For all the talk about all-in-one coolers, they’re pricey and sometimes totally unnecessary unless you’re trying to cool something like a 12900K. For more worldly applications, a cooler like the Thermaltake Toughair 310 is perfectly capable, and at $30 at Newegg, or even lower at $20 after a mail in rebate with free shipping, you won’t find a better budget cooling option. It’ even includes support for the LGA 1700 socket so you can buy one with the confidence that it will last you for several years.
The true strength of the Toughair 310 is its fan. The Toughfan 12 is a high static pressure design that’s perfect for CPU or radiator cooling. It’s quiet too but it can spin as high as 2000 RPM so it can be both a quiet and efficient low noise fan, or it can spin up when you need it to. Curiously, the Toughfan 12 sells at Newegg for $24.99 right now, so buying one with the heatsink works out cheaper! Gotta love Black Friday.
The Toughair 310 is rated to handle a TDP of 170W. That means most current CPUs are within its limits. Even something like an 11900K or 12900K is doable, as long as you don’t thrash out all core loads all day. More realistically, any AMD AM4 or i5 CPU is a perfect match. That LGA 1700 compatibility is a key feature. Many of the coolers you’ll find on special could lack LGA 1700 support, and if you have to buy a mounting kit now or in the future, then they’re not such good value after all. Its heatpipes are designed to extract the heat from the elongated Alder Lake CPU die, which can be a problem for some older coolers.
A very good fan and wide compatibility make the Toughair 310 an easy recommendation, It won’t interfere with your RAM and at $20 after the rebate, well, you won’t find a chip chiller that offers better value for money this Black Friday at least.
