Looking for a decent cooler for a mATX build

[TudorF]

I'm doing a build that uses a Riotoro CR1080 case, which has a very limited space for a CPU cooler.

According to the company, the height of the cooler must be under 125mm / 12.5cm / roughly 5inch.

I've found very few coolers that fit the spec so far:

 

Be quiet! Shadow Rock TF2

Noctua nh-u9s

 

The price difference between them is not much, tho the Noctua is out of stock at my local retailer.

But I noticed that the Shadow Rock cooler from Be quiet is considered a Tier 5 in the tier list on this site.

 

So I was wondering if anyone has a better suggestion for a cooler with a height under 125mm / 5inch that is not too expensive.

Thanks.

[SupaKomputa]

depending on the cpu, tier 5 is good enough.

[Chris Pratt]

What chip are you trying to cool?

[TudorF]

1 hour ago, SupaKomputa said:

depending on the cpu, tier 5 is good enough.

 

56 minutes ago, Chris Pratt said:

What chip are you trying to cool?

This is my current planned build:

 

Case: Riotoro CR1080

CPU: i5 11500

Mobo: Gigabyte B560M AORUS ELITE, Intel B560, socket 1200, mATX

RAM: Crucial Ballistix Black 16GB, DDR4-3200MHz, CL16, Dual Channel

GPU: ASUS TUF Gaming GeForce® GTX 1650 4GB GDDR6

PSU: Seasonic FOCUS GX Series GX-550, 550W

Cooler: stock for the moment, planning on getting something better later

Storage: SSD and HDD from previous rig

 

The case is an mATX, so components might be a bit packed compared to a regular tower. Reviews of this case mention that airflow is not the greatest and CPU and GPU might run a bit hotter than in a bigger ATX case with optimal airflow.

So I suppose I need to make sure the CPU will have a capable cooler, but unfortunately I'm already at the limit with my budget (because the GPU alone cost about 30% of the whole budget).

That's why I was considering running with the stock cooler for a month, then get a more capable one next month. But maybe that's not a good idea.

 

I also considered getting another case from Riotoro that is slightly bigger to allow for more space between components, but that one is out of stock here, so for the moment I'm sticking with this one, unless I find something better. It also has a big discount here, I can get it for 50 bucks, which is way below its original price.

[Chris Pratt]

The U9S is only rated for the 11500 if power limits are not disabled. Though, if you have the room to add an extra fan to it, it may be able to handle that.

 

The Dark Rock is the better cooler of the two overall. Based on Noctua's cooler compatibility for this CPU, it must run pretty damn hot, though. Whether the Dark Rock is enough, either, I can't say, but so far, that's probably your best bet.

[WoodenMarker]

4 hours ago, Chris Pratt said:

The U9S is only rated for the 11500 if power limits are not disabled. Though, if you have the room to add an extra fan to it, it may be able to handle that.

 

The Dark Rock is the better cooler of the two overall. Based on Noctua's cooler compatibility for this CPU, it must run pretty damn hot, though. Whether the Dark Rock is enough, either, I can't say, but so far, that's probably your best bet.

Based on the wording on the website, they're probably referring to the edge case of prolonged AVX loads and possibly in a system without very good airflow as well. 

For most intents and purposes, the NH-U9S should be plenty of cooling for the 11500. 

The SRTF2 should be fine for cooling as well but the performance would be held back by the solid side panel being so close to the cooler's intake. 

4 hours ago, TudorF said:

So I suppose I need to make sure the CPU will have a capable cooler, but unfortunately I'm already at the limit with my budget (because the GPU alone cost about 30% of the whole budget).

That's why I was considering running with the stock cooler for a month, then get a more capable one next month. But maybe that's not a good idea.

The included stock cooler is fine. Use it first and see if there's anything unsatisfactory about it. 

[TudorF]

41 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

The SRTF2 should be fine for cooling as well but the performance would be held back by the solid side panel being so close to the cooler's intake.

Actually, the SRTF2 cooler is shorter than the Noctua.

The case spec sheet says it can accommodate a cooler up to 12.5cm/5inch tall.

 

NH-U9S height: 125 mm

SRTF2 height: 112mm

 

The Noctua is right at the limit, while the Be quiet one is 1.3cm shorter.

Maybe I should just drill some holes in that side panel, it's made of plastic.

[Jeppes]

A new decent case plus a cheap tower would cost about the same as the Be quiet cooler alone.

[TudorF]

Some people just used an AIO to cool it down, probably because it fits better in such a cramped space

 

[Jeppes]

Thats a low wattage system so you should be fine with a cheaper cooler too. Be Quiet pure rock slim 92mm is 22.5€ on amazon.de and most likely close to being equal to u9s with that cpu unless all you do is run avx with power limits off. You could also add some case fans if you dont have exhaust(s). You can remove those pcie-slot covers and use zipties to install an exhaust fan(80/92mm) there.

[WoodenMarker]

46 minutes ago, TudorF said:

Actually, the SRTF2 cooler is shorter than the Noctua.

The case spec sheet says it can accommodate a cooler up to 12.5cm/5inch tall.

Yes, the SRTF2 is shorter but the intake is more blocked off by the solid side panel. The NH-U9S intake is towards the front of the case instead. 

[TudorF]

@Jeppes

@WoodenMarker

Great points, thanks.

 

Yeah, I will need to add some extra case fans, the case only comes with a 12mm front side fan.

Come to think of it, the Noctua NH-U9S might be actually much more effective at pushing the air towards the front. Also, this sideways format that Noctua uses allows installing a second fan towards the rear side:

 

[TudorF]

@Jeppes

@WoodenMarker

I found another one from Noctua that is as short as 110mm.

This one uses a fan in the middle of the heatsink.

 

https://noctua.at/en/nh-d9l/specification

 

[WoodenMarker]

19 hours ago, TudorF said:

I found another one from Noctua that is as short as 110mm.

https://noctua.at/en/nh-d9l/specification

The NH-U9S is better than the NH-D9L.