Do I have to worry about some spacing for Heatsinks? No cutout behind mobo?

[pmap93]

Hello!

I'm new to heatsinks section I've never really installed a heatsink before.

though Im wondering, if there is some sort of spacing required for the brackets behind the motherboard?

Because nowadays, CPU cases has a cutout behind the motherboard for easy install of heatsinks.

Unfortunately, I have a Cooler Master Cosmos S, and there's no cutout

 

[EarthDog]

It's raised off the motherboard tray specifically to accommodate most heatsinks.

 

[caddi daddi]

it'll go right in, coolermaster has made sure your backplate will clear.

 

[pmap93]

Thanks! Good to know, caddi daddi. is there a standard spacing required though? Like height of backplate screws? 5mm or something?

Just out of curiosity though EarthDog, how did you raise the mobo? Taller standoffs?

 

[trents]

Yes, standoffs do come in different heights if you need to get taller ones. You can find them on ebay or purchase them from specialty computer supply companies like Sidewinder or Frozen PC. But I wouldn't worry about it. I would be surprised if there was not enough space to accommodate the cooler back plate. As ED said, there tend to be standards for these things that people engineer components to comply with.

The bigger concern in general is the clearance to the side panel. Most good aftermarket tower style heat sinks that use 120mm fans are about 160mm tall. If your case is not more than about 7.5" wide across the top you may not be able to accommodate one of these. But the case you have is more than wide enough to give the necessary clearance to the side panel.

 

[pmap93]

Actually I have yet to see some coolers but I just got worried about the backplate height clearance.

I was thinking maybe one of those silent, self-contained cooling systems like Corsair H100.

But honestly I don't know what to pick yet.

Thank you very much for your answers though!

 

[trents]

The Corsair H100 is not silent unless you don't use the fans. At full speed, the fans are pretty noisy. I used one of those recently.

What you need to know is that all in one water coolers like the Corsair H100 offer only slightly better cooling than the best air coolers and offer a lot more potential problems like pump failure. They are more expensive as well. With an air cooler, there's not much to go wrong with it.

What CPU are you needing to cool? Will you be overclocking it?

 

[pmap93]

OH I see, I thought failure rate are quite low.

I'm planning to get an i7-4790K, some times I render videos and 3D models for hours, that makes my CPU hot

I think at Max of 4.4GHz, I MAY not overclock it (cuz I have no experience on OC, and I'm actually scared ).

Since, I'm in the process of choosing one, I also would like to have a nice-looking one with lights and etc.

 

[EarthDog]

Failure rates are pretty low, actually, but that is one of the concerns (of all AIO's).

 

[trents]

I don't know of any AIO water coolers that come with LED fans. The ones that I have checked out seem to come with all black or white on black fans. To get lights you may have to go with custom fans.

Can't think of any top end air coolers that come with LED fans either but the big Phantek coolers do give you many color options for the fans.