Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 vs Cooler Master Hyper 212

I would start with the bigger air coolers. I wouldn't get an entry-level air cooler (i.e., a sub-$35 cooler) but some of the coolers in the $50-$60 range would be just fine, like the Scythe Fuma 2 or Arctic Freezer 34 Esports Duo

I'm using a 3600 myself and have a very limited budget. I used what Tech YES City (a YouTube channel that focuses on best value for money PC building) recommend which is a Snowman Cooler (Air Cooler) with GD900 (thermal paste). My temps are 36 °C Min and 50 °C Max when idle and 45 °C Min and 66 °C Max when in game. Edit: Best budget CPU cooler that I know of, Snowman (Cheapest), Cooler Master Hyper 212, DEEPCOOL GAMMAXX 400

Ahh, the Arctic Liquid Freezer II, the excellent performing cooler for those who don't give a sh*t about RGB.

As soon as this thing was installed and I booted up my PC, the results were IMMEDIATELY noticeable. My idle temps have plummeted from 65-70 down to about 25-28 Celsius. Under load ( I played an early 2019 game on almost max settings for several hours), the temp barely rose, going to about 34-36 Celsius across all my cores. This beast definitely does it's job VERY well and I'm thrilled about it