Which cooling system will fit in my case?

[ideaman55]

Hi guys,


I just bought the following setup so I can do some development with multiple VMs with no problems. I'm looking to do some overclocking to get a little more out of the system, but don't have a clue what's the best/will fit in my case. I keep seeing the Noctua on all the forums for similar setups, but don't know if water/air is what I need, nor do I know which will fit. I'm looking for any and all feedback to get the make this development box last, while getting a bit more out of the processor. This has to sit under my desk, if that makes any difference, and the office air conditioning usually stays around 72 degrees F.


Chip: AMD FX-8120 X8 3100MHZ 16MB 125W AM3+
Cooling: Stock fan
Board: MSI 970A-G46 9 Series AM3+ Motherboard
Power Supply: Corsair CX600
Video: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHZ Ed. 1GB DDR5 PCIe 3.0
Case: MSI Raptor ATX Mid Tower
HD: Seagate 500GB Serial ATA HD 7200/16MB/SATA-6G
Memory: Patriot PGQ332G1333ELQK G2 Division 4 Desktop Memory Kit - 32GB (4x 8GB), PC3-10666, DDR3-1333MHz, 240-pin DIMM, 1.5V, CL9, Intel XMP Ready


You guys are the pros, so any suggestions on cooling for overclocking will be appreciated.

 

[ASUS ROG]

You may want to look at the Cooler Master 212 evo, it's an inexpensive and good performance cpu cooler.
If you want the best of the best cpu coo9ler than you should go with the Prolimatech Armageddon, it cost $80 without the fan.
Looking for a good all in one water cpu cooler than try the Corsair H100, it cost around $110, the 3 cpu cooler that i mention above should have no problem fit in your case

 

[BeepBeep2]

If your case has a 120mm exhaust fan, then any of the on-market 1x120mm All-in-one "Liquid Cooling" solutions will do. ie, Antec Kuhler, Corsair H series (minus 100), Thermaltake Bigwater

 

[caddi daddi]

looks like a corsair h70 or h80 will go right in, the h100 will require heavy mods to fit.
i also read where one guy says his usb 3.0 cables do not reach with this board/case combo on the msi site. i have tried a thermaltake bigwater and it was only slightly better than the stock air cooler for me, it now rests in the bone pile, it works but is no good for me.
I also have had the msi 970-g45 board, after that i will never use another msi board again but, i have not tried the 970-g46.
the heatsinks look better than i remember the g45board having. i'll go check the msi site.

checking the msi site the g46 is better heatsinked.
for overclocking i think you might be limited to 4.0-4.2 at best looking at the cooling and power phasing, i say this because i have run this cpu with the corsair h60 and i run an h60 on my 955be quad core and it reaches 55c at 4.0.

 

[trents]

At only 7.09" wide, that case will not give enough clearance to the side panel to accommodate any tower style air cooler with 120/140mm fans. Go with water. The description on NewEgg says its "liquid cooling ready".

 

[Knufire]

The best solution for you would probably be a Corsair H80, mounted to the back 120mm exhaust hole.

 

[caddi daddi]

+1 mr trents.
it looks like an all in one setup will go right on the rear exaust fan port from the inside like i run my h60.

looks like Mr. knufire just beat me to the punch. so +1 Mr. knufire

 

[BeepBeep2]

At only 7.09" wide, that case will not give enough clearance to the side panel to accommodate any tower style air cooler with 120/140mm fans. Go with water. The description on NewEgg says its "liquid cooling ready".

Between the I/O plate and 120mm exhaust, if the side panel extends past that, should leave enough room to accommodate a tower style heatsink with 120mm fan.

Most heatsinks have W/L/H specifications listed anyway, in case the OP wants to go that route.

 

[trents]

The minimum case width (outside measuerment) that I'm aware of that will acommodate tower style coolers with 120mm fans is 7.5" and even a lot of them won't do it. I know the Coolermaster Elite 430 which is 7.5" wide will barely, I mean barely allow installation of the Coolermaster Hyper 212+ Evo which is 160mm tall, a pretty typical height for 120mm fan tower coolers. We've had forum participants confirm that but some other 7.5" wide cases haven't acommodated those tall coolers.

 

[BeepBeep2]

The minimum case width (outside measuerment) that I'm aware of that will acommodate tower style coolers with 120mm fans is 7.5" and even a lot of them won't do it. I know the Coolermaster Elite 430 which is 7.5" wide will barely, I mean barely allow installation of the Coolermaster Hyper 212+ Evo which is 160mm tall, a pretty typical height for 120mm fan tower coolers. We've had forum participants confirm that but some other 7.5" wide cases haven't acommodated those tall coolers from reports we've gotten.

Alright, thanks.

Just mentioned that manufacturers usually report dimensions in case the dimensions of the cooler happen to be a bit less than the case width.

 

[HAL-9000]

I'm doing a build with an MSI Raptor. As most have already said it will only accommodate a 120mm rad in the rear. If you want to go the all-in-one water route an H80 or Kuhler 920 should fit. I however have decided to externally mount a 120 x2 rad off the rear but that wouldn't work with an all-in-one because you'd need to run the tubes into the case.