Need some suggestions!

[UFN]

Note - See post #11 as I no longer need a top down fan nor plan on getting the H100

So in my new build I've got a p67 sabertooth which has that fancy thermal armour that works best with a fan blowing into the CPU socket. My current idea for dealing with this is to get a h100 and have the side panel fan blowing into the socket.

But ive been told a fair few times that the h100 is very expensive for it's performance (and noisy), so I was wondering if any of you know of Any decent coolers that would work in this situation (blowing into the socket)? Or is there an alternative to the h100 which is just as discrete for my side fan to do the trick? Or is the h100 not as bad as it described?

Thank you all!

 

[fcb]

You could take a look at the top down coolers. Noctual has a couple really good ones for directing air onto the motherboard.

http://noctua.at/mai...ts_id=35&lng=en

http://noctua.at/mai...ts_id=37&lng=en

H100 is pretty noisy with the included fans. You will have to think about replacing the fans with silent ones like the Noctuas. Personally I don't think it's worth investing in if you can't live with the noise, then you'll spend extra on fan replacement on top of the already expensive H100 unit. Your bill adds up. Some food for thought.

 

[sheroo]

This guys has done a couple of vids that you may be interested in:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=XZFRimzsfoE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Q4VpTBWm1LI

 

[SmoulderingCircuits]

Get the top down blowing Noctua - NH-C14

 

[fcb]

If you are thinking about the NH-C14 you have to make sure your RAM is low profile because you may have to remove the 2nd fan. It depends how you set up the CPU brackets and lock the heatsink into place.

 

[UFN]

One thing I ought to mention is that I truly loathe the aesthetics of noctua fans, they make me cringe every time I see them, and I've never encountered any part, any fan or any case which has caused me to cringe in the past; I have a high "gross" threshold and they surpass it with ease.

So, yeah, it won't be a noctua

Tbh at this point I'm thinking of just sticking with the stock fan (which is downward facing) and just not over locking the CPU for a while

 

[fcb]

One thing I ought to mention is that I truly loathe the aesthetics of noctua fans, they make me cringe every time I see them, and I've never encountered any part, any fan or any case which has caused me to cringe in the past; I have a high "gross" threshold and they surpass it with ease.

So, yeah, it won't be a noctua

Tbh at this point I'm thinking of just sticking with the stock fan (which is downward facing) and just not over locking the CPU for a while

Well the alternative for top down style heatsink would probably be from the Zalman line. They have a few top down designs to choose from, which are quite nice if you're not really doing much OC-ing.

You may take a look at some of these:

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=388

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=338

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=314

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=313

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=312

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=311

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=278

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=168

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=167

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=166

 

[UFN]

Well the alternative for top down style heatsink would probably be from the Zalman line. They have a few top down designs to choose from, which are quite nice if you're not really doing much OC-ing.

You may take a look at some of these:

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=388

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=338

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=314

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=313

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=312

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=311

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=278

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=168

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=167

http://www.zalman.co...ead.asp?Idx=166

Awesome! Thank you very much, I will definitely have a look through those

 

[Terrifictez85]

Would this be any good? Surely you could orientate it to cover the cutout

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-011-PL&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

 

[SmoulderingCircuits]

One thing I ought to mention is that I truly loathe the aesthetics of noctua fans, they make me cringe every time I see them, and I've never encountered any part, any fan or any case which has caused me to cringe in the past; I have a high "gross" threshold and they surpass it with ease.

So, yeah, it won't be a noctua

Tbh at this point I'm thinking of just sticking with the stock fan (which is downward facing) and just not over locking the CPU for a while

I thought they'd be ugly too but they actually look bearable in black or red cases.

Hmm... I just thought of orange and made me wonder if Cougar will release any HSFs

 

[UFN]

I thought they'd be ugly too but they actually look bearable in black or red cases.

Hmm... I just thought of orange and made me wonder if Cougar will release any HSFs

The theme of my case is Black and blue and currently nearly every piece is either black or has blue LED's on it - The case is all black with blue LED's, the case fans have blue LED's, the motherboard is a sabertooth with black thermal armor, the GPU has a black back plate and a big activity LED system (which would show blue most of the time, when idle) and the ram is all black too.

The beige fans and very light silver tower stick out like a sore thumb on fire. If it were a White theme I can see it sort of fitting in, but the exact opposite is true in my build

The only way I'd ever own a noctua is if I ditched the fans.

ANYWAY Something of an update - The youtuber that Sheroo kindly posted finally uploaded a video which compared having a top down cooler and an assist fan with no CPU fan cooler (water cooling instead) and just the assist fan...and it turns out the difference is minimal. SO screw the top down cooler limitation

But that brings another dilemma, though certainly an easier one, Suggestions for a cooler that will go in my case theme of Black and Blue? I don't plan on doing any extreme overclocking on my CPU (4ghz maybe, but no further than that for a long time) So I don't think i'll need any Goliath coolers.

I was looking at the coolermaster v8 because it aesthetically fits in my case, seems to allow my corsair vengeance ram to fit and cools moderately well...thoughts?

 

[SmoulderingCircuits]

The theme of my case is Black and blue and currently nearly every piece is either black or has blue LED's on it - The case is all black with blue LED's, the case fans have blue LED's, the motherboard is a sabertooth with black thermal armor, the GPU has a black back plate and a big activity LED system (which would show blue most of the time, when idle) and the ram is all black too.

The beige fans and very light silver tower stick out like a sore thumb on fire. If it were a White theme I can see it sort of fitting in, but the exact opposite is true in my build

The only way I'd ever own a noctua is if I ditched the fans.

ANYWAY Something of an update - The youtuber that Sheroo kindly posted finally uploaded a video which compared having a top down cooler and an assist fan with no CPU fan cooler (water cooling instead) and just the assist fan...and it turns out the difference is minimal. SO screw the top down cooler limitation

But that brings another dilemma, though certainly an easier one, Suggestions for a cooler that will go in my case theme of Black and Blue? I don't plan on doing any extreme overclocking on my CPU (4ghz maybe, but no further than that for a long time) So I don't think i'll need any Goliath coolers.

I was looking at the coolermaster v8 because it aesthetically fits in my case, seems to allow my corsair vengeance ram to fit and cools moderately well...thoughts?

I'd say Silver Arrow's greenish fans go with blue - or blue Phanteks

 

[yassarikhan786]

How about the coolermaster Hyper 212+. It keeps my 2600k around 60 C at 4.0GHz when stress testing (prime95) and 45 - 55 when gaming. I have the regular corsair vengeance ram and it fits perfectly over my CPU without conflicting with the 4 ram lots on my motherborad. I have the cooler blowing air towards the back and out of the case. It does a good job for 20 - 30 quid. You could replace the stock fan with a blue fan to go with your theme.

 

[SmoulderingCircuits]

How about the coolermaster Hyper 212+. It keeps my 2600k around 60 C at 4.0GHz when stress testing (prime95) and 45 - 55 when gaming. I have the regular corsair vengeance ram and it fits perfectly over my CPU without conflicting with the 4 ram lots on my motherborad. I have the cooler blowing air towards the back and out of the case. It does a good job for 20 - 30 quid. You could replace the stock fan with a blue fan to go with your theme.

It's a good cooler for the price but the fins look like they were machined by cavemen - there's just something about them that doesn't look right to me

 

[Cid]

I've got the Be Quiet! Dark Rock Advanced and it doesn't conflict with my Vengeance RAM either. Also the entire thing is black, and incredibly silent. And it's not a half bad cooler to boot! Pretty sure OC3D did a review on it too.

 

[yassarikhan786]

^^What he said. They are very nice coolers and will be good with the theme your going for.

 

[sheroo]

Yeah Dark Rock sounds like aesthetically what you want. The mounting mechanism is meant to be a pita though, you might need 3 hands....

 

[fcb]

Yup, the CM Hyper 212 Plus and the Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro/Advanced are possibilities as well. They're aesthetically pleasing. The Corsair H60 could be another choice also since you're not going to be OC-ing much. That will definitely clear the RAM height from any collisions with heatsinks.

 

[UFN]

I do like the dark rock advanced and it's certainly on my list. What are the general opinions of the V8? which is currently top of my list (same price as the Advanced, looks better though and looks even better with a blue LED fan fitted) saw tom say he was "very impressed" with it and it only needs to deal with a 2500k at 3.8ghz (don't plan on taking it any further)

 

[fcb]

The V8 isn't bad and it was one of the interesting coolers when it first came out. The fan is a bit loud, but not as bad as some others. If you're set on the V8, you should probably go for a silent fan and also one that has higher pressure. It has no problem cooling an i7 920 OC-ed so it has no problem cooling the 2500K @3.8GHz at all.

I'd still go with the CM Hyper 212 Plus, Dark Rock Pro or Advanced for the silence though as I don't really need to have LEDs lit up.