Best Black CPU Air Coolers for Intel & AMD Processors in 2024

If you are looking for a stylish and sporty-looking CPU air cooler for your gaming or enthusiast build then getting a black color CPU cooler is the way to go. Not only do black CPU coolers look cool, but they also play an important role in the cooling performance too. A black-colored heatsink may perform 3% to 8% better than the natural or original silver-colored aluminum heatsink. This is due to the fact that the black color radiates heat better than the other colors and is able to dissipate heat better. However, this difference is not that huge and it does not matter that much when you have a fan blowing air to the heatsink.

A couple of years back, it was very difficult to find a totally black CPU air cooler, but now more and more manufacturers (including Noctua) are beginning to release the black version of their popular CPU coolers because of their growing demand. Also, they may charge a small premium over the non-black ones and it is somewhat justified too because they look more aesthetically pleasing and may perform slightly better too. So, if you are looking for a black CPU cooler for your current or next build then in this post, I am going to list down the best ones out there for both Intel and AMD processors.

Best Budget Black CPU Coolers

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition

This is one of the best budget black CPU coolers that you can get for your gaming or workstation PC. It supports a majority of the Intel and AMD CPU sockets that include AM4, Intel LGA2066, and LGA2011-v3. Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition is basically a black variant of the Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED CPU Cooler, but with a better fan and no LEDs. The whole CPU cooler is finished in black that includes a heatsink with nickel-plated jet back fins and a black 120mm fan. The heatsink comes with four copper heatpipes with Direct Contact Technology for better heat transfer and dissipation and has a top cover that is made of brushed, anodized aluminum, finished in gunmetal black that gives it a premium and classy look.

The CPU Cooler comes with a Cooler Master Silencio FP120 PWM fan that spins at 650 – 2000 RPM and comes with Fluid Dynamic Bearing. The fan is optimized for high static pressure (2.9mm H2O) and has long curved blades. Also, it is quite a silent performer and has a maximum noise rating of 26dBA only. You can also add another fan in a push-pull configuration to further increase the cooling performance. The installation of the CPU Cooler is easy and it comes with all the mounting brackets & screws for supported sockets. It is around 159mm tall, which is a bit on the taller side but should be able to fit in most mid-tower cases perfectly. This budget black CPU Cooler is great for running mainstream to mid-range processors on stock speeds and keeping them pretty cool. You can perform mild overclocking on this CPU Cooler, depending upon the processor TDP, although I recommend it for stock speeds only.

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition
CPU Socket	Intel LGA2066, LGA2011-v3, LGA2011, LGA1151, LGA1150, LGA1155, LGA1156, LGA1366 and AMD AM4, AM3+, AM3, AM2+, AM2, FM2+, FM2, FM1
Fan Size	120mm
Fan Speed	650-2000 RPM (PWM)
Fan Bearing Type	Loop Dynamic Bearing (LDB)
Heat Pipes	4 Copper Heatpipes
Noise Level	6.5 – 26 dBA
Cooler Height	158.8mm

Buy Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition

Arctic Freezer 34 eSports DUO

[Great Performance for the Price]

Arctic Freezer 34 eSports DUO is certainly the best budget Black CPU Cooler that you can get for your PC. It is a dual-fan CPU Cooler that comes with an all-black heatsink, but the fan comes in black color with a combination of other colors that include white, red, yellow, grey, and green. The heatsink comes with four direct touch heatpipes and has some thermal coating that creates micro-turbulences with a special surface structure for better cooling performance. There are two 120mm BioniX P-Series Fans that are arranged in a push-pull setup that increases the cooling performance. These are high static pressure fans and come with Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) and are very silent in operation.

You should know that the contact surface of this CPU cooler does not cover the entire HIS (Integrated Heat Spreader) of the processor but the main area of the DIE where the maximum heat is generated. It is rated for TDP up to 210W which means it is more than sufficient for high-end processors like Core i7 and Ryzen 7 (on stock speed). When it comes to performance then it beats the above-mentioned Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition and offers cooling performance equivalent to the Noctua NH-D15 and Be quiet! Dark Rock 4 Pro, which are more expensive high-end dual tower CPU coolers. You can also perform some mild overclocking depending upon the processor TDP. It supports the majority of the modern-day CPU Sockets and the installation process is also on the easier side. It is 157mm tall which means it will have no problems fitting in most of the ATX cases, and because of its relatively compact design, it offers very good RAM compatibility. So, if you are looking for the best budget black CPU cooler that looks great and offers very good performance then you should grab this one immediately. Highly Recommended by me.

Arctic Freezer 34 eSports DUO Specifications
CPU Socket	Intel LGA 1151, 1150, 1155, 1156, 2066, 2011(-3) and AMD Socket AM4
Fan Size	120mm x 2
Fan Speed	200 – 2100 RPM (PWM)
Fan Bearing Type	Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Heat Pipes	4 Copper Heatpipes
Noise Level	26 dBA (max)
Cooler Height	157mm

Buy Arctic Freezer 34 eSports DUO

Best Mid-range Black CPU Cooler

NOCTUA NH-U12S chromax.Black

[Great Performance, Super Silent, Slim Design]

NOCTUA NH-U12S chromax.Black is the black version of the highly popular and award-winning NOCTUA NH-U12S CPU Cooler. The CPU Cooler comes with a black painted heatsink and black fan that gives it a premium and stealth look. There is almost no difference in performance between the black and non-black versions of the CPU Cooler, and both of them are equivalent in performance. It comes with a slim heatsink with five copper heatpipes that are soldered to the heatsink for better heat transfer, and an NF-F12 PWM fan that spins at 300 – 1500 RPM, which is very quiet in operation. Moreover, the CPU Cooler comes with a low noise adapter (L.N.A.), using which you can use to reduce the maximum fan speed to 1200 RPM only, to make it even quieter.

The CPU Cooler supports a wide range of Sockets, including AM4 and the Noctua’s SecuFirm2 multi-socket mounting system makes the installation process quite simple. This is a premium cooler and can handle high-end processors such as Core i9, Core i7, Ryzen 9, and Ryzen 7 comfortably at stock speeds. For mid-range processors, you can perform a decent amount of overclocking. You can optionally add another Noctua NF-F12 PWM fan if you want to increase the cooling performance, especially when you are overclocking your CPU. Due to its slim design, it offers almost 100% RAM compatibility and you use can use memory will tall heatspreaders without any issues. The height of the cooler is 158mm, which is reasonable and poses no issues for the majority of the mid-tower ATX computer cases. So, if you are looking for a premium black CPU Cooler that is slim, affordable, quiet, and offers great performance then look on further.

NOCTUA NH-U12S chromax.Black
CPU Socket	Intel LGA2066, LGA2011-0 & LGA2011-3 (Square ILM), LGA1156, LGA1155, LGA1151, LGA1150 & AMD AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2, FM2+ (backplate required), AM4
Fan Size	120mm
Fan Speed	300 – 1500 RPM (PWM)
Fan Bearing Type	SSO2 bearing
Heat Pipes	5 Copper Heatpipes
Noise Level	22.4 dBA
Cooler Height	158mm

Buy NOCTUA NH-U12S chromax.Black

Best Black Dual Tower CPU Coolers

be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4

[Black & Beautiful, Silent operation, Great Performance]

be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 is a dual tower high-performance CPU Cooler for overclockers and gaming enthusiasts. It is quite a big CPU Cooler and has got a black heatsink and fans. The heatsink on this cooler has wave-contoured cooling fins with small dots on their surfaces that increase the air circulation, and the special black coating with ceramic particles makes perfect heat transfer. The heatsink has seven 6mm copper heatpipes that also have a black coating on them. The CPU Cooler comes with two fans, one is a 135mm fan which is located in the middle of the twin towers and the other one is placed on the front side in a push-pull arrangement. These are silent wings fans, which are very quiet in operation, and their maximum noise level rating is merely 24.3 dBA. Also, the front fan has a funnel-shaped frame for high air pressure.

The CPU Cooler is rated for 250W TDP of cooling performance, which means it can handle the flagship processors (Core i9, Ryzen 9) from both Intel and AMD with ease and with some amount of overclocking. The cooler is quite wide and stands at 162.8mm tall, which means it can only fit in spacious mid-tower and full tower cases. The cooler looks really stylish and modern with a brushed aluminum top cover with a diamond-cut finish and is easily one of the best-looking high-end CPU Air Coolers in the market right now. It supports a wide range of CPU sockets from both Intel and AMD, including the AM4 Socket, and is pretty easy to install too.

P.S. – You can optionally add another 120mm Silent Wings 3 fan to the back end of the CPU cooler if you want more airflow to increase cooling performance.

be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 Specifications
CPU Socket	Intel LGA 1150 / 1151 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011(-3) Square ILM / 2066 & AMD AM2(+) / AM3(+) / AM4 / FM1 / FM2(+)
Fan Size	120mm (Front), 135mm (Middle)
Fan Speed	1600 RPM (max)
Fan Bearing Type	Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Heat Pipes	7 Copper Heatpipes
Noise Level	24.3 dBA
Cooler Height	162.8mm

Buy be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4

Buy be quiet! Dark Rock Pro TR4 [For TR4 Socket]

Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black

[Easily the Best Black CPU Cooler, Quiet operation]

Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black is the black version of the Noctua NH-D15, which is the Noctua’s most popular flagship CPU Cooler. It comes with a black coated heatsink and black fans that gives it a premium and stealth look. It is a dual tower or dual heatsink CPU cooler that comes with six copper heatpipes that are soldered to the heatsink and dual 140mm NF-A15 PWM fans. One fan is placed at the front and the other one in the middle of the two heatsinks in a push-pull setup for accelerating the airflow for better heat dissipation. These NF-A15 PWM fans spin at speed of 300 – 1500 RPM and come with Noctua’s proprietary SSO2 bearing and are very silent in operation (24.6 dBA), even at full load. You can make the fans even quieter using the low noise adapter (L.N.A.) that comes with the cooler and limits the maximum fan speed to 1200 RPM and noise to 19.2 dBA.

If you think that be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 is on the bigger side than Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black is even bigger in size and that too in all dimensions i.e. width, height, and length. It performs slightly better than the Dark Rock Pro 4 and can easily handle flagship and high-end processors with ease, and you can also perform moderate to high overclocking too, depending on the processor. When it comes to looks, then it is not the prettiest because of the absence of the top cover and is easily outshined by the Dark Rock Pro 4 in the beauty department. NH-D15 chromax.black supports almost all modern-day Intel and AMD CPU Sockets and is pretty easy to install using the SecuFirm2 multi-socket mounting system. So, if you are looking for the best black CPU Cooler for overclocking then this is the one to get.

Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black Specifications
CPU Socket	Intel LGA2066, LGA2011-0 & LGA2011-3 (Square ILM), LGA1156, LGA1155, LGA1151, LGA1150 & AMD AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2, FM2+ (backplate required), AM4
Fan Size	140mm x 2
Fan Speed	300 – 1500 RPM
Fan Bearing Type	SSO2 Bearing
Heat Pipes	6 Copper Heatpipes
Noise Level	24.6 dBA
Cooler Height	165mm

Buy Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black

Best Slim Black CPU Cooler

be quiet! Dark Rock Slim

[100% RAM Compatibility & Clearance, Slim Design]

be quiet! Dark Rock Slim is a slim black CPU Cooler that offers almost 100% RAM compatibility. If you have a smaller form factor motherboard (micro-ATX, mini-ITX) that has RAM slots closer to the CPU Socket then this CPU Cooler is a great choice because it does not block your RAM slots and you can even use memory will tall heatspreaders without any issues. This cooler comes in a black color. having black coated heatsink with small dots on the surface for increased air circulation and four copper heatpipes that also have a special black coating on them. The top of the heatsink has a black brushed aluminum cover with a diamond-cut finish that gives it a premium look. The CPU Cooler comes with Silent Wings 3 120mm PWM fan that is very silent in operation and has a maximum noise level rating of 23.6 dBA only.

Dark Rock Slim offers cooling performance up to 180W TDP and can be used with mid-range to even some high-end processors comfortably, but on stock speeds only. The CPU Cooler is pretty slim at 72mm in width but is 159.4mm tall which means it is on the taller side and will not fit in most of the smaller cases. To increase the cooling performance further, you can optionally add another 120mm fan in the push-pull setup. The installation is hassle-free and it supports almost all modern-day Intel and AMD sockets. Overall, a pretty good slim CPU cooler that looks good, is silent, and performs very well too.

Check out: Best Slim CPU Cooler with Full RAM Compatibility & Clearance

be quiet! Dark Rock Slim Specifications
CPU Socket	Intel LGA 1150 / 1151 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011(-3) Square ILM / 2066 & AMD AM2(+) / AM3(+) / AM4 / FM1 / FM2(+)
Fan Size	120mm
Fan Speed	1500 RPM (PWM)
Fan Bearing Type	Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Heat Pipes	4 Copper Heatpipes
Noise Level	23.6 dBA (max)
Cooler Height	159.4mm

Buy be quiet! Dark Rock Slim

Best Black Low Profile CPU Cooler

Noctua NH-L9i chromax.black

Noctua NH-L9i chromax.black is the black version of the Noctua NH-L9i low-profile CPU Cooler. It is a CPU Cooler meant to be used in small form factor (SFF), mini-ITX, and slim low-profile cases where most of the mainstream coolers won’t fit. The CPU cooler comes with a low-profile heatsink with two copper heatpipes having a soldered interface with the heatsink, and a 92mm Noctua NF-A9x14 HS-PWM chromax.black fan that spins at 600 – 2500 RPM and uses SSO2 bearing. The fan is reasonably quiet and has a maximum noise level rating of 23.6 dBA.

The height of the CPU cooler is 37mm and it can fit in almost any mini-ITX and SFF case, and also offers 100% RAM compatibility with no interference at all. Officially, this CPU cooler is rated for cooling up to 65 TDP and can run budget to mid-range processors (Core i3, Core i5, Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5) comfortably on stock speeds. Overclocking is a strict No on this CPU Cooler and it offers performance comparable to an Intel Stock CPU Cooler that comes bundled with the processors. The installation process is easy and it supports popular Intel CPU Sockets and only the AM4 Socket is supported for AMD CPUs, using the NM-AM4-L9aL9i mounting kit.

Check out: Best Low Profile CPU Coolers for SFF & Mini-ITX Cases

Noctua NH-L9i chromax.black Specifications
CPU Socket	Intel LGA1150, LGA1151, LGA1155, LGA1156 and AMD AM4 with NM-AM4-L9aL9i
Fan Size	92mm
Fan Speed	600 – 2500 RPM (PWM)
Fan Bearing Type	SSO2 Bearing
Heat Pipes	2 Copper Heatpipes
Noise Level	23.6 dBA
Cooler Height	37mm

Buy Noctua NH-L9i chromax.black

Other Good Black CPU Coolers

• Noctua NH-U12A chromax.Black CPU Cooler
• Scythe Mugen 5 CPU Air Cooler Black Edition

See also:

• Best 92mm CPU Coolers up to 150mm tall for smaller cases
• Best Quiet CPU Coolers for building a Silent PC
• Best Budget CPU Coolers under 50 dollars for Intel & AMD CPUs

Final Words

In the end, I would only like to say that Black CPU Coolers do look great and goes with almost all color schemes of your PC. Also, in terms of performance, they may offer a little advantage over their non-black counterparts which is a bonus point too. If you have any queries or doubts on which black color CPU cooler to get then you ask me in the comment section below.