ARCTIC Alpine 11 Pro Rev. 2 CPU Cooler - Intel, Supports Multiple Sockets, 92mm PWM Fan at 23dBA

Pros: Quiet fan. Machining on the heatsink bottom allows for a selection of positions (rotation) to achieve adequate capacitor clearance.

Cons: The fan mounting screws are only partially threaded. If you tighten them too much, the unthreaded portion can strip the nuts making it difficult to remove the screws. The nuts can be popped out and replaced.

Other Thoughts: The locking tabs for the press-in pins need to have their handles parallel to the sides of the frame else they can block the heat sink and keep it from laying flat on the CPU package. When looking from above it's not obvious when this occurs. To be safe, examine the heatsink/CPU fit from the side before installing the motherboard into the case.

Pros: Good heat dissipation for the size with no heat pipes. Keeps my CPU cool

Cons: Without reading the instructions, installation is impossible.

Other Thoughts: I spent the last few days with the stock heat sink because the Alpine 11 Pro R.2 "didn't fit". Wow I feel dumb.

Pros: Well built heat sink. Fan mounting would provide good vibration damping, would isolate any fan vibration from CPU as well as reduce noise

Cons: Doesn't fit the 1155 socket on my mother board. The holes line up and the flat of the heat sink is over the CPU, however, when the heat sink bottoms out against the CPU, the bracket that is supposed to pin to the holes in the motherboard are about 1/4" off the surface of the mother board. If some kind of adapter is needed to take up this gap, it wasn't mentioned in the product specs.

Other Thoughts: Will be returning it since it was never installed.

Pros: 1) Light weight.
2) Easy push-anchor/push-pin installation.
3) Quiet fan.
4) Good quality Arctic MX-2 thermal paste pre-installed.
5) Excellent performance.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: Outstanding performance at this price point. Well made heat sink and easy installation (no need to remove MB). Fan is super quiet (let the BIOS control it's speed - it has a 4-pin fan header). At lowest settings it's virually silent. At its highest speed it's still barely audible. Performance is outstanding - my dual-core Sandy Bridge-based Intel Pentium G860 3.0Ghz runs at a reported ~90F at idle and no more than 115F at load (with SpeedStep enabled). That's incredible for a 3.0Ghz processor, IMHO. Anyway, no complaints here. 2 thumbs up!

Pros: It is not loud and it works , cools no better than stock ,price was very reasonable, read con

Cons: The instruction are not very clear as which way the bottom bracket goes, could have been a simple install ,but had to figure out which way it goes by installing by trial and error. First time did not make contact with cpu had to remove and turn other way. Did not know until I went into bios and temps sky rocketed to 90 degrees. Second time was a success and now getting 45 degrees reading.

Other Thoughts: First time installing this model , have installed many arctic cooling fans and all have been very good.Will update review in six months

Pros: Fairly effective cooling.
Fairly quiet fan.
Good replacement for stock HSF in terms of features.

Cons: Initially did not fit, had to cut some plastic.
Rubs against/presses on video card.
Rubs against/presses on RAM (low profile head spreaders)

Other Thoughts: I have a Mini ITX motherboard which may have led to some of my issues. The plastic surround on this heatsink either conflicted with the video card or with the RAM, so I had to cut away some plastic under the screw hole. It now still rubs on the RAM but can otherwise fit. The other side rubs on the video card.

It was very fiddly to install with all the very small parts and my fingers aren't too small. On the plus side, it can be installed without needing to access the rear of the motherboard. But it would be nice if all the small clips weren't loose and they were somehow attached in place to help installation.

That said, it is all installed now and the fan is pretty good acoustically. When the motherboard varies its speed it never really resonates/buzzes, it's just a subtle wind noise.