Finding a CPU cooler that fits.

[Metalmammoth]

Hi.

 

I've been browsing for a couple of days now, and could honestly use some expert help.

 

I'm looking to replace the stock cooler on my AMD FX 8350.

 

Originally I figured it'll be enough, since I'm not doing any overclocking whatsoever. For a time it did it's job adequately, even quietly, but now, half a year after purchase it's getting worryingly noisy under load.

 

I started looking for something more serious, and found out it's not going to be easy.

 

See, back then I choose a dual kit of Corsair Vengeance ram (CMY8GX3M2A1866C9), and not long after added another pair for good measure. So now I have all four memory slots populated with one of the tallest rams out there, and apparently most air coolers have clearance issues with that.

 

If clearance alone wouldn't be an issue, I also ran into some rather goofy innovations that smell more like marketing than functioning technology, and while I may be wrong about them, my mind is set on avoiding them nonetheless.

 

I considered water coolers, and while neat, I decided against them in light of their comparatively low service life, and potential (if rare) leakage threat.

 

So, what I need your help with, is finding an air cooler that;

 

-Fits an AM3+ socket. MoBo is ASUS M5A99X EVO R2.0

-Can keep an FX 8350 nice and cool. (4Ghz stock, 125W tdp, no overclock)

-Does not touch the RAM. Stock cooler is 90 mm wide, there's room for 100mm wide if the base is in the center. Asymmetric designs could reach further towards the end of the case, 150mm can easily fit if it doesn't reach further than 50mm from the center of the base towards the RAM. Size is with fan included.

 

-Height is no issue. Phanteks Enthoo Pro case, about 190 mm space from board to side panel.

 

-No direct contact heat pipes design; base plate was put there for a reason. To me, those look to leave strips of no-connection areas. *

-No convex base plate; Again, I'm no expert, but if I tighten a thick, solid piece of metal with a convex surface against a thin flat metal plate (cpu heat spreader in this case), I'd expect it to leave a dent.*

-No leds, silly colors, over-designing. I prefer simple, clear looks. Preferred colors are black / unpainted, blue and white parts are tolerated on account of these colors already being present inside my case.

-No super-thin fans.

-Preferably under 70EUR

 

*: As mentioned above, I have no other basis for my opinion on these other than common sense. It might not apply in this case, it might even be a laughable idea, but at the end of the day it just doesn't feel right.

 

I realize it sounds difficult. I'm not asking anyone to browse through catalogs in my stead, but if someone is familiar with a type that'd fit my requirements, I'd be overjoyed to hear about it.

 

Geez, looking back at my list, I'm doubting such a thing even exists. Maybe I should try to have one custom made in some workshop around town.

[Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus V]

an 8350 with a stock cooler  ?

[Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus V]

get an Corsair H60 Gtx or some AIO coolers they are great ! or if you are a money spender check out the EK all in one cpu cooling unit

[LIGISTX]

I forget the model number off hand, but noctua has some heatsinks that are built to not interfere with RAM. Or any AIO water cooler would work. Anything from corsair is a good idea, if you can fit a dual rad that is best.

[manikyath]

get an Corsair H60 Gtx or some AIO coolers they are great ! or if you are a money spender check out the EK all in one cpu cooling unit

i'd more so suggest getting a h100i, they're marginally more for greatly increased cooling performance. (and surface area to collect dust...)

[CatzRuleZWorld]

NH-U14S seems like it would work to me. I think it has direct contact heat pipes but seriously it cools better than having a base plate lol.

[Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus V]

i'd more so suggest getting a h100i, they're marginally more for greatly increased cooling performance. (and surface area to collect dust...)

i have a h100i gtx , but everyone does not have a dual rad possibilty so if he has indeed its a good choice !

[Metalmammoth]

I did not expect useful replies this quickly. Good job gentlemen!

 

The NH-U14S seems great (if posessed of an unpleasant colour scheme). I've read some reviews about it and they say it pushes against high profile ram and blocks the 1st PCI slot in a forwards-backwards setup, but has no clearance issues if it's facing up-down.

 

If I can find confirmation, it might just be the winner. I wonder if a light layer of spraypaint would affect fan performance. I hear they are of excellent quality, so it'd be a shame to replace them.

 

As a backup plan, it has a smaller variant called U12S which was claimed to fit in any direction.

 

That h100i you mention does sound cool, and I have plenty of room in my case, not just for a dual radiator but a triple one as well. At the same time.

The question is not of room, but reluctance. I'd loath to pay more for the cooler than I did for the CPU, only to have a pump failure in 2 years and burn the chip, or to have the whole system shorted out by errant leekage. I keep hearing too much about that, and one of my friends has just switched back to air cooling after his liquid cooler did both. It was an older corsair dual-rad as well.

[Benji_w]

I did not expect useful replies this quickly. Good job gentlemen!

 

The NH-U14S seems great (if posessed of an unpleasant colour scheme). I've read some reviews about it and they say it pushes against high profile ram and blocks the 1st PCI slot in a forwards-backwards setup, but has no clearance issues if it's facing up-down.

 

If I can find confirmation, it might just be the winner. I wonder if a light layer of spraypaint would affect fan performance. I hear they are of excellent quality, so it'd be a shame to replace them.

 

As a backup plan, it has a smaller variant called U12S which was claimed to fit in any direction.

 

That h100i you mention does sound cool, and I have plenty of room in my case, not just for a dual radiator but a triple one as well. At the same time.

The question is not of room, but reluctance. I'd loath to pay more for the cooler than I did for the CPU, only to have a pump failure in 2 years and burn the chip, or to have the whole system shorted out by errant leekage. I keep hearing too much about that, and one of my friends has just switched back to air cooling after his liquid cooler did both. It was an older corsair dual-rad as well.

 

An AIO would help keep your chip cool but how far you can overclock the thing depends on what motherboard you have. Just read your board, you'll need VRM cooling and a fan behind the cpu socket. Your ram will fit under a NH-D14, confirmed this in my friends build. Bill owen from MNPCtech has been spraying fans for years and has had no issues so you should be fine.

[Metalmammoth]

Thank you, that pretty much solves my case!

[LogicalDrm]

I did not expect useful replies this quickly. Good job gentlemen!

 

The NH-U14S seems great (if posessed of an unpleasant colour scheme). I've read some reviews about it and they say it pushes against high profile ram and blocks the 1st PCI slot in a forwards-backwards setup, but has no clearance issues if it's facing up-down.

 

If I can find confirmation, it might just be the winner. I wonder if a light layer of spraypaint would affect fan performance. I hear they are of excellent quality, so it'd be a shame to replace them.

 

As a backup plan, it has a smaller variant called U12S which was claimed to fit in any direction.

U14S blocks PCIex1 slot on most Intel mobos. Yours is complete green listed on compatibility (Noctuas site). As for RAM, if D14 fits, U14S will most definitely fit. I have RipjawX under there with space to space. Vengeance isn't much higher than that.

If you are

[Benji_w]

U14S blocks PCIex1 slot on most Intel mobos. Yours is complete green listed on compatibility (Noctuas site). As for RAM, if D14 fits, U14S will most definitely fit. I have RipjawX under there with space to space. Vengeance isn't much higher than that.

If you are

 

He's better with the DH14 for such a heat producing CPU as soon as he starts clocking it especially, the low handing centre fan will blow onto his VRM and give him more thermal headroom too.

[Metalmammoth]

Update;

After a couple more days of research, watching and reading reviews, tests, comparisons, I have found out some interesting things:

-An NH-D14 is indeed compatible with medium-height RAM, as you've said.

-An NH-U14S is 300 gramms lighter, uses only a signle fan, yet outperforms the older D14 by a couple of degrees thanks to 1/3rd greater airflow. It's also a little cheaper. However, it does partially block the first RAM slot on AMD boards, so only a standard-height stick can go there.

-The new NH-D15 is 100 gramms heavier and costs more than the D14, and performs better than the U14S, offers great compatibility - but only if you take off the frontal fan.

-And lastly it's "little" brother, the single-fan NH-D15S performs 1-2 celsius degrees weaker than the D15 but still better than the two 14'ers, while beign the quietest, the second lightest, ...and the second most expensive of these four coolers. The real kicker is, this one will support up to 65 mm tall RAM, and doesn't reach anywhere near the top PCI slot, even on an ITX board. Which is funny, because it's so tall I doubt it'd fit in anything less than a full tower case, but lucky for me, mine is large enough.

So this is the one I'd order... IF I hadn't happened across the Thermalright TRUE Spirit 140 which does pretty much the same for HALF the price. Base model might have ram clearance issue with the first stick on AMD boards. "BW Rev.A" variant improves PCI clearance, but not RAM.

Edit 2.: Ordered a Thermalright today. Will take some time to arrive. I'll post about how it fit.

I can't fathom what made Noctua chose their trade-mark colour scheme. I can't be the only one who decided against them at least partially because of the p**p color...

[Metalmammoth]

Oh boy did I blunder.

 

So the shop was super slow, and would have deliverd the Thermalright after three weeks of waiting.

 

I cancelled my order, and bought a Coolermaster Hyper 612 v2 from another shop. Cost about 45 Eur, has a tilted-back asymmetrical design to avoid clearance issues. Single 12 cm fan. Direct contact heatpipes advertised to be seamless.

 

It arrived today.

 

It's crap.

 

Unlike the pristine CGI image at the manufacturers site, the "seamless" dc. pipes look like they were hand-filed with a large, coarse rasp. They have seams sufficient to grind cheese with.

 

The backplate is plastic. I was hoping I could use the stock AMD steel plate, as most aftermarket coolers require it. Not CM! They use thinner screws seemingly out of sheer spite.

But it gets better. This "universal" backplate can only fit an AMD socket if you clip on 4 additional plastic bits, making it more rickety, and eliminating 95% surface that'd otherwise help support the coolers weight. Yup, 886 gramms hanging from my mobo by four 1cm bits. No review I read mentioned it.

 

The fun doesn't end here; The screws are so thin, they can move up and down in the boards holes. Tightening them provides an acceptable fit, but I can all too easily imagine it starting to slack over time.

 

Mounting the cooler on the assembly was a pain too. The rear side is a latch, while the front is a screw. Inside the case, the latch could not be seen or touched. It's completely covered by the heatsink, and the boards own heatsinks. It clipped on eventually, mostly by luck.

 

Temps don't paint a flattering picture either;

 

                                       Stock                                           Hyper 612 v2

 

15 min idle in BIOS:    45 c  no noise                                41 c no noise

15 min idle in Win7:   33 c   no noise                                33 c no noise

30 min light game:      46c 1/2 max rpm light noise           46c 2/3 max rpm no noise

30 min heavy game:  56c 90% rpm moderate noise         BSOD after 5 min on first try. Writing this post to vent rage, will try again later. no noise.

 

Case is large, has one 20 cm and one 14 cm frontal intake, one 14 cm rear exhaust. CPU was thoroughly cleaned with 70% alcohol from local pharmacy (only thing available). Used the thermal paste that came with the cooler; Spread it sparingly in lines at the seams between heatpipes (some sites recommended this method, and it seemed unlikely a pea would spread further than the first seam.)

 

Cooler set to blow from front to rear, rear case exhaust practically makes it into a dual-fan. It shouldn't perform so poorly.

 

The box promises 180 W TDP. As it is, I wouldn't recommend it for my 125 W processor.

I was thinking about replacing the 1300 rpm fan that came with it to a faster one, but with 3 mm gaps between fins, I doubt it'd make much difference.

 

Come monday, I'll see about returning it to the store. I don't think it'll be easy though, it came by delivery.