Hey everyone, I was certain I had an account here but I guess I've not logged in since you it all became bit-tech. Long time reader of Custom PC and couldn't help but resist buying components from the recommended list back in 2006 to make my c2d system. Recently I finally decided to upgrade and bought the Asus P8P67 motherboard with i7 2600k. Now, I heard good things about the Be Quiet Pro Rock cooler but as it was out of stock, I just went for the pro version which was utterly massive. So big infact that I cannot fit it on without getting in the way of the ram (2x4gb Corsair Vengenance). I really didn't plan this very well! I do plan on overclocking and at full 100% load I'm reaching 70c on stock cooler already so does anyone have a good recommendation for a quiet(or even silent ) cooler that isn't insanely big and as a bonus, even easy to install?
I would recommend the Coolermaster Hyper 212 plus. It's smaller, easy to install and will probably clear the ram slots.
Gelid Tranquillo Its what I'm using, got a 2500k OC to 4.6Ghz and it sits at 63 degrees, only cost £25 too.
If you had made a post before your build, we would have told you that the RAM you picked up was a no for custom coolers.
It's still possible to fit a Thermaltake Frio around a set of Corsair Vengance. Have to use sockets 2 & 4, but it works. (At least in an AM3 build I helped out on a while back) If all else fails you can saw off the fiddly plastic fins on top that do absolutely nothing to the cooling performance.
Is that a fact? If you look at custom pc's recommended performance build in issue 92 they list the Vengeance RAM with the Dark Rock Advanced cooler on a Asus P8P67 mobo... Can anyone clarify that Corsair Vengeance RAM is incompatible with all aftermarket CPU coolers?
Well thank you for the suggestions. I looked at the 212+ and that looks fairly decent, cheap price, not too big and cooling isn't too bad apparently. I was considering H60 or H70 but not sure how I feel about that kind of water cooling. I think the H70 should fit on my case (Antec P180B) but it does cost a lot more than the 212+. The H60 looked good as well as it is quieter and smaller but sadly, can't find it in stock anywhere.
Gelid Tranquillo is perfect for the task and from what I've read you'll be limited by the CPU before temperatures become an issue unless we're talking about some major voltages here!
I agree, I've heard good things about the Corsair water coolers, planning to procure one for myself. +1
its not really water cooling as such, yes it has water inside it, but it is a fully contained system, although there good for ram problems, like with the ridiculous vengence memory, they have crappy stock fans, and at £50 for the h50, and £70 for the h70 they are well over price, especially if you add another 2 fans to replace the stock fans afterwards. take a look at the gelid traquillo also take a look at the Noctua NH C12P, although it is a face down cooler, so you shouldn't have any problems with ram getting in the way, but if you went with that make sure your case has some side ventilation, personally, as long as you don't mind probably (voiding your warranty) just take the tacky plastic heatspreaders off the ram
Never really understood why the Corsair H series is recommended so well. In reviews it appears on par with the best air coolers but only noisier! Although I've never been sold on water cooling as the silent option. Seems you need more fans than on a regular air cooled rig.
The H70 is an excellent cooler, low idle temps on an i7 2600K and with the CPU clocked to 4.5ghz it never went above 60 deg C after an hour of prime95's small ffts.. Only downside is the noise of the fans.
I have just installed a H70 for my 2600k (@4.5GHz). I changed the fans for Silverstone penetrators (much quiter and much better airflow), and the CPU idles at just above the mid 20's The H50 is also great for the SB CPU's - I just cannot stand the oversized monolithical-like air coolers that take up the whole case - they just look silly, to me anyway.
That is good, curious what voltage you have the CPU at in that rig? Also a question for chris66, do the Silverstone Penetrators really work at channelling air in a column and what pin layout does it have 3 or 4 header? Sounds like a good candidate for an intake to blast air towards a GTX 570!
They seem to work - the airflow is definately more focused than the stock Corsair fans. I bought three of them - two for the H70 and one for directional airflow for the GPU's (epoxied it to the side of the upper removable HDD cage, so that it's directly in-between both cards - when I get the other GPU back, that is...) The pins have three headers, not four.
Having spent a while looking at reviews, I decided to give the H70 a try. Main reason being is that it should be much easier to install, less weight on motherboard and should just look a lot cleaner as well. Staying with the stock fans for now but I'll bear those Penetrator fans in mind, might try those out as I do like quiet fans. Unless anyone else has any recommendations?
Well, i took a shortcut a bit and just used the auto option, but it never seemed to push the CPU voltage over 1.3V. Have dropped back down to the default multiplyer at the minute, as want to experiment a bit with increased manual voltages. Unfortunately, the P8P67-M Pro motherboard bios doesn't allow simple entry of the proposed voltage, just +/- options to add additional voltage (reading various other experiences suggests that the auto option can push the cpu voltage up to around 1.5v, which is obviously a tad high!).
ive got an h50 cooling the 2500k in my sig. 4.5ghz produces a perfect 60 degrees after a few hours of prime95 large FFTs. im using a PWM delta fan for airflow, so i cant speak of the stock corsair fan. but with the delta, the CPU cooler is completely inaudible at idle (300RPM will do that ). other advantages include reduced stress on the motherboard, and the ability to exhaust the heat directly out of the rig - lowering case temps.
