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550D CPU Cooler clearance


TomDOW2

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Hi everyone! I am soon to order parts for my first custom PC. I don't really do gaming but I want a fast and reliable machine. I like the 550D because it will be very quiet, however I would like to try some CPU over-clocking and I have read that the airflow on the 550D isn't great; so I have decided to go with a Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro CPU Cooler so that my CPU is cooled as well as I can without noise. The problem is that this is a very tall cooler (166mm).

 

Will a 166mm CPU cooler fit in a 550D?

 

Also, here are the specs I am thinking about at the moment. Any problems or advice?

Mboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H

CPU: i5-3570K

CPU Cooler: Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro

PSU: Corsair AX 650 (sorta overkill but the warranty speaks for its self)

Graphics: Integrated (As I said: not a gamer. I assume this can do HD video)

RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengeance Low Profile

 

Thanks :)

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I don't own this case, so I could be wrong, and you'll have to take what I say about the 550D with a grain of salt. ^___^

 

But having said that, there's enough space to comfortably take a Noctua NH-D14, which is about 160mm, and in a photo I saw of the case with a 158mm cooler inside, there was at least another 25mm of clearance between the top of the cooler and the side panel.

 

So it should fit, but if I was you, I'd get either a NH-D14 or a H60, which would easily fit and as with the NH-D14, it's one of the best performing air coolers on the market, and a H60 isn't that far behind either, and there's almost no clearance issues with that at all. :)

 

And according to some, if you replace the fans on it with higher speed fans, it actually performs really well, so invest in a couple of AF120's or some Scythe Gentle Typhoons and you should see much improved temps :)

 

And to answer your sort-of question about the integrated graphics on the 3570K, they're brilliant considering they're Intel integrated, and will easily play most HD videos without a problem, and for games at lower resolutions, they can keep up with some of the 60 to 70 quid dedicated graphics cards, so you shouldn't need much more than it. :)

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Thanks for the speedy and useful response :)

When I was looking at a Fractal R3 for a case I was going to get an AF fan but with the Corsair case costing more and coming with 1 more fan I thought I would leave it and hope it wasn't necessary given I have such an efficient power supply and no graphics card. So are the AF fans are enough of an upgrade upon the fans that come with the case to be worth the monney?

 

And with the alternative coolers thanks I will look into them. I was going to avoid the H60 in case it was noisier but I guess if I bought it a corsair SP fan then this could be mitigated.

 

I am looking into the Noctua now :)

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You're welcome :)

 

You wouldn't necessarily have to replace the fans, and without a hot running graphics card you wouldn't have as much a heat issue, so if you want to save money then you can stick with the stock fans, it's just a recommendation from me, cause I own a 600T which has quite similar fans and they're not that great tbh, but that's up to you.

 

They would be yes, I'm gonna be replacing the rear case fan with a AF120, and dropping in a proper watercooling setup with 2 SP120's, as atm the temps are just awful with the stock fans and a H50.

 

I personally would replace all the fans with some 120 or 140mm ones that run at at least 1600RPM, cause the stock 800RPM fans push about as much air as a slugs fart, they're quiet yes, but the fans I mentioned are just as quiet and push way more air xD

 

I only mentioned the H60 'cause it would fit into the 550D without any problems, and wouldn't put nearly as much strain on the motherboard as the Noctua, but if you don't want to use it due to a potential noise issue then the NH-D14 would probably be better ^__^

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Hmm I have looked and it does cost more though. I will double check H60 incase I am wrong about the volume. Especially with it running behind all of the sound dampening from the 550D. It is a shame Corsair do not publish the maximum CPU cooler sizes like Fractal do because the Dark Rock Pro looks almost perfect for me with it being so quiet.
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Reviews seem to be very negative about the H60 so I will stick with air (if I bought it a pair of SP fans it would end up the most expensive). Hmm I have found a few reviews with numbers for the 550D that suggest it could fit the Dark Rock Pro. If it is only a few millimetres off fitting then perhaps just taking off the panel section as if I was going to install fans on the side will work. And I have found videos showing the Dark Rock Pro in a Fractal R3, which is a similar size so hopefully it will be fine :)
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I've just double checked, and it looks like a NH-D14 is about as big as you can fit, and that is really pushing it, it has actually got about 179mm of clearance, but because the side panel release mechanism sticks into the case by quite a bit, it drops down to about 160mm, so if I was you, I'd shop around and find a tower cooler less than 160mm tall.

 

The Dark Rock Pro would have been brilliant in the 550D, but I don't think it'd fit without either modding the case or having the side panel off full time.

 

Tbh, if you like the look of the Fractal and you can live with a potentially noiser system, then the Fractal case would be better if the Be Quiet cooler fits, but if you absolutely want the 550D, then forget the Be Quiet cooler and use something smaller, 'cause tbh, there's coolers out there that are cheaper, smaller, and perform almost as well as the Be Quiet unit.

 

That's as best I can tell you without actually owning the case, and unfortunately, there's always going to be a compromise with any pc case, it's just unfortunate that Corsair put the side panel release mechanism where they did :(

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Oh if thats the only issue then it should be fine. The Dark Rock is only 3mm wider than the NH-D14 and I could sand 1.5mm off of the mechanism if necessary without too much trouble. I like the Fractal case allot but with something like a case I don't see the point in buying a new one once you have a quality one and so I could be using that case for a very long time and so I would like the build quality.
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Right well I have done some research and I can think of 2 solutions: keep the Corsair case and use an NZXT Havik cooler. Performance seems great and it ought to fit but it is noisy. Oh and I am removing the top HDD cage to improve airflow (this is relevant later :P)

 

My other idea is downgrading to a Fractal R3 as you suggested and sacrificing some build quality. For about the same price I could then get the NH-D14, a pair of SP120 Quiet fans to upgrade(?) the NH-D14 (and make it look nicer) and an AF140 to add a 3rd case fan.

 

Which do you people think would be quieter and which would perform better?

 

P.S.

Any suggestions about where I should put the AF fan if I went with the Fractal. It comes with 2 120mm fans, one on the front and one on the back. Do I put the extra fan on the front (I will have to buy the 120mm version), bearing in mind that its airflow will be blocked by HDD cages; on the bottom of the case (can be120mm or 140mm) or on the top (can be 120mm or 140mm)?

 

Thanks again! I have done PC upgrades before but I hadn't realised how much harder making my first whole pc is to plan!

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How about the NH-C12P SE14 if you can find it? That's much quieter than the NZXT, and is also quite a bit cheaper than the NZXT, about 10 quid cheaper from what I saw :)

 

But to answer your question, if you got the NH-D14 and the Fractal R3 it would be almost as quiet as the 550D, the only potential bug bear is fitting everything into a Fractal R3 won't be as simple as the 550D, and I don't think the Fractal is as nice a looking case as the 550D, but that's your call not mine, remember, you've got to look at it every time you switch it on, so put aesthetics high on your list of priorities.

 

If you went with the Fractal, I'd put the AF120 up front, as it's higher cfm and static pressure rating than the standard fan would overcome any restriction caused by the hdd cage, and it wouldn't be as noisey as the standard fan to boot, so that'd be what I'd do.

 

I'd then move the front standard fan to the bottom as intake, as positive air pressure can reduce dust build up and can sometimes result in lower overall temps, but you'd have to test for what works best :)

 

It is a lot to think about, and that's what puts a lot of people off building their own, but tbh, it's worth it, cause instead of paying for what someone thinks you want, you get to decide exactly what you want, we (the community) can guide you as to what we think is best, but at the end of the day, it's still your choice and once you've got your first system up and running, you can sit back and say "I built that, I chose every part, and I've got a system that will blow any pre-built clean out of the water" and that's a feeling of pride you can't get from buying a Dell or w/e :)

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Thanks for the link but I cannot find it on the website where I am buying the rest (scan.co.uk) and I don't want to have to pay for more shipping.

 

As the NZXT will be louder (unless I spend yet more money replacing its fans with Corsair SP120s) I guess the volume ought to be similar. So I have the choice between better cooling performance with the R3 and Corsair fans or better build quality with the 550D. Or I buy Corsair fans for the 550D and get both but loose another £20 or so. I shall have to do some reading and see if the difference is worth it.

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Unfortunately, when I looked more into the pricing of the NH-C12P it was only cheaper than the NZXT if you compared the price I found for the Noctua against the retail price of the NZXT.

 

When I searched for the NZXT, I found it for 43 pounds, whereas the Noctua was at it's cheapest 47 quid, but that was on a website I haven't used before, but on Amazon UK I found it for 54 quid here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Noctua-1366-1156-775-NH-C12PSE14/dp/B002W81KTI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342014742&sr=8-1

 

tbh, I'd rather pay that little bit more for the Noctua as it's quieter and smaller, and yet performs almost as well as the NZXT, but that's up to you, if you want to save 10 quid then go with the NZXT, it's a damn good cooler apparently, and as long as you don't run your cpu at full blast all day, it shouldn't be that noisey :)

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Thanks Everyone! :)

I have decided it is worth the extra money to get the Noctua. I have heard that the Noctua fans are very good but they don't seem as effective as Corsair SP120 fans (they have much lower static pressure to push through the huge radiator). Therefore I will replace with the SP fans so that I can run them at a lower rpm and so that it looks nicer. I will stick with the 550D for build quality. I hope nothing gets damaged in the post like I assume yours was crisao23. :)

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"I built that, I chose every part, and I've got a system that will blow any pre-built clean out of the water" and that's a feeling of pride you can't get from buying a Dell or w/e :)

 

Hehehe :D:

 

Thats exactly what got me started - first as a hobby, later it became my job (and i still love it ;):).

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Thanks Everyone! :)

I have decided it is worth the extra money to get the Noctua. I have heard that the Noctua fans are very good but they don't seem as effective as Corsair SP120 fans (they have much lower static pressure to push through the huge radiator). Therefore I will replace with the SP fans so that I can run them at a lower rpm and so that it looks nicer. I will stick with the 550D for build quality. I hope nothing gets damaged in the post like I assume yours was crisao23. :)

 

Glad you've made your choice, but don't forget to post pics once you've got it up and running :)

It'll be a great little system, and should have tons of upgrade-ability and should be future proof for a good few years, just be careful though, cause the upgrading bug might get you :p:

 

 

Hehehe :D:

 

Thats exactly what got me started - first as a hobby, later it became my job (and i still love it ;):).

 

Yup, me too :) I started off upgrading a Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop, and we had an old pre-built Pentium D desktop and it died, so I gutted it and built my first system into it, and I haven't looked back since then :D:

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