Best coolers for AMD AM5 PCs in 2023

AMD has made its first platform change in some time with Ryzen 7000. The new chips are for the AM5 socket, and all of them need to be cooled. AMD doesn’t always include a cooler in the box with its Ryzen CPUs, so you’ll often need to provide one yourself, especially for high-end models because the better the cooling, the better the performance.

Fortunately, while the socket has changed, existing AM4 coolers will work just fine with AM5. The placement of the holes is the same as on AM4, and so any AM4-compatible brackets will work on an AM5 motherboard. It’s a much simpler situation than when Intel introduced LGA 1700 and cooler manufacturers had to issue new brackets. There are a lot of CPU coolers out there, both air and liquid, but if you’re getting started with a Ryzen 7000 CPU, here are some of our favorites.

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  Noctua NH-L9a-AM5

  Best low-profile cooler

  Noctua’s NH-L9a-AM5 is a premium low-profile CPU cooler for AMD’s AM5 platform. It’s intended for mini-ITX PCs and other builds with limited space for CPU cooling.

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  Arctic Freezer A35

  Best budget cooler

  Arctic’s Freezer A35 is a value-oriented CPU air cooler that costs less than $40 but can still cool even some higher-end CPUs.

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  Noctua NH-U12S Redux

  Best midrange cooler

  Noctua’s NH-U12S Redux is a midrange air cooler for midrange to high-end CPUs. It comes with a single 120mm fan and is 158mm tall.

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  Noctua NH-D15

  Best high-end air cooler

  $110 $120 Save $10

  The Noctua NH-D15 is one of the most powerful air coolers on the market. It can handle high-performance CPUs and while it’s large, it gets the job done. Oh, and it comes in a stunning brown color.

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  Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240

  Best 240mm liquid cooler

  The Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240 is an AIO liquid cooler with a 240mm radiator and two 120mm fans. Although it lacks RGB, it has some of the best performance found on liquid coolers. The larger 280mm, 360mm, and 420mm sizes are also good performers.

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  Source: EK

  EK Nucleus AIO CR240 Lux D-RGB

  Best 240mm liquid cooler with RGB

  The EK Nucleus AIO CR240 Lux D-RGB is a fantastic 240mm AIO liquid cooler for an Intel or AMD CPU. It has RGB lighting, two high-static optimized fans, and some pre-installed fittings for one of the best mid-sized closed-loop coolers.

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  Source: Cooler Master

  Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360 Illusion

  Best 360mm liquid cooler

  $156 $181 Save $25

  The Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360 Illusion is one of the best AIO coolers you can buy and looks the part, too, with its colorful RGB fans.

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  Source: Corsair

  Corsair iCUE H170i Elite LCD XT

  Best 420mm liquid cooler

  Bigger doesn’t always mean better, but it does apply to the Corsair iCUE H170i Elite LCD XT. It has a 420mm radiator with three 140mm fans for excellent thermal performance.

A recap of the best CPU coolers for the AM5 platform in 2023

Since AM5 shares cooler compatibility with AM4, there are lots of options for anyone building a PC using AM5 motherboards and Ryzen 7000 CPUs. Even existing coolers made for AM4 will work, though may require a mounting bracket designed for AM5. Though, since the top-end Ryzen 9 chips consume much more power than those from the last generation, you might find yourself needing a higher-end cooling solution if you plan on getting the Ryzen 9 7900X or 7950X.

For non-X Ryzen CPUs like the Ryzen 7 7700 and the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, we recommend either Arctic’s Freezer A35 or Noctua’s NH-U12S Redux. These CPUs only consume up to 90 watts under full load, and even less in gaming, making them very easy to cool even with a $30 to $50 cooler. The NH-D15 and the AIOs are better for X model Ryzens and the Ryzen 9 7900X3D and 7950X3D. For Ryzen 9 CPUs, it’s especially recommended to get a 360mm or 420mm cooler like Cooler Master’s MasterLiquid ML360 Illusion or Corsair’s iCUE H170i Elite LCD XT.

You should also think about whether a high-end air cooler for an AIO liquid cooler is best for you. Air coolers like Noctua’s NH-D15 are generally equal to 360mm liquid coolers in performance, but take up more space and can make it challenging to perform maintenance. On the other hand, it’s more common to find support for big air coolers than it is for 360mm radiators.

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  AMD Ryzen 7 7700

  $320 $330 Save $10

  The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is an 8-core processor with 16 cores, the ability to boost up to 5.3GHz, and yet has a TDP of just 65W. It’s a solid mid-range chip from AMD for general use or gaming.

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  Source: AMD

  AMD Ryzen 9 7900X

  AMD Ryzen 7000 offers the best performance that you can get right now, packing up to 32 cores and more.

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  Source: AMD

  AMD Ryzen 9 7950X

  $586 $700 Save $114

  AMD’s Ryzen 9 7950X is the flagship CPU of the Ryzen 7000 series, coming with 16 cores, 32 threads, and a 5.7GHz boost clock.