Upgrades advice. (CPU cooler)

[Mystro]

Hi. I have recently gone and bought a 560ti and a 750w PSU. Next to upgrade is my motherboard, RAM, and CPU. I'm on a tight budget so I'm going for AMD. However I also intend to do SLI in the future, so I had my eye on the MSI 870a fuzion power edition. I do plan on getting a decent CPU air cooler as well for some overclocking, however watching the video review on the board, I'm quite worried about the RAM slots being overlaped. I'm going for 8gb of OCZ gold or platinum, havn't quite decided yet, and I need to make sure I get a decent cooler for overclocking, that doesn't overlap my RAM slots. Reason I am opting for 8gb is because I am a sound engineer (Also a gamer hence the SLI), and the software I use is extremely CPU and RAM heavy. So anyway, can anybody suggest a cooler for no more than £30 that will be capable of overclocking well, but won't overlap my RAM slots, or that is high enough to clear it? And also, it can't be TOO high because where my case is quite big, I fear there's a lot of coolers that won't fit it.

Thanks.

 

[dugdiamond]

okay - i have that mobo - and it is a beast

get a 1090T - dont bother getting higher speeds than that, as they all overclock about the same

SLI or CFx = easy (not bridges needed via lucidHydra)

RAM = get mushkin 1600 or dominatorGT (with the dominators you can take the tops off and they are a perfect fit)

the cooler in an intensively used rig IS the most important - get a noctua D14 (or similar)

as for the case... the D14 will fit in all ATX mid-to-high cases

 

[S_I_N]

please correct me if I'm wrong here but it isnt true sli with the 870 fusion right?? Just Lucid which will allow multi nVIDIA cards (any version) to work together but not in true sli fashion.

 

[Mystro]

Thanks for the reply. Problem with the D14 is it's way over my budget, same with the RAM. I opted for OCZ just simply because of the price, I don't think I can afford anymore than that to be honest.

 

[Mystro]

I'm not too sure. I just read that it was SLI capable, I assumed it'd be full SLI?

 

[dugdiamond]

please correct me if I'm wrong here but it isnt true sli with the 870 fusion right?? Just Lucid which will allow multi nVIDIA cards (any version) to work together but not in true sli fashion.

if two like cards are used in hydra - the performance is exactly the same as 'bridged cards', but without having to use the bridge

NOTE: the mobo will also run SLI and CFx as native, without using hydra drivers. but bridges will have to be used

 

[S_I_N]

hmmmm interesting I havent seen anything at all that said sli in any of the info I read on MSI's site. but as Duggy has one I'll take his werd fer it.

 

[Runebeard]

Haven't OCZ stopped making ram now? So what's being sold is end of stock I imagine. Not sure how good a warranty and service you'll get if they happen to break, which if you ask TTL he's had a few sets go on him.

At £30 you're gonna struggle to find a heatsink that will allow you to overclock "well" whilst maintaining very nice temps. That said, my Titan Fenrir used to do ok before I won my NH-D14 in the comp they held on here, and is around £30. Watch your fingers fitting it though, I cut myself numerous times on it.

If you could stretch to £40 the Be Quiet Dark Rock Advanced would be a good choice for a decent overclocking cooler.

 

[Mystro]

I quite like the look of both those coolers. however I am still worried about the RAM slots. Because I really can't lose any, i'd need them all. Any idea if those two coolers are tall enough to not block low profile RAM?

 

[Runebeard]

With OCZ gold/platinum theyre are standard height alu heatsinks (shorter than Mushkin) so you won't have issues with either of them. In fact, I'm using standard height ram under my D14 for that matter and plenty of clearance there.