CPU cooler clearance

[andy06shake]

Ok can wee please make this a little easyer for me to understand. I will be overclkocking the CPU so the choice of cooler is rather important to both me and the CPUs lifecycle. My budget for an air cooler is £35-£50, It must fit on the Sabertooth(Clear the Southbridge and Memory modules) and fit in my Antec 900. So whats the best choice for my budget?

 

[red1776]

Not knowing how these things are priced in Scotland, have a look at these.

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3858/thermaltake_frio_ock_cpu_cooler_review/index6.html

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/zalman-cnps11x-extreme.html

 

[andy06shake]

The place im getting the components from is www.overclockers.co.uk. I Have contacted there Tech Support and correspond with 3 different Techs and they seem to be telling me that the Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom CPU Cooler will fit into my Antec 900 ok. i will need to remove my side mounted 120mm fan. Devidebyzero, red1776 and everone else thanx for you help and opinions! Going to be a pain in the bum now and ask could i go I5 instaed of the I7 and notice much if any difference while gameing. The rig is being built for that purpose?

 

[red1776]

it will fit, as will the others I linked. You may want to read a review or two about the Akasa, some sites had some issues with it.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2010/05/20/akasa-venom-cpu-cooler-review/3

as far as gaming CPU's and the I7 vs i5 question the answer is yes you can put together a great gaming rig with a i5, lots to consider about how much GPU and how many, futiure considerations, resolution, etc.
This is a good read on the subject.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu,2971-4.html

 

[dividebyzero]

EDIT: I see the Akasa wins the day. Hope it works out well.
If those aren't available, or in the Frio's case, possibly a little on the expensive side, then I'd also look at the Prolimatech Armageddon, Thermalright Venomous-X,Thermolab Baram 2010 or Alpenfohn Matterhorn

 

[nfiniti9]

The place im getting the components from is www.overclockers.co.uk. I Have contacted there Tech Support and correspond with 3 different Techs and they seem to be telling me that the Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom CPU Cooler will fit into my Antec 900 ok. i will need to remove my side mounted 120mm fan. Devidebyzero, red1776 and everone else thanx for you help and opinions! Going to be a pain in the bum now and ask could i go I5 instaed of the I7 and notice much if any difference while gameing. The rig is being built for that purpose?

Im pretty sure you will lose 1-2 ram slots with that cooler though. I don't have either nearby so I can't answer for sure, but I haven't seen many coolers that size not block dimms.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeZZKWLn_w4&NR=1

check that vid, its going to be pretty close.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/529/cm690in.jpg/

on an amd board, so hard to judge intel.

 

[andy06shake]

Nfiniti9, can you then tell me a cooler or coolers that will fit into the Antec 900, Clear the mem modules and southbridge and will still offer me some head room to overclock the CPU?

Dividebyzero, whats your opinion, i think you said that the Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP will be ok, do you think ile lose 1-2 RAM slots? Will it offer an exceptable performance to overclock?

Red1776, what do you think, will i lose slots 1 and 3 with the Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP?

The Techs at Overclockers seem to think all these parts are 100% compatable, but hey they are trying to sell me components after all. I really need to decide on the cooler, ive been going to build this rig for a while now. Im going to go I5 2600K coz its £100 cheaper so also this adds some head room to my cooler budget.

 

[red1776]

I haven't read a review that says it blocks any dimms, but I have not used that cooler myself . maybe DBZ or nf have.

here is another review BTW
http://www.overclockerstech.com/akasa-venom-cpu-cooler-review/4/

 

[dividebyzero]

Haven't used the cooler. Akasa aren't sold here.

If OCUK say that the cooler is compatible then I'd be inclined to take their word on the proviso that you can return the cooler if it turns out they are spinning you a line. Better still, join OCUK's forums (if you haven't already) and get confirmation from Gibbo in writing in a post.

Problem solved.

I still stand by my opinion from an earlier thread. £39 for the Akasa doesn't seem like good performance/£ IMO., not when compared with an all-in-one water loop like the Antec Kuhler H2O 620 at £46. No muss, no fuss, and better oc headroom.

 

[red1776]

I still stand by my opinion from an earlier thread. £39 for the Akasa doesn't seem like good performance/£ IMO., not when compared with an all-in-one water loop like the Antec Kuhler H2O 620 at £46. No muss, no fuss, and better oc headroom.

as luck would have it , I was just reading that review:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/03/10/antec_khler_h2o_620_cpu_water_cooler_review/3

 

[andy06shake]

If i go with the Antec Kuhler H2O 620 at £46 will i get sufficent cooling on the motherboard the sabertooth has thermal armor, does this not require the air flow from an air cooler mounted to the cpu?

 

[red1776]

If i go with the Antec Kuhler H2O 620 at £46 will i get sufficent cooling on the motherboard the sabertooth has thermal armor, does this not require the air flow from an air cooler mounted to the cpu?

Good question, and nice catch. The "thermal armor's' effectiveness is up for debate but Asus says that air from the CPU area and the case airflow is directed through the TUF for better cooling. How big an effect not having a fan based CPU cooler in the socket area is an unknown.


Read this and see what you think:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/asus-sabertooth-p67-tuf-review/1

 

[andy06shake]

I cant see anything in the review about using a water cooler with the Sabertooth, does seem to say it uses air from the cpu fan to distribute it internaly to the thermal armor, also says if does this from the other fans in the case. My Antec 900 has 2x 120mm front, 1 240mm top, 1 140mm back and 1 120mm side. Seems enouth to me but what do i know. Is this sufficent to cool the thermal armor. Will the Antec Kuhler H2O 620 fit in my antec 900(that may be a daft question but hey i need to know these things) anybody?

 

[dividebyzero]

AFAIK the rear fan on an Antec 900 is 120mm. If that is the case then the Kuhler will fit. I'd be more than a little surprised if Antec made their coolers incomptible with their chassis.

With the side fan in operation that and the front fans should supply enough of an airstream to cool the board....it is going to a better setup than a tower air cooler that requires that you cant use the chassis side fan to cool board and graphics - you did say that OCUK recommended you uninstall the side fan when fitting the Akasa.

 

[andy06shake]

Can i fit a 50mm fan over the Antec Kuhler H2O 620 or anywhere else on the main board to supply airflow to the sabertooth?

 

[andy06shake]

Prob solved theres a place fotr a 50mm fan on the board, i take it that solves the air flow to the thermal armor prob, thanks everyone!!!

 

[red1776]

I just was reading that. It has a square removable cap for a fan if you go with liquid, or certain other HSF. make sure you get a quiet one though. small fans are usually high RPM and not known for silent operation. Just my opinion after reading about it in several places...but I think the plastic thermal shield is a bit of a gimmick and will trap/buildup more heat than it dissipates.
let us know how this build goes for you if you would. Good luck

 

[andy06shake]

Kind of mixed resposes on the thermal armour, some reviews say it helps, some say hinder. I like the look of it though. My Antec 900 gathers dust a lot! Any other P67 boards you can reccomend for £150, Keeping the current cooling choice in mind?

 

[andy06shake]

Im looking at the Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67, anybody know if this would be a good choice of board paired with the Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz and Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 also Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler? Also do i need to cool the mainboard also because im chosing a CPU watercooler?

 

[red1776]

I think the fan option is the saving grace for this one , it's a great quality/featured board. Did you notice it has a five year warranty? most others are running a 3 year. I wouldn't try to talk you out of it. if you have good case flow i would monitor the board temps for a while and see if you even need that 50mm fan. The only thing I have a concern about is the dust build up under the 'armor'. But i guess a blast of compressed air through the "shunts" can take care of that

? Also do i need to cool the mainboard also because im chosing a CPU watercooler?

If you go with Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67, the case airflow will cool the board.

 

[andy06shake]

Yeh im getting. No point in over thinking it anymore. Hope the onboard sound is ok coz my sound cards fit a PCI port and i cant see one on the Sabertooth.

 

[red1776]

The saber, has a PCI!

 

[nfiniti9]

The saber, has a PCI!

I don't get the 200+ motherboards. Unless you are going for ultimate overclocks and need micro adjustments on voltages and timings then they really aren't worth it.

They don't OC better (by enough to make a real difference), they dont have more features (besides stuff like thermal armor to justify the higher price that dont really help much), they dont last longer (I rarely see boards go bad unless they have nvidia chipsets haha) and they dont run more stable. So what do they do?

I've used the Max3 and 4, the UD9 (built in a Level 10, not a GT, which wont fit any of the coolers you want btw, what crap for $850) and various other 250+ boards. I've yet to see why spend the money. IMO get a $150-160 mb, the 2600k (you will be glad you did later on) and I would check out the Mux-120 by thermalright. You should get everything you want.

Guy at work put together a P8P67 Pro (today) with a Corsair H50 and it does pretty good. But it not any better oc than the Mux-120 we tried and the Mux-120 has a lower max temp. I'm not a huge fan of sealed watercooling setups, the pumps tend to fail and guess what that means... Possibly dead MB when you realize it hasnt been cooling properly for days while you were on vacation. They dont perform better than high-end cooling (actually worse because of the size of the radiators, the 2x120 rads are much better but more expensive $130+ (i dont have the energy to convert to euro sorry man). Its just not worth the extra cash. If you spend that much you are better with a custom wc setup.

I don't want to put doubt in you and make you not want to purchase stuff. In the end it isn't going to matter as much what you choose if you pick quality parts and parts that fit. People that say different don't put this stuff together everyday. Prob put 3-4 maybe couple more system together and call it fact.

 

[dividebyzero]

I don't get the 200+ motherboards.

Nor do most other system builders. You're basically only getting some extra connectivity (if you need that much go with a workstation board and a add-in RAID card) and some larger heatsinks/heatpipes sitting over........nothing.

Having said that, the Sabertooth's 5-year warranty makes it more interesting- especially when it comes time to on sell. The board itself performance wise is good- but then, not many P67/Z68 boards aren't. What makes the Sabertooth a better proposition than most is that Asus haven't tried to go balls-out with the performance parameters -it's not specced for DDR3-2133+ (which is problematic for a lot of boards in any event), and the OC ability is middle of the pack.
What makes the boards appeal is that in some markets it is actually a cheap(ish) board -by P67 standards. Here, it retails for the same price as the Pro and the UD4 -the latter being a pretty average board- which makes the Sabertooth a good buy.

I'd agree with the MUX-120 cooler...except that it also is 160mm+ in height. Removing the side fan to accomodate it will almost certainly elevate GPU temps.

 

[nfiniti9]

Nor do most other system builders. You're basically only getting some extra connectivity (if you need that much go with a workstation board and a add-in RAID card) and some larger heatsinks/heatpipes sitting over........nothing.

Having said that, the Sabertooth's 5-year warranty makes it more interesting- especially when it comes time to on sell. The board itself performance wise is good- but then, not many P67/Z68 boards aren't. What makes the Sabertooth a better proposition than most is that Asus haven't tried to go balls-out with the performance parameters -it's not specced for DDR3-2133+ (which is problematic for a lot of boards in any event), and the OC ability is middle of the pack.
What makes the boards appeal is that in some markets it is actually a cheap(ish) board -by P67 standards. Here, it retails for the same price as the Pro and the UD4 -the latter being a pretty average board- which makes the Sabertooth a good buy.

I'd agree with the MUX-120 cooler...except that it also is 160mm+ in height. Removing the side fan to accomodate it will almost certainly elevate GPU temps.

See the OC ability is what I question. I've been overclocking since the C300 days and I have rarely seen a motherboard magically give you and extra 100-200 mhz without going into unstable voltages etc. Anytime I've dealt with really high overclocks its not long before something goes wrong and it wont post and resets to safe mode or is no longer stable at said voltage/speed. It just doesnt seem worth it to squeeze that last 100mhz outta the processor. 98% of the time you will see your cpu fail before you motherboard will, unless you get to cherry pick from many. I've even done that but no matter what it seems like something always crops up over time with major oc's, I now prefer ultimate stability over a few hundred mhz. Its just not worth the time/energy. I cant count the nights I've been up all night tweaking/adjusting etc to get more out of the processor. In the end it just seems like luck if you get one of the mb/cpu combos that runs great at really high oc's.

Oh and the side fan can actually hurt temperatures if you have good front to back airflow. It causes turbulence which creates heat. It really depends on the case/setup. I have the 900 (gf's machine) and the front/back/top fans are plenty. It has so much airflow unless you are running SLI or xfire the side fan doesnt do much.