When you are building a PC for gaming or otherwise, one of the main things that you find yourself investing in is a CPU cooler. Keeping your CPU cool is one of the most important things that you will have to go through.
However, what we often forget is that the GPU could also use a GPU cooler. Now when you are looking at a GPU cooler, they are not as common because the stock air coolers are pretty good, especially when you are looking at the custom graphics cards that are available in the market.
However, they do not perform as good as liquid coolers, so that is one thing to note down. Now, if you are thinking about investing in a liquid cooler and you do not want to go for a custom loop, you can actually check out the list of this list of best GPU coolers.
We have curated this list with great care and listed the best possible options available for you in the market.
Best Aftermarket GPU Coolers 2020
- ARCTIC Accelero Xtreme IV
- NZXT Kraken G12 Cooler Mounting Kit (Best GPU Cooler)
- ID-COOLING Icekimo 240VGA-RGB
- ARCTIC Accelero Twin Turbo III
- RAIJINTEK MORPHEUS II VGA Cooler
Things to Look for in a GPU Cooler
Now that you know that having a GPU cooler is certainly a good thing, the next step is looking for the one that you should go with.
There are some great options available in the market, so choosing the right one is definitely what you should be doing because otherwise, you are just spending money on something that might not be as good.
With that said, I am listing down some of the common things that you should look for in a GPU cooler.
Make Sure it Supports the GPU
GPU coolers are tricky because unlike CPUs, there are so many vendors making custom GPUs.
Therefore, the support can be a big issue in many cases. For instance, there are possibilities that the cooler that you are looking to buy might not be supported by the GPU. So, this can be an issue that might end up coming the way.
Thankfully, you can always check the manufacturer’s website to see if the support is there or not and then make the decision.
Do You Have Enough Space?
If the GPU cooler you are buying is a liquid cooler, then it will probably come with a radiator attached or you will have to buy one for it.
This can be a strange situation for many in the case that you do not have enough space in your face for an additional radiator.
Before you are making a decision, do check for space and also check whether the cooler you are going for is water or air. I say this because it is one of the more important things that you need to consider whenever you are opting for a cooler for your GPU.
Water or Air
Last but not least, another really important thing to consider is whether you are going for a water cooler or you are going for an air cooler.
This is something that most people are not aware of but even with custom GPU coolers, you do have the choice of going with the either. So, before you do go ahead and make a decision, make sure that you know what you are getting into.
Best GPU Coolers 2020
ARCTIC Accelero Xtreme IV: Check Price On Amazon
For those who are unaware, Arctic is one of the companies who have been creating some great aftermarket GPU coolers for some time now.
They are pretty good at what they do and that is making sure that your GPU stays as cool as it possibly can. Today, we are reviewing the ARCTIC Accelero Xtreme IV Graphics Card Cooler, one of their top of the line GPU coolers available in the market.
The great thing about this cooler is that it is more or less a universal cooler as it supports the factory versions of almost all the GPUs available in the market from both Nvidia as well as AMD.
The cooling performance on this thing is excellent, the cooler itself is a lot quieter than I thought it would be, and it is extremely easy to install, as well. Another great thing is that you really do not have to spend a lot of money getting this cooler because it is on the affordable end.
As for the downsides, installing the backplate requires a bit of a hassle and if you are looking for something that looks good and modern, this is not the option you want. Another thing that you should know is that you are going to need 4 expansion slots for this cooler. So keep that in mind.
Overall, for anyone who is looking for the top of the line performance, I think the ARCTIC Accelero Xtreme IV Graphics Card Cooler is a great cooler that will get the job done. Sure, it is a beefy cooler that requires a lot of space but underneath that, it still is a great option.
NZXT Kraken G12 Cooler Mounting Kit: Check Price On Amazon
Best GPU Cooler 2020
We all are aware of the amazing work NZXT has done in the PC market. They have released some of the best products ever since they have stepped foot in the market and they are continuing to do so.
We believe that the one product that most people overlook is the NZXT Kraken G12 Cooler Mounting Kit. Although this is not a GPU cooler, it is a mounting kit that allows you to mount pretty much any AIO liquid cooler on top of your GPU for amazing performance.
I have used this with my GTX 1080 and I can tell you that the performance is among the best, installing the cooler is really easy and the fact that you can install pretty much any AIO is something that I love a lot.
The design is simple and works well with the entire outlook for the cooler itself. Another great thing is that despite being just a bracket, it is actually one of the more affordable options available in the market.
However, the downside is that when it comes to cooling VRMs, the performance can be a hit or a miss. Which is definitely one of the concerns that you need to keep in mind.
Overall, I believe that the NZXT Kraken G12 Cooler Mounting Kit is something that you should get if you are looking for a great performing cooler for cheap. Because this definitely gets the job done in more ways than you might wonder.
Sure, the VRM cooling can be confusing but overall, it is a great cooler, posing a great value.
ID-COOLING Icekimo 240VGA-RGB: Check Price On Amazon
If you are looking for an AIO liquid cooler for your GPU, then you might want to check out the ID-COOLING Icekimo integrated AIO Water Cooler, although this cooler is not as well known as some of the other companies that are available in the market, the good thing is that it still is one of the better performers available in the market, and you can actually get a good performance out of them, as well.
Now the good thing about this cooler is that it is a lot more affordable than some of the other options available in the market. This is great because you are looking at an integrated water cooler, so you can get a lot of performance out of it, which just makes everything so much better.
Another great thing is that it is really easy to install, and does have some really cool looks, too. However, as far as the looks are concerned, I am not sure everyone will like the overall design language as it might deter from their overall scheme.
While the ID-COOLING Icekimo integrated AIO Water Cooler does perform really well on my GTX 1080, I cannot say the same if it will work on more powerful GPUs.
Overall, the ID-COOLING Icekimo integrated AIO Water Cooler is something that is affordable works well in most situations, and the best part is that you do not try really hard to get the cooler installed because it installs really easily, and really well, too.
ARCTIC Accelero Twin Turbo III: Check Price On Amazon
If you are looking to add a really good air cooler to your GPU but you do not want to invest a lot of money and you want to keep things low profile, then the good news is that the ARCTIC Accelero Twin Turbo III is something that you can definitely choose.
Yes, this is a cooler from ARCTIC, and we have already reviewed a higher-end version of this.
With that said, just because you are looking at one of the more affordable coolers on the market does not mean that it is not good enough.
As a matter of fact, this dual fan cooler is excellent for anyone who is looking to install a cooler that is small. If you have a GPU that does not generate a lot of heat, going for this cooler is actually one of the better ideas because it will be really good.
As far as the downsides are concerned, the only thing that might seem like an issue is that the cooler might not be enough for the GPUs that are on the more powerful side of the spectrum or generate more heat in general.
This is definitely something that you should keep in mind. Another thing that I did not like about this cooler is that the colour/design is not for everyone.
Overall, the great thing about the Arctic Accelero Twin Turbo III is that it is one heck of a cooler; it is affordable, it provides ample cooling performance, and if your GPU has a stock cooler that is not enough, or uses a blower-style cooler, then this is definitely something that you should give a try.
RAIJINTEK MORPHEUS II VGA Cooler: Check Price On Amazon
For the uninitiated, it is important to know that Raijintek is known for making some of the best CPU coolers available in the market. The one thing that not many people did not know is that they are also making some amazing GPU coolers.
Yes, that is why today we are reviewing the RAIJINTEK MORPHEUS II, VGA Cooler. I know it might sound like something that not a lot of people are looking forward to but the good thing is that this cooler is one of the most amazing ones.
The great thing about this cooler is that it has one of the best performances you could find. I noticed the cooler to perform adequately in every sense of the way. The cooler is also pretty affordable, so if you want to save money, you can definitely go for this cooler and still get great performance and value.
Another great thing is that you can install aftermarket fans onto the cooler. So, if you want to spice things up as far as the design is concerned, the process is going to be an easy one. Last but not least, the cooler is fairly simple and straightforward, meaning that you will not have to fight your way through just to install this cooler.
As far as the downsides are concerned, I think that the cooler does not really have an attractive design and it might hold back some of the users.
Overall, the good thing about the RAIJINTEK MORPHEUS II VGA Cooler is that it actually is a pretty adequate cooler even though the design is not as inspiring as some people might think.
Conclusion
Buying aftermarket GPU coolers are not as common as buying a new CPU cooler. For the simplest reason that GPU coolers are not as common. Still, a lot of people are in the market looking for these without really having any proper idea of what they should be going with and what they should not be.
That being said, if you are in search of a good GPU cooler and you are not sure where to look at, this list is definitely going to help you with making the right purchase.