Mini-ITX case cooling

laminutederire · June 25, 2016

Hi there, I'm currently planning a Mini-ITX build, in which I want to have an i5 6600K overclocked at maybe 4 to 4.2GHz, and an RX 480.

To have good overclocking possibilities for both the gpu and CPU (mostly the CPU though), I'm hesitating between a corsair H100i closed water loop and an air cooler like the be quiet dark rock pro 3. I know that those perform equally in full ATX tower, but I fear it won't be the case in a small form factor case. What do you guys think?

Castdeath97 · June 25, 2016

There is no way a dark rock pro 3 would fix in a mini ITX case unless it's a big one. Get a water cooler or small form factor cooler.

laminutederire · June 25, 2016

6 minutes ago, Castdeath97 said:

There is no way a dark rock pro 3 would fix in a mini ITX case unless it's a big one. Get a water cooler or small form factor cooler.

I found one (if ive done the math correctly ) but it is very constricted in there, that's why I am afraid its efficiency would be amenuished by the limited airflow. But I think that you're right about the water cooling, unfortunately for my wallet

Castdeath97 · June 25, 2016

3 minutes ago, laminutederire said:

I found one (if ive done the math correctly ) but it is very constricted in there, that's why I am afraid its efficiency would be amenuished by the limited airflow. But I think that you're right about the water cooling, unfortunately for my wallet

Then going for a smaller water cooler or a decent small air cooler would be the wisest choice. However, don't expect decent overclocking, which to be frank you really shouldn't expect with mini-ITX cases from the get go.

laminutederire · June 25, 2016

3 minutes ago, Castdeath97 said:

Then going for a smaller water cooler or a decent small air cooler would be the wisest choice. However, don't expect decent overclocking, which to be frank you really shouldn't expect with mini-ITX cases from the get go.

I won't overclock from 3.5 to 4.5GHz that's for sure, but up to 3.8 - 4.0GHz with a decent Watercooling solution should be doable, right? (Yeah I was too optimistic in the OP I just realized that )

Castdeath97 · June 25, 2016

1 minute ago, laminutederire said:

I won't overclock from 3.5 to 4.5GHz that's for sure, but up to 3.8 - 4.0GHz with a decent Watercooling solution should be doable, right? (Yeah I was too optimistic in the OP I just realized that )

Yeah I think it should be if you have a decent small form factor cooler.