ATX cases and those massive heatsinks...

[manveruppd]

Been reading the overclocking exploits of Conroe owners recently, and one thing I've noticed is that the heatsinks they all use are MASSIVE, or at least look massive from photos... Made me a bit concerned: when and if I decide to upgrade, would I need to check that my case is wide enough before I choose a heatsink for my CPU? Or do they all make an effort to conform to the ATX specification?

 

[Yewen]

They usually are the same height as the width of a PSU, so most cases can fit the larger coolers.

Easiest way is to post up the case and cooler and see if someone is running the same.

 

[goreblast]

Just in case anyone is going to try this, a Scythe Ninja will not fit into a Coolermaster ATC s4000 case.

 

[manveruppd]

Easiest way is to post up the case and cooler and see if someone is running the same.

Oh dear, another thing to worry about... When the time for an upgrade comes I'll make sure to check, would be a bit of a pain if I had to leave the side of the case off otherwise!

 

[Yewen]

Highly unlikely with a modern case.

As long as the case is around in the ATX 2.0 era then it will fit the larger heatpipe coolers usually.

 

[gr1mey]

cant you just measure it?

 

[Yewen]

The PSU could be in the way, or a side blowhole for a fan etc.

Lots of variables depending on case and the cooler.

 

[gr1mey]

yeah, you could find that out by measuring the dimensions of the heatsink and compareing them to your case? still

 

[Yewen]

But what happens when you don't have the case yet.

(Sugo + cutting hole out of side for HSF. )

 

[manveruppd]

That was the point of this thread, because I was planning to keep my current case when I upgrade so I wanted to know if this was something I should keep in mind
The day of judgement shall come soon, and the Antec SLK3700BQE shall be weighed in the balance...