Air cooler 153mm max height

Relentless81 · 24 Jul 2020 at 07:14

Hi,

I need an air cooler thats max height 153mm which is a bit of a tricky one as not many available at first look, as I've not been in a situation with limited height before I thought I would check for any go to coolers for this kind of height restriction

I'd prefer not to have a downdraft cooler really as it would cover most of the board and I don't really like that

No budget for this as I need the best I can get

I've been looking at the NH-U9S but can't be doing with the brown fan so would end up quite expensive for not so impressive performance when swapping the fans out

Cryorig H7 would fit but I read you have to fit them from the rear and their fans are often commented on being loud

Any others out that that I might have missed?

Thanks

Grandmaster Fap! · 24 Jul 2020 at 11:36

What case do you have? Ive found with some cases that the cpu cooler height limit listed can be a bit conservative and you can fit something taller than stated.

Relentless81 · 24 Jul 2020 at 12:08

Grandmaster Fap! said:
What case do you have? Ive found with some cases that the cpu cooler height limit listed can be a bit conservative and you can fit something taller than stated.

Its pre ordered, Coolermaster NR200P so I dont have it yet and will want to build as soon as I get it so I need something soon - I'll be using the TG Side Panel so will be limited to 153mm

Grandmaster Fap! · 24 Jul 2020 at 12:22

Product page says coolers up to 155mm so i think something like a Scythe Mugen 5 would fit, highly regarded coolers for the size

doyll · 24 Jul 2020 at 13:13

What Grandmaster Fap! said.

Scythe Mugen 5 Black RGB is £49.99 and if you don't want RGB just don't plug it in. Stock 120mm fan is 1200rpm so not loud. If you overclock you might want a higher speed fan, maybe not.

Quick look at NR200P looks like it doesn't have much airflow ability with 2x 120mm top, 1x 92mm rear, 2x 120mm bottom (slim w/ wide GPU) & 2x 120/140mm side. Assuming left side is vented and not glass you can fit a couple of good intake fans and they will flow out through case nicely without needing any exhaust fans.

Look forward to hearing how NR200P works out for you.

Relentless81 · 24 Jul 2020 at 13:56

I'll be using the TG side panel so its limited to 153mm the Mugen 5 wont fit

Joxeon · 24 Jul 2020 at 14:25

Relentless81 said:
I'll be using the TG side panel so its limited to 153mm the Mugen 5 wont fit

There is normally a few extra mm to play with and since the scythe is only 154.5mm I would be suprised if it didn't fit.

Relentless81 · 24 Jul 2020 at 15:06

Joxeon said:
There is normally a few extra mm to play with and since the scythe is only 154.5mm I would be suprised if it didn't fit.

Maybe but it's a case of buying it and trying it and returning it if it doesn't which is a pain, would rather get something that will definitely fit but there isn't much choice other than the out of stock Cryorig H7 Quad Lumi which I'm not that keen on anyway if I'm honest

doyll · 24 Jul 2020 at 15:10

Relentless81 said:
I'll be using the TG side panel so its limited to 153mm the Mugen 5 wont fit

Using TG left side means only 120/140mm vents for intake airflow are in top adn bottom of case. Bottom will supply GPU but I don't know if your motherboard and/or CPU cooler you select can be mounted to flow air from top down (the ideal way in this arrangement) and then back and out of case. Back venting is more limited. Removing PCIe slot covers from back will more than double, probably triple their airflow, but even then it's smaller than 2x 120mm bottom to GPU and 2x 120/140mm top to GPU. this means the maximum airflow of case is limited to how much air can move out case's back vents / openings.

I know you want the TG side, but using vented side would give way more/better case airflow .. meaning cooler system with less noise.

I agree with others here. If case says 153.5mm CPU clearance it would be extremely rare if it didn't have at least 1mm more and most have 5mm or more than spec. Even if Mugen 5 heatpipe caps touched glass it wouldn't be a problem, at least not to me. Abolute worst case is you put a couple of rubber washers on between TG panel and case to space it out 1mm. After all 1mm is only about as thick as 10 sheets of paper.

Relentless81 · 24 Jul 2020 at 16:33

I'm surprised you've not mentioned the thermal right 120 M Rev B I've just discovered it as a contender

Grandmaster Fap! · 24 Jul 2020 at 16:51

Relentless81 said:
I'm surprised you've not mentioned the thermal right 120 M Rev B I've just discovered it as a contender

I had the 140 version, its a stellar cooler, if it fits your case i'd say thats a very good shout!

doyll · 24 Jul 2020 at 17:26

Relentless81 said:
I'm surprised you've not mentioned the thermal right 120 M Rev B I've just discovered it as a contender

Think Thermalright TRUE Spirit 120 Rev.B is 157mm tall. Do you mean TRUE Spirit 120M Rev.B? It is 145mm tall (132x53x145mm w/ 4x 6mm heatppes).

Thermalright Assassin X & Assassin Spirit 154mm tall, and TRUE Spirit 120 Direct Rev.A is 141mm tall (120x42x141mm w/ 4x 6mm heatpipes). but if I was going Thermalright it would probably be Assassin King 120 Mini (120x46x136mm) with 5x 6mm heatpipes .. or Macho Rev. B (120x102x150mm w/ 5x 6mm heatpipes), Silver Arrow 130 is 130mm tall (120x101x130mm w/ 6x 6mm heatpipes.

Not easy to find if even available in UK. They have several new coolers out too, like 3 new Frost Spirit standard, RGB & all black models 140x121x158mm w/ 4x 8mm heatpipes) Black has black fans and looks real nice. Haven't tested / tried any of their new ones, but hope to soon.

Grandmaster Fap! said:
I had the 140 version, its a stellar cooler, if it fits your case i'd say thats a very good shout!

Indeed! Thermalright makes good stuff! Been on of my favorites from way back before first heatpipe CPU coolers came out. Old Ultra, U|ltima, early HR series, IFX-14, all great coolers.

To date one of their very best is TRUE Spirit 140 Power (155x53.4x171.2mm w/ 6x 8mm heatpipes sell for fifity quid cools as well or better than any other air cooler made, and if case and cooler are fitted wiht hi-performance fans it's 8-10c cooler still .. but does get noisy at 1800rpm and higher.

EsaT · 24 Jul 2020 at 17:53

Relentless81 said:
Cryorig H7 would fit but I read you have to fit them from the rear and their fans are often commented on being loud

Four heatpipe H7 Quad and H7 ultra versions have more standard mounting system.

Relentless81 said:
I'm surprised you've not mentioned the thermal right 120 M Rev B I've just discovered it as a contender

That's lighter than Cryorig H7.
150mm high Macho 120 SBM would be more in H7's weight class.
http://www.thermalright.com/product/macho120-sbm/

Relentless81 · 24 Jul 2020 at 17:55

I'll look at the Macho thanks

Relentless81 · 25 Jul 2020 at 07:38

EsaT said:
Four heatpipe H7 Quad and H7 ultra versions have more standard mounting system.

That's lighter than Cryorig H7.
150mm high Macho 120 SBM would be more in H7's weight class.
http://www.thermalright.com/product/macho120-sbm/

States convex base, looks good other than that but too risky

I've picked up a wraith Prism from the mm so I'll use that until the Noctua NH-U9S Chromax is released and get that, I was concerned about the 92mm fan being noisy but all the reviews says it's quiet

EsaT · 25 Jul 2020 at 08:33

Relentless81 said:
States convex base, looks good other than that but too risky

I've picked up a wraith Prism from the mm so I'll use that until the Noctua NH-U9S Chromax is released and get that, I was concerned about the 92mm fan being noisy but all the reviews says it's quiet

Lapping is quite easy.
You only need some definitely flat surface like piece of glass and different grade sandpapers.
(of course some definitely straight thing pice for checking shape of base is also good)
Tweaktown found also NH-U9S having some convexity.

But not sure if Macho 120 SBM has been discontinued, because it seems to have disappeared from European shops.

doyll · 25 Jul 2020 at 09:17

EsaT said:
Four heatpipe H7 Quad and H7 ultra versions have more standard mounting system.

That's lighter than Cryorig H7.
150mm high Macho 120 SBM would be more in H7's weight class.
http://www.thermalright.com/product/macho120-sbm/

Cooler weighting more does not make it better. For example TRUE Spirit 140 Power weight 725g and cools as good or better than NH-D15 which weights 1320g. Number of heatpipes is key, as is quality of construction, IE how good the heatpipes are, the contact of base to heatpipes and from heatpipes to fins. It's

What EsaT said.
Convex bases are the norm. Flat bases are the exception.

Thermalright lists Macho SBM on all their websites (Germany, China & Taiwan). Maybe something to do wth manufacturing with current epidemic.