Advice on CPU cooler max height 160mm

[zipp]

Hi, I am after some advice on my CPU cooler for a build I am planning in a black\white theme.

 

The parts that I am looking to get so far are:

 

Case  - Phanteks P400S Tempered Glass Black\White

Motherboard - Asus Z270 Prime A

CPU - Intel 7700K (moderately overclocked)

GPU - MSI RX480 8gb Armor

Ram - Kingston FURY 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666

 

What I am struggling with is the CPU cooler.  The P400S can only have a CPU cooler with a max height of 160mm.  I have thought of a couple of options that I could go with like the Cryorig H5 or Phanteks PH-TC12DX, but I'm not sure if they will be enough for overclocking the 7700K.  Another option that I am exploring is using a Noctua NH-D14 as according to the specs, it is 160mm high, but that is bang on the maximum height that the p400S takes.  I would probably want to change the fans on it as well so it matches the rest of the build (probably Phanteks) the extra cost for the fans isn't important.

 

So a couple of questions:

 

Do you think the H5 or PH-TC12DX would be enough for the 7700K overclocked?

 

Do you think the NH-D14 with different fans would fit in the case OK in the tempered glass P400S?

 

Thanks

 

 

[8-Bit Ninja]

Why not get an AIO? 

[zipp]

I was toying with an AIO, but I really want to stick with air.  I like things simple with minimum points of failure.

[Bruno_A]

Well, I got myself a DeepCool Gammaxx 400 (152mm height) and it holds my i5 2500 (95W TDP) at 4.1GHz without any issues at all, hitting up to 60ºC in Cinebench, in fact, I wish I got the i5 2500K so that I could overclock further than 4.1GHz. The Gammaxx 400 is pretty cheap as well.

[zMeul]

Cryorig H7: http://www.cryorig.com/h7_us.php#spec

[Spuriae]

For your first question, it depends how hard you want to overclock and how much you value silence. You shouldn't be looking for something that can handle an overclock so much as for something that can comfortably handle an overclock. If you're just a normal person looking for 4.8GHz or so, either of the coolers you listed will be perfectly fine. Any further and you may run into thermal issues if you don't delid.

 

Only applicable if you're in the "further" camp:

 

I'd recommend looking into the Scythe Fuma. It handily outperforms virtually every air cooler out there and most AIO's too in both cooling and noise despite being a relatively short dual tower at only 149mm tall and an MSRP of under $50. The only problem is that it's been out of stock ever since the first reviews of it started coming out; the only places that sell it now are smaller stores and eBay, where it runs for around $65, still a great value compared to other coolers but not as absurdly cheap as when it was released.

 

For something more black and white, I'd want to look at the 140mm version of the Phanteks cooler or the Dark Rock Pro 3, but those don't fit in your case. The Dark Rock 3 is also a thing, but I think it's a poor value for what it is.

 

The Prolimatech Megahalems and Thermalright Le Grand Macho are also top-of-the-line passive coolers with absurd active cooling potential that fit your color scheme, but you'd need to supply your own fans. It'll be more expensive, but this is as good as air cooling gets.

 

 

[WoodenMarker]

The 160mm clearance spec usually takes into account for manufacturing tolerances and you should be fine using a cooler that's 160mm tall.

That being said, there are generally better or cheaper options than the NH-D14. The non-pwm differently sized fans are a bit outdated and make the otherwise excellent acoustics a bit worse.

Out of the options listed, the H5 is probably your best bet. There's little point getting a NH-D14 only to replace the fans.

Where are you shopping/located? 

[FiveNine]

10 hours ago, Nimrodor said:

 

The Prolimatech Megahalems and Thermalright Le Grand Macho are also top-of-the-line passive coolers with absurd active cooling potential that fit your color scheme, but you'd need to supply your own fans. It'll be more expensive, but this is as good as air cooling gets.

 

 

There's Le Grand Macho RT (comes with a fan). It does cool ridiculously well. I had 45 degrees max in x264 test, low 50's in IBT, on 6600k

[zipp]

Thanks for the replies everyone.  To answer your question WoodenMarker, I am in the UK.

 

The Prolimatech Megahalems and Thermalright Le Grand Macho look very nice.  I hadn't heard of them before now and reading about them, makes me think I will end up with one of those.  I still need to read more about them, I tend to be a bit obsessive about reading everything I can about a part before making a decision!

 

 

[WoodenMarker]

8 hours ago, zipp said:

Thanks for the replies everyone.  To answer your question WoodenMarker, I am in the UK.

The Prolimatech Megahalems and Thermalright Le Grand Macho look very nice.  I hadn't heard of them before now and reading about them, makes me think I will end up with one of those.  I still need to read more about them, I tend to be a bit obsessive about reading everything I can about a part before making a decision!

The Megahalems is good but doesn't perform much better than the H5 and I would prefer the latter for the easier installation.

If you can find Le Grand Macho at a good price, go for it. Otherwise, the similar Macho Rev. B will probably be a bit more reasonable: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ThermalRight-814256001052-Thermalright-Cooling-Device/dp/B00PKJ21LW/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1490047579&sr=8-18&keywords=thermalright+heatsink]

 

You need to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

[AdmiralMeowmix]

On 3/20/2017 at 3:07 PM, WoodenMarker said:

The Megahalems is good but doesn't perform much better than the H5 and I would prefer the latter for the easier installation.

If you can find Le Grand Macho at a good price, go for it. Otherwise, the similar Macho Rev. B will probably be a bit more reasonable: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ThermalRight-814256001052-Thermalright-Cooling-Device/dp/B00PKJ21LW/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1490047579&sr=8-18&keywords=thermalright+heatsink]

 

You need to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

I'm i nthe same boat as OP trying to find a good 160mm for the same case even!

 

Do you know if the Macho X2 would be worth it? It's only $60 however it's 162mm tall and I don't know if those 2 extra mm's will be an issue.

[WoodenMarker]

19 hours ago, AdmiralMeowmix said:

I'm i nthe same boat as OP trying to find a good 160mm for the same case even!

Do you know if the Macho X2 would be worth it? It's only $60 however it's 162mm tall and I don't know if those 2 extra mm's will be an issue.

I wouldn't use a cooler taller than 160mm for the case. It's not worth risking if you don't know whether or not it would fit.

Where are you shopping/located and what cpu are you cooling?

[AdmiralMeowmix]

23 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

I wouldn't use a cooler taller than 160mm for the case. It's not worth risking if you don't know whether or not it would fit.

Where are you shopping/located and what cpu are you cooling?

I'm located in the USA and I'll more than likely be cooling an 1800X Ryzen CPU

[WoodenMarker]

14 minutes ago, AdmiralMeowmix said:

I'm located in the USA and I'll more than likely be cooling an 1800X Ryzen CPU

Some good alternatives include

Kotetsu: http://pcpartpicker.com/product/7998TW/scythe-cpu-cooler-scktt1000

H5 Ultimate: http://pcpartpicker.com/product/Ztp323/cryorig-cpu-cooler-h5ultimate

NH-U12S: http://pcpartpicker.com/product/wjmLrH/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhu12s