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I'm looking for a cheap cooler for an Ivy Bridge i5 3350p. Plastic clips can die in a fire, so what cheap coolers have decent mounting systems?

It has to be at least as capable as the intel HSF, but not much more than that is needed. I've done a bit of looking around, and it seems like you either have to go to a tower cooler or something fairly expensive for its size to get metal mounting hardware.

Coupl've options just from searching Newegg:

Masscool 8W2002B1M4 has decent reviews @ $13 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835150121

Dynatron K5 @ $18 - Dynatron tend to make decent stuff : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835114136

Thermaltake CLP0556-D - looks kinda nice @ $18, and rated to 95w : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835106250

If you're going to go to the trouble of replacing the stock Intel CPU cooler, I'd like to talk you into getting one at least as good as these.
$17¼ or $25 Cooler Master Hyper TX3
$23 or $24 Arctic Cooling Freezer i11

I have no problem spending $17¼ of your money to buy a CPU cooler that is larger, more effective and quieter than you need.

I would suggest you check out the Xigmatek Janus or Praeton:

http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=99814 (Janus, $37)

http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=99815 (Praeton, $20)

I'm actually cooling an i7-4790s with the Praeton in a system right now and I'm quite pleased with its performance - lm-sensors reports a 40C overall CPU temperature in a small case (ISK 300). (Although, I might have overapplied the thermal goop, so it might be running a little warmer than it should be even in a smaller case).

I also have a system with an i7-4790k being cooled by the Janus and that's a great heatsink, nice and quiet and pushes a lot of air with both fans installed.

Both have very secure mounting hardware, all metal, pretty easy to install (but be careful when turning the bolts to lock everything in place, and don't forget to put the plastic washers on to protect the motherboard PCB). I can easily recommend both, but I think for the need you've described, and based on my own experience, the Praeton would be a good fit.

I've seen higher (sometimes significantly so) prices on these two at other sites, Newegg included, for some reason.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'm with you about good cooling, but this is for a broke friend that doesn't particularly care how loud the system is. I'm not sure I'll be able to talk him into a $25 cooler when he can get something for $8, so I was looking for something cheap that at least won't fall off.

deruberhanyok wrote:

http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=99815 (Praeton, $20)

That looks fantastic for the price, but 5-8 days before it ships is too long. Also, NCIX seems to require an account before they'll specify the shipping price, which annoys me greatly.

JustAnEngineer wrote:

$17¼ or $25 Cooler Master Hyper TX3

Does that use push pins like the intel coolers?

JustAnEngineer wrote:

$23 or $24 Arctic Cooling Freezer i11

That looks pretty good, and prime shipping is a plus. So far it looks like this, or the Masscool if I can't talk him into something decent.

Those 92 mm tower coolers can handle 130 to 150 watts, which is more than an Ivy Bridge CPU should produce. When dissipating less power, they are very quiet. The mount for the Freezer i11 does look more substantial (and possibly more fiddly). I like that the heatpipes are squeezed together at the contact patch. I'm not sure why Cooler Master hasn't updated the Hyper TX3 to a similar arrangement (as they did with the new version of the 120 mm Hyper 212 Evo compared to the old Hyper 212 plus).

If you want a simple and inexpensive cooler that blows down onto the motherboard, the Masscool 8W2002B1M4 that Mentawl linked looks like it will do the job. It's cheaper at Newegg than from Amazon. The $26 Cooler Master Vortex Plus and the $40 Silverstone Argon AR06 are better (but more expensive) coolers with top-down fans.

Melvar wrote:

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'm with you about good cooling, but this is for a broke friend that doesn't particularly care how loud the system is. I'm not sure I'll be able to talk him into a $25 cooler when he can get something for $8, so I was looking for something cheap that at least won't fall off.

Then you're looking at the Intel cooler that came with. $8 will buy you a crappy cooler that doesn't do any better than stock, and may do worse.

A quality budget aftermarket cooler is typically going to be $20-30. And a few of the lighter ones there use the clips as well. The thing about the push-pin clips (like Intel and a few others use) is that they are passable for a cooler below a certain weight, you just have to ensure you have the clips fully pushed through. I've never had an Intel stock cooler come off unless someone didn't install it properly. I can say the same for my Arctic Freezer 7 Pro budget tower cooler that ran in the wife's system for years, which used clips, but was relatively light.

If your friend is unwilling to spend more than $8-10, you should stick with stock Intel, and ensure the case has good intake/exhaust ventilation from other fans. Otherwise, your best options are probably as follows:

Arctic Cooling Freezer i11 - currently $22.99 plus 0.99c shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

Cooler Master Vortex Plus (if space is a concern) - $25.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

By market standards, these are inexpensive.