Upgrading from stock cooler

[ShadowPony]

Hello all,

I've been working on my rig ever since I got it in December 2013.

 

First my RAM died so I upgrade from a 16 GB to a 32 GB set.

Then my Sapphire R270X Toxic died and I upgraded to an Asus Strix R9 390.

 

Recently I fell in love with the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Acrylic (which I eventually got).

 

One thing has remained the same throughout: the CPU cooler, which is the stock Intel one.

 

Currently my rig consists from the following:

i5-4670K with stock cooler CPU

Asrock Z87M Extreme 4 motherboard

Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB RAM

Asus Strix R9 390 8GB

Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Acrylic case

Seasonic S12II 620W Power supply

 

While the CPU cooler does handle an overclock of 4GHz (from 3.4GHz) in normal applications (i.e. games), in testbenches such as AIDA 64 it throttles.

(I have not gone for a higher overclock because of the cooler and not because I think the CPU will not handle it)

 

So I am thinking of a CPU cooler update.

I have however some concerns:

- the RAM clearance, as my RAM is taller

- the case clearance, as not all coolers will fit in the enclosure

 

I have also thought of water cooling but the thought of a custom water loop is not that appealing.

An AIO, however, is appealing, and it addresses the concerns I have with the air cooler, but raises other concerns:

- the clearance inside the case for the radiator as I have an optical drive at the front

(I am thinking of a 280 AIO such as the H115i)

 

Any input is appreciated and thank you for taking the time to read my post.

[UnitD77]

I got the H110i GT and love it. If your case says it supports radiators then you will have clearance.

[shadowbyte]

look at Cryorig's coolers

stuff like the H7 and R1, since they both have zero issues with RAM clearance whatsoever

[NinjaJc01]

10 minutes ago, ShadowPony said:

Hello all,

I've been working on my rig ever since I got it in December 2013.

 

First my RAM died so I upgrade from a 16 GB to a 32 GB set.

Then my Sapphire R270X Toxic died and I upgraded to an Asus Strix R9 390.

 

Recently I fell in love with the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Acrylic (which I eventually got).

 

One thing has remained the same throughout: the CPU cooler, which is the stock Intel one.

 

Currently my rig consists from the following:

i5-4670K with stock cooler CPU

Asrock Z87M Extreme 4 motherboard

Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB RAM

Asus Strix R9 390 8GB

Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Acrylic case

Seasonic S12II 620W Power supply

 

While the CPU cooler does handle an overclock of 4GHz (from 3.4GHz) in normal applications (i.e. games), in testbenches such as AIDA 64 it throttles.

(I have not gone for a higher overclock because of the cooler and not because I think the CPU will not handle it)

 

So I am thinking of a CPU cooler update.

I have however some concerns:

- the RAM clearance, as my RAM is taller

- the case clearance, as not all coolers will fit in the enclosure

 

I have also thought of water cooling but the thought of a custom water loop is not that appealing.

An AIO, however, is appealing, and it addresses the concerns I have with the air cooler, but raises other concerns:

- the clearance inside the case for the radiator as I have an optical drive at the front

(I am thinking of a 280 AIO such as the H115i)

 

Any input is appreciated and thank you for taking the time to read my post.

Country?

[Marzie]

5 minutes ago, UnitD77 said:

I got the H110i GT and love it. If your case says it supports radiators then you will have clearance.

Yeah I agree with this 100%. If you can't fit a big radiator, I'd go with the Corsair H80i GT. It's the same thing just a smaller radiator. I've overclocked my i5 4690K to 4.5Ghz and still manage to get 40-50C under full load, so it's a damn good cooler.

[ShadowPony]

4 minutes ago, NinjaJc01 said:

Country?

Romania, does it matter?

[Marzie]

11 minutes ago, acheahead said:

Wow pretty impressive - I've been thinking about switching to liquid myself, but I share the same concerns as the OP, so the Corsair series really seem to fit well.
Nice numbers too

Thanks! It took a PSU upgrade to get there though. I had been running a 650W PSU in my rig and it couldn't handle the CPU and GPU being OCed so I got a 1000W PSU. The system is happy and stable once more

[ShadowPony]

27 minutes ago, UnitD77 said:

I got the H110i GT and love it. If your case says it supports radiators then you will have clearance.

Case manual says it supports radiators, that's why I was thinking of the H115i (rad is also 10mm smaller than the H110i)

Case manual doesn't mention that Optical Drive Bay needs to be removed on a top 280 rad; but with my measurements I am not convinced (mostly because of not knowing the screw positions)

And since this is quite an investment at $150-180 USD for the AIO, I am being cautious

26 minutes ago, shadowbyte said:

look at Cryorig's coolers

stuff like the H7 and R1, since they both have zero issues with RAM clearance whatsoever

H7 does look like it won't have the RAM clearance, R1, not so sure, I'll have to investigate more, thanks for the input

22 minutes ago, acheahead said:

I think s/he's from Romania

He

13 minutes ago, acheahead said:

It can matter for a couple of reasons, mostly being availability and pricing

 

Wow pretty impressive - I've been thinking about switching to liquid myself, but I share the same concerns as the OP, so the Corsair series really seem to fit well.
Nice numbers too

true, but for now I am looking for a direction to go towards

and yes, liquid does have some huge benefits, and some drawbacks as well; need a good balance

[shadowbyte]

2 minutes ago, ShadowPony said:

H7 does look like it won't have the RAM clearance, R1, not so sure, I'll have to investigate more, thanks for the input

I've got an H7 personally, and it has no issues with super tall vengeance modules 

neither does the R1 universal (not ultimate)

[WoodenMarker]

Can you link us to where you're shopping? What's your budget?

[ShadowPony]

10 hours ago, shadowbyte said:

I've got an H7 personally, and it has no issues with super tall vengeance modules 

[pic removed]

neither does the R1 universal (not ultimate)

[pic removed]

I see now, thanks for the info

 

10 hours ago, acheahead said:

Hope this helps

[pic removed]

yes I was aware of that, but my measurements and not knowing the screw distance was giving me second thought

 

4 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

Can you link us to where you're shopping? What's your budget?

where I'm buying you probably wouldn't understand

since at first I was thinking of a H115i, the budget would be lower than that (which here is about $165 US)

 

I saw the Noctua NH-D15, and it does say it can support taller RAM in dual-fan configuration if the front fan is raised. I haven't seen anywhere the height with the raised front fan. Price is around $103 US

Plus, the Noctua is ugly

 

As recommend, I also took a look at the Cryorig R1 Universal and it looks like it would fit like a glove (35.5mm from center + 13mm fan = 48.5mm clearance to RAM). The black/white design also fit in nicely with what I have. Price is around $100 US

 

I also looked at the Cooler Master V8 GTS as Hardware Canucks  gave it some praise. However, I have not seen any mentions of RAM and case clearance in my searching. The price is about $113 US.

 

My design of the inside of the case started by chance when I had to RMA my RAM and then my GFX card and ended with red/white accents on those two components. So I am now sporting a black interior with red/white accents on the RAM, GFX card and fans (fans are black/white with one fan having red leds).

And why I was leaning towards the H115i at first.

 

[WoodenMarker]

On 7/19/2016 at 10:41 AM, ShadowPony said:

where I'm buying you probably wouldn't understand

Post the links anyway.

[ShadowPony]

Thank you all for the help.

 

I have decided on getting the Cryorig  R1 Universal

 

It's looking pretty good so far