Cooling New build stalled - part 2

I'm currently building an i7 920 system around a P6T SE mobo and Scythe Mugen 2 cooler all in an Antec P193 case but have found that the Mugen's heatsink presses against the side panel's fan mount when fitting the side panel. The overall height of the Mugen is 160mm and after a bit of research I've come up with the following alternative coolers - Titan Fenrir or Sunbeam Core Contact which according to the specs are 156mm and 155mm tall respectively.

I would think they'll be clear of the P193's side panel fan but probably only just with maybe 1mm-2mm clearance, but is such limited clearance between the heatsink and case fan advisable?

That leads me to consider maybe a lower-profile CPU cooler such as the flower ones from Zalman. Any recommendations for my system? Are the copper heatsinks ae good as aluminium ones? Do any of the Zalman's approach the peformance of the Fenrir in an i7-based system?

I must say that given the P193 is a big case, I'm very surprised that the Mugen is too big.
Does anyone else out there have a similar spec system to mine and if so, what CPU cooling solution are you using?

Thanks in advance for any feedback or info

Johno

 

Can you not just remove the fan on the side panel and put it somewhere else?
Copper is better than aluminium as it conducts heat faster. The restricted space will not matter so long as there is enough room for air to flow around the bridge chips on the motherboard. I usually have fans on each end of the case, so that one end bring air into the case and the opposite end pushes the air out, this creates an air flow through the case to keep everything cooler.

 

Not really possible due to the nature of the case.

 

The only thing I can suggest then is to buy another heatsink similar to the fenrir just a bit smaller. In my expericene the low profile ones and zalman ones arent as good as the giant fenrir style ones. Or you could mod your case.

 

Yeah, I could mod my case - I painted blobs of tippex onto the top of the fan's extremities and tried to fit the side panel so I could see where I could possibly drill holes/cutouts around the tippex marks on the panel to allow it to fit, but I've decided against that and am now seriously considering a Corsair water cooled solution which should perform better than most premium coolers and takes up much less space and weight in the case.

thanks for your help

 

Yeah watercooling is the best way to go even if its more expensive. I would advice you to get Laing DDC pump with res, they are very easy to set up and it makes filling and emptying the system very easy.