Cooling CPU Cooling for EVGA 780i

Hi,

Im looking to upgrade my cooling for my QX9650 on a EVGA 780i board.

I've looked at many coolers and have settled on the Prolimatech Megahalem, with 2 fans.

I think it will fit, however can anyone tell me if the Prolimatech Megahalems definitely does fit on a 780i motherboard?

As to the fans for the Megahalem. What do you recommend, so far I have short listed.

Noctua NF-P12
Noctua NF-P14
Akasa Apache
Akasa Viper
Scyche Gentle Typhoon (1450RPM)

Cheers

 

I have the same mobo and found that the only cooler of that type that didn't block off one of the ram slots once you attach the fan was the Thermalright 120 ultra extreme.

I've had a look at the dimenstions of the Megahalem and I'm pretty sure it will block one ram slot.

Megahalem
L, 130mm
W, 74mm + 25mm for fan width
H, 158mm

Thermalright
L, 132 mm
W, 63.44mm + 25mm for fan
H, 160.5mm

 

Cheers Bumsrush

Damn this 780i board, I should have gone with the Intel chipsets, P38/45.

I only got the 780i for the SLI, which i got rid off after 3 months anyway (2x9800gtx --> 1x280gtx), the board runs hot, everything is crammed in and the SATA drivers play up in vista/windows 7 too.

I've looked up the thermalright black edition, http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...olimatech-megahalems-cpu-cooler-review-7.html , it does okay and i assume this would still fit.

But i do wonder if i should just replace the motherboard, it would probably get rid of the above problems and allow me to fit the cooler in. It just seems a little pointless to swap motherboards due to the cost, its not like I'm moving to the i7 range or anything. And with a QX9650 as a processor i'm unlikely to get a great benefit from it even if i did upgrade given the cost of it all. Ill save on upgrading for a few more years i think.

 

I've had my 780i for years now, Had both sli and single card config, Got a 275 atm never had a problem with it I'm using the thermalright 120 with a QX6850 .

I would go for this one you can use two fans push / pull if you wanted and would also fit a i7 with the fitting kit if ever did go the i7 route.

Cant get the link to work ?? but Scan number LN26448

 

Would this one not be better http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Ther...on-48-Alium-Fins-for-Socket-1366775AM2-3-Cpus

As it comes with the additional fan clips.

That is the main difference i see between the intel BP and rev.c. products scan have on offer.

Intel BP version - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Ther...n-for-Intel-775-and-1366-!!-CPU-(Without-Fan) - (The forum skipped the last bracket when changing it to a link, this one works)

 

Yeah your one 's the one They'r pretty much the same.

I always use them myself because they are one of the few coolers that dont block off the ram slot on a lot of mobo's.

Its a shame you cant get a 775 fixing kit for the 1366 one the fan cage's on them are really good.

 

You have confused me now.

"Its a shame you cant get a 775 fixing kit for the 1366 one the fan cage's on them are really good."

They both work on 775 and 1366, don't they?

Ah, nevermind, the product title is misleading.

Only the 2nd one has 775 and 1366 support. Although it only has 1 fan clip.

Meaning the http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Ther...on-48-Alium-Fins-for-Socket-1366775AM2-3-Cpus is better suited to me.

 

This is the one I was refering to its exactly the same apart from the fan fitting but only has the 1366 fitting kit I have one of these on my i7 rig with two of those fans.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Ther...m-heat-sink-for-Intel1366-CPU-inc-1600RPM-fan

 

Ahh, now i see what you mean

So aside from the Thermalright 120 ultra extreme, is there anything else you would recommend.

I remember the Thermalright 120 ultra extreme been at the top when i got the Zalman 9700, but i decided against it due to the size, however i think i do need a excellent cooler for this CPU.

 

I still think they are one of the best and are well made but thats my opinion.

As said most block off the ram slots.

Of course there's the corsair H50- HYDRO

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Cors...rcooler-LGA775-1156-1366-AM2-2plus-AM3-NEW-V2

 

I did consider water cooling, I totally forgot about it to be honest. Might be worth looking into it again as an experiment.

Would you recommend the H50 as something to look into. When searching both coolers and thermal paste the H50 appeared alot.

 

I've never used a H50 but they are surpposed to be close in performance, Some people here rate them.

As for thermal paste Arctic Silver is a good one, I use the diamond paste myself it's just a little bit better.

 

special tech have some 780 / 790 water cooling chipset and board blocks on sale in the clearance section ... thats why I decided to re fit the 790 board with Q6850 in
They aint that much cheaper .. but they have them

 

The H50 does seem a possible cooler. Obviously the heatsink is tiny, you just need to position the radiator well. I have a cosmos case, so its plenty big enough, but its trying to find a good spot to mount the cooler.

I have got AS5 atm, its over a year old so may have seperated a bit. And curing time is a pain. I think AS5 has now been outdone.

I heard of the IC diamond and did consider getting some, but heard it is quite thick and hard to work with. It also polishes the CPU, which i don't really see as been a bad thing as its obviously filling in the gaps.
The AC-MX (2,3) both seem to do well, as did the Shin Etsu X-23 in tests that i saw.

Indegio extreme is a new contender, but both pricey and hard to get hold of. Ill probably skip this until i get a new machine.

I got some Shin Etsu x23 on order, and may get some IC diamond too.

As to water blocks on the board itself, i do not think this will happen because i will need a custom water loop setup to do this.

 

If you get the IC diamond I find that a hair dryer works great warm it up before you use it.

It's hard to get it out of the tube cold.

I read on another forum the shin Etsu sets hard and is hard to get the cooler off once its been on there for a while.

Edit dont those case's have room at the top for a rad ??

 

Yes they do.

Twin 120mm fans at the top, with a single 120mm on the back.
Also 2x 120mm lower down the case, one at the bottom, one above the hard drives.

I've found one post saving the 780i will fit the Megahalem, so i am still considering it. Just tryingto get more details on it.
If i can't fit the Mega, the H50 might be the way.
My H50 concern is its a small loop so may get saturated quickly if the temps do increase.

 

I think it may depend on what ram you have, If you have ram with a high heatsink it wont fit.

I have the dominator in mine and the fan almost touches the ram so if the cooler was just 3mm wider the ram wouldn't fit.

 

The H50 should be fine as it performs similarly to high-end air coolers & will probably cost the same as a Megahalems with extra fans.

Obviously though, it won't perform as well as "proper" water cooling loop.

 

The cost of the H50 is about £10 more given 2 fans, but obviously i know proper WC loop is better as it is less saturated. The heatsink/block for the CPU is also the pump. They could probably do with like a H50x2 which has 2 radiators instead of one.

 

I was just saying that you shouldn't worry at all about using the H50 as it performs equal to/better than the Meghalems & is still reliable despite not being a full watercooling loop.

However if you do feel you need more watercooling power then maybe have a look at the CoolIT Eco C240.