best bang for my bucks ssd's and cup closed loop coolers

[Ulminia]

so my system drive is a normal WD blue and i want to move to a ssd what would you suggest?

also im using a stock cooler on my cpu and im thinking i wana move to a closed loop or a better heat-sync any thoughts?

cpu is a i3 4160 with stock cooler has not gone over 55c under load

[Pterodactylus]

cpu is a i3 4160 with stock cooler has not gone over 55c under load

Why waste money on a CPU cooler if you have not gone over 55c? I mean, you can slap another air cooler in there, but water cooling just seems like over kill. But if you are going for vanity, then I like the look of the NZXT Kraken X61 ($146.98 @ Newegg Canada). I am pretty impressed with what I have read about the Cooler Master Nepton 240M ($119.99 @ Memory Express), but I think it is hideous. But both of these are better than the Corsair H100i ($133.50 @ Vuugo). The Kraken is the winner for colling and the Nepton is the winner for both price and quietness.

As for an SSD, the Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB ($128.75 @ shopRBC) are what I recommend. If you want to save a few loonies you can get the Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($112.98 @ DirectCanada), but I think the 850 is the better product.

[Ulminia]

BX100 was the goto for a while but i keep hearing that the evo's are even better so maybe ial go that way and yea i think ial kick the water cooling idea and go with a good aftermarket heatsync like the Hyper 212 EVO

[Pterodactylus]

BX100 was the goto for a while but i keep hearing that the evo's are even better so maybe ial go that way and yea i think ial kick the water cooling idea and go with a good aftermarket heatsync like the Hyper 212 EVO

I use the 212 on my rig and it works great, but I hate it. I am going to piss away some money one of these days and get the Kraken, just out of vanity.

[Ulminia]

my local shop here has a h60i for $40 was the only reason i was thinking closed loop untill i do my next major upgrade to a 4790k then i was gona go custom loop but the 212 is more in my price range rite now

[Lathais]

If you are running an i3, that does not OC, there is no reason for any sort of aftermarket cooler at all. If you still really want one, look at the be quiet pure rock. It's around the same price as the 212 EVO, cools about the same but it is a lot quieter.

[Nellah]

If you are running an i3, that does not OC, there is no reason for any sort of aftermarket cooler at all. If you still really want one, look at the be quiet pure rock. It's around the same price as the 212 EVO, cools about the same but it is a lot quieter.

This in its entirety, I run a few i3s and a non-K i5 with stock heat sinks. If you get an i5 with the intent to overclock, then an aftermarket heat sink is advisable.

[Ulminia]

yea i dont overclock my cpu's so ial weigh my options and see what i figure out the only reason i was thinking better cooling

[Nellah]

Don't worry about it then, the stock cooler is just fine especially for i3 chips. Hell, my friend runs his mildly overclocked Sandy Bridge i5 under the stock cooler without issues.

[Lathais]

yea i dont overclock my cpu's so ial weigh my options and see what i figure out the only reason i was thinking better cooling

If your current cooling is not giving you issues, why bother? The reason people get aftermarket coolers is because their temps are going over safe levels with the stock cooler. If you are staying at safe temps, no reason for any additional expense.

[Nellah]

Regarding solid state drives, I can only recommend the Samsung 850 EVO / Pro series units. Sturdiest warranties in the business right now AFAIK. Aside from that, there really isn't a lot of practical difference between units unless you are doing some serious storage-intensive database work or something like that. Moving from my Intel 510 SSD to a Samsung 840 EVO I notice little speed difference except while installing software updates, despite the fact the EVO is several times faster in the random read/write department. Most of my SSDs are just what I could get cheapest in the capacity I needed.

[Ulminia]

yea im def going with the evo and the stock cooler is not stepping properly on my mobo for load/speed is the only reason for it and the room im in is always warm and reaches over 100f in the summer