Best cooler for 1156 ITX gaming system

Dangerous_Dave · 9 Nov 2011 at 12:49

Hi all,

Like many of you out there, I've decided it might be quite fun to put together a potent gaming system in a tiny little ITX box. To that end I managed to acquire my ideal Sugo SG07 case, and I've also snapped up a Gigabyte 1156 ITX board, both 2nd hand and for good prices. I'd like to stick an i5 750 into the board for good gaming performance, and if possible overclock it quite a bit. But this raises a problem with cooling: there ain't an awful lot of room. There is some height to spare, but the main problem (perhaps) is the space around the socket, which is very limited due to the PCI-Express slot close by (which will of course be filled with something crazy). Can anybody recommend a good cooler that will fit in the space?

Thanks in advance.

R088ieS86 · 9 Nov 2011 at 13:41

Was it the GA-H55n-USB3 you picked up?

I know it doesn't seem like it, but the Scythe Shuriken Rev.B does fit that board and allow a descrete graphics card as well.
Plenty of height to spare and you can get the fan to suck the air directly up into the top 180mm fan in the SG07.

Dangerous_Dave · 9 Nov 2011 at 13:53

It was indeed. Thanks for the tip on the cooler. Any other candidates anybody?

R088ieS86 · 9 Nov 2011 at 13:58

Anything no wider than 100mm and no higher than 117mm. have a browse.

gropingmantis · 9 Nov 2011 at 16:07

Thermalright AXP-140

/thread.

Although you have to use a 120mm fan. I can recommend either the Akasa Viper or Noctua P12. Best SFF cooler...ever.

Dangerous_Dave · 9 Nov 2011 at 23:31

From the measurements above I'm thinking anything powered by a 12cm fan is going to be too large.

Dangerous_Dave · 11 Nov 2011 at 01:14

I bought one of these:

** Linking to competitors is strictly prohibited - Please read FAQs regarding rules **
I know it's not the absolute best possible cooler (I would have put my H50 but there's nowhere to mount the radiator), but the 92mm fan is about as big as I'm going to be able to fit, and the performance should allow some reasonable overclocking before getting too loud.

R088ieS86 · 11 Nov 2011 at 11:48

Quickly remove the link (not allowed to link with competitors)

let us know how you get on with temps in the case.

gropingmantis · 11 Nov 2011 at 13:09

Dangerous_Dave said:
From the measurements above I'm thinking anything powered by a 12cm fan is going to be too large.

No it will. I have an AXP-140 on my GA-H67N-USB3 and it doesn't foul the PCI-e slot.

Also:
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showpost.php?p=13335940&postcount=759
http://www.overclockers.ru/lab/38387_5/Obzor_i_testirovanie_korpusa_SilverStone_Sugo_SG07.html
http://www.ij.com.au/sg07build/thermalright5.jpg

all prove it fits. Albeit with a 120mm fan unless you want the 140 then you can fit it wonkly like on the russian site.

With a top down cooler you will get a better cooling for both the CPU and the case as all the airflow in that case vents down to the bottom then out the side. With a tower cooler no air will reach the board and the venting out the side will be less efficient.

Also this is basically your build:
http://www.overclock.net/t/988489/sff-itx-build-silverstone-sg07-i5-760-axp-140-gtx460-8gb-ram-no-56k

Dangerous_Dave · 11 Nov 2011 at 13:42

I thought this was the forum not the shop? It's a bit off if they remove links that are pertinent parts of the discussion (as opposed to attempts to sell something etc).

As for the size issue, well I was advised to keep it within 100mm, and it would probably have cost a fair bit more to get the thermalright. As for the fan orientation, although downward blowing will admittedly get more air on the motherboard, I would have thought sideways firing will clearly create a more direct path to the vents at the side. Also, I would have thought a downward fan is a bad idea right next to the large upward fan in the roof, as they will tend to create vaccum pressure in between them and reduce each others' efficiency. Anyway that was my rationale.

Dangerous_Dave · 11 Nov 2011 at 13:43

Unless of course the fan in the roof is downward too (I haven't had an opportunity to switch the thing on yet)

gropingmantis · 11 Nov 2011 at 15:41

The fan on the roof is downward. Its a positive pressure case.
Also you can swap out the top fan and you would have been able to fit your H50 to the 120mm holes that are behind the 180mm fan.

Keep it within 100mm? By whom and in which direction? That case can take some pretty large coolers.

You can't link to competitors on the forum. Link directly to the manufacturer's website thats the best way. Or you could have linked to the one in the OcUK shop http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-028-CM&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

randal · 11 Nov 2011 at 15:47

I got an H50 into an SG05 using an H55N, I think Drexel did too come to think of it.

Hit 4ghz on an i5 760, using two fans in push pull.

Greedydog · 13 Nov 2011 at 00:43

You can have to a Corsair H50 in a SG07.... butyou have to lose the Silverstone penetrator and just go with a standard fan. I set mine up to push through the radiator, not ideal but happily OC'd an i5 760 to 3.6 and kept cool enough to work together with a GTX 570 for playing games for hours on end with no issues....

Dangerous_Dave · 22 Nov 2011 at 18:57

My reading skills seem to have gone downhill - the TX3 is too tall for the case with the top fan in it! Back to the drawing board. However I have to say I cannot see how a 120mm based cooler could fit - the 92mm based one is just a few milimetres away from the graphics card at the side (a bit close considering it's metal and could bridge connections). So now I'm back on the drawing board for a cooler for 1156.

I do have an H50 here with the relevant bracket, but I don't know what this 'penetrator' is - if it's the big ceiling fan I'm not sure how I'd fit it.

TBH I'd be most appreciative of recommendations for a good value air cooler.

str · 22 Nov 2011 at 19:53

I have the GA-H55N-USB3 with the AXP-140 fanlessly cooling a i3 CPU in a SG05 case. It has a 3870 graphics card in there. There is room in the SG05 for a 12mm thick 120mm fan on the AXP-140 but this system is used by my kid for Minecraft and it hasn't had any problems running without a CPU fan.