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Smallest and best Water cooler

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chomper

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Joined
Nov 28, 2013
I just got through building a new tower. but the case and motherboard seem to be a bad combination when it comes to adding a liquid cooler.

I bought a mid size tower thermaltake commander MS-I

and Motherboard Giggabyte 990FXA-UD5 with FX-8350 processor

radeon 7970 video card

this is the cooler that I bought that I had to return cause it didn't fit. even tried with one fan. http://www.microcenter.com/product/392415/Water_20_Performer_Closed-Loop_Liquid_CPU_Cooler

The heat sink on the board blocks the cooler even with one fan. I tried putting it on top of the case as well and still no luck.

I was looking at the corasair H55 cooler with one fan but then I saw the H80 which looks to be the same dimensions 120x120x25 mm. I could have sworn that I read somewhere that the H80 is a dual fan though. I don't want that due to my space limitation.

The board on the right is my new board. The stock cooler that came with the FX-8350 is even bigger than the stock cooler that is on the FX-8120 which is weird.
MxEuNqe.jpg
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any recommendations on installation and the best Liquid cooler for my CPU ?

Thanks
 
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H80i would be a minimum for the 8-core stuff. I would get an NH-D14 or PH-TC14PE personally.
 
H80i would be a minimum for the 8-core stuff. I would get an NH-D14 or PH-TC14PE personally.

would that fit my tower though ? any liquid cooler at this point will beat my stock cooler im guessing.
 
You don't want the smallest radiator for that CPU, it won't keep up.
 
Just..no, better get an NH-D14 or PH-TC14PE, trust me I`m still pulling my hair for buying in to thoose sh*t AIOs. Much more silent and reliable to go air cooled.
 
Just..no, better get an NH-D14 or PH-TC14PE, trust me I`m still pulling my hair for buying in to thoose sh*t AIOs. Much more silent and reliable to go air cooled.

This +1, hence my original recommendation.
 
it would have to be a cooler that I can find in a retailer so I can return easier. As mentioned my #1 issues is size compatibility.
 
Also ive googled many times but cant find details on the description of the stock cooler that comes with the FX-8350. Anyone know the best link to look for that ?
 
Gigabyte has a penchant for placing oversized heatsink everywhere :)
The problem is that the case is not designed with watercooling in mind... so you have to get creative... external mounting, sacrificing HD cages, etc
OR run on Air... a Noctua DH-12 or 14 could be good; and they have minimum clearance/dimensions published on their site.
 
it would have to be a cooler that I can find in a retailer so I can return easier.
If you let us know what local retailer and/or the heatsinks they have, we would be able to better help you find something suitable.
 
Good quality air beats low quality AIO water. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is compact, inexpensive, and should do the job. It's available at Mircrocenter, which is what you linked to before, so I assume that's where you're shopping when you say "local to you". (we can't read minds, if you need to shop local, you need to tell us what's local for you)
 
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TT's NiC series coolers are just as good as the 212+ and don't block any ram slots. ;)
 
I've purchased a couple of these. Still have one and used the other in a new build about half year ago. Seems to be a nice semi-custom loop. I have the 240 rad units and the installed one cools nicely on Intel I5. The 8350 may be another story.

I've a FX-8150 and it is a bear to cool on overclocks above 4.7Ghz. I've added to my 360 rad another 120 and redid the loop with an Asus HD7970 DCU2 and and EK mosfet/VRM waterblock added to the EX Supremacy CPU waterblock. Works well over 4.9##GHz now (still checking OC's).

-Rodger

Edit: Just looked at your case and it's not to different the the 2 Corsair Vengeance C70's I did those builds with. So, I'm pretty sure the EK loop I mentioned above would work -- Size-wise anyway.
 
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