Best cooler for Core Ultra 9 285K in 2024

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With Arrow Lake, Intel aimed to lower temperatures as much as possible without negatively affecting performance. The company largely achieved this with a considerably lower power draw but the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K is still a 125W TDP processor with a rated power draw of up to 250W. That's a lot of energy that needs to be handled by the attached CPU cooler. Thankfully, you don't require the absolute best CPU cooler to fully utilize the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K. I've rounded up some of my favorite coolers to use with the CPU.

Buying the best CPU cooler is just as important as buying any other core component. Here are some of the best CPU coolers on the market.

Arctic's Liquid Freezer III is a monster. It's affordable, performs well under high loads, and has a beefy 360mm radiator to handle all the heat generated by the Core Ultra 9 285K. You won't be disappointed with this AIO liquid CPU cooler and it's among the best for the job.

The Intel Core Ultra 9 285K can be cooled by just air and be quiet!'s Dark Rock Pro 5 is evidence of this fact. This is one serious air cooler with two giant premium blowers, a huge heatsink, and a sleek dark design. You won't find any RGB lighting here, just rock-solid performance without any liquid.

The Noctua NH-P1 is a great example of how just because you could doesn't mean you should. This entirely passive CPU cooler is great for lower loads, relying solely on natural convection for cooling. If you did want to use this imposing heatsink with the 285K, I would suggest installing a fan to the side or ensuring your case has adequate airflow.

If you want to push your Intel Core Ultra 9 285K to its limit, look no further than the Corsair iCUE Link Titan 360 RX RGB. I love this cooler and enjoyed testing it with the Core Ultra 7 265K. It works well with the latest CPUs and has no trouble handling the heat.

NZXT's Kraken range of CPU coolers are solid workhorses for cooling AMD and Intel processors. This Kraken Elite RGB 360 is perfectly suited for the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K with full support for NZXT CAM. You can even change what's displayed on the screen!

You won't likely be able to run your 285K very hard without encountering some issues, but the Termalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE is a solid cooler at a reasonable price. It can tame the Intel Core Ultra series of chips so long as you don't wish to edit video.

The Intel Core Ultra 9 285K produces a considerable amount of heat, even after Intel riegned everything in with Arrow Lake. Though it's not quite as bad as the Core i7-14900K, you will still need a beefy cooler running resource-intensive apps and games. That's where the seriously impressive Arctic Liquid Freeze III 360 comes into play. This AIO liquid cooler has a 360mm radiator for removing as much heat as possible from the pumped fluids. It looks the part too and doesn't obliterate your bank balance for the luxury of installing one inside your system.

If you're not a fan of AIO coolers, I would go for the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5. With two premium be quiet! fans, you won't have any trouble keeping the Core Ultra 9 285K in check, unless you're running heavy loads for hours. The best part about CPU coolers from this German manufacturer is the emphasis on silent operation with the two blowers barely reaching above case fan levels. Even at full load, you won't notice much in the form of noise, making this a fantastic cooler and worth the premium price. So long as the TDP of the CPU cooler matches or is higher than 125W, you're good to go.

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