the fan for Scythe SY1225SL12LM-P), but if you going to invest more because of the fan swap might aswell go for Scythe Mugen 3, that already comes with the fan.

Thanks. Are the differences between the 212 Plus and 212 EVO significant?

I like the fact that the 212 Plus is about 200g lighter than the Mugen 3. Does weight matter?

The difference between the 212 Plus and the 212 EVO is minimal. However, they should be priced similarly in which case you should of course choose the 212 EVO.



In terms of what? If you mean thermal performance then usually yes, more metal means better thermal performance. But always check reviews to be sure. Some people also prefer a low weight tower cooler since they're afraid of the constant pressure on the motherboard when having a heavy cooler installed.

Why? What makes the EVO better?
That is my concern, though I'm not sure it matters. With a good mounting system, it probably isn't a problem.

The EVO has a reworked base and refined fan mounting, the fan also ramps up to just 1600 rpm max. But the fan isn't made for spcr anyway.

Since the 212 is rather on the light side of tower coolers, i wouldn't give it to much thought. I haven't heard about bigger /heavier cooler breaking mainboards in large numbers. It does happen, but i believe it's really an exeption and might be related to wrong mounting or some other user based errors.

Thanks. After seeing this close up image of the mounting surfaces of both, I'd say I would have to agree that the EVO is better.
I agree. Probably user error or someone trying to move the computer without being careful enough.