Hi all,
I recently upgraded my Haswell era PC to something more current, and with the addition of a 5950X to my system, I decided to do it some justice with the biggest cooling I thought I could fit in my PC without going custom water loop... As the title suggests, I hope to be informative about certain barriers along the way.
I'll start off with a picture of the final build:
Nice, right? I like to think so. But getting to this stage wasn't without (about a day of) strife!
Components
I needed to make some adjustments for a very tight fit. The components that caused a small amount of difficulty were the motherboard, case and AIO. I hope to describe how I managed to get it to fit as well as show off my non-flashy build. I am not recommending against these components, but just letting people know what my experience was with this particular combo, in case they were considering this combo.
Shift case fans lower
Loosen and shift front I/O cables
Remove the Strix X570-F rear I/O shroud
Ongoing monitoringBrackets touching capacitors:
Temperatures:
My cats 
I recently upgraded my Haswell era PC to something more current, and with the addition of a 5950X to my system, I decided to do it some justice with the biggest cooling I thought I could fit in my PC without going custom water loop... As the title suggests, I hope to be informative about certain barriers along the way.
I'll start off with a picture of the final build:
Nice, right? I like to think so. But getting to this stage wasn't without (about a day of) strife!
Components
I needed to make some adjustments for a very tight fit. The components that caused a small amount of difficulty were the motherboard, case and AIO. I hope to describe how I managed to get it to fit as well as show off my non-flashy build. I am not recommending against these components, but just letting people know what my experience was with this particular combo, in case they were considering this combo.
Main snags
- The AIO was very snug at the top of the case
- Spatial hindrance of the AIO with the front intake and rear exhaust fans
- Pressed close against the front I/O cables
- Pressed against the rear I/O shroud
- Offset Mount Brackets touching some motherboard capacitors
Solutions
Inserting the AIO radTo get the rad into this case, you must remove a fan. You cannot remove the case top, screw it to the rad, and then place it back on top. The reservoir and pipes will clash with the fans. This leads to the next part...
Miraculously, the Meshify 2 allows for sliding fans up or down as you please, so down they went. The rear fan needed to go particularly low, such that the bottom to screws wouldn't line up with their holes. I believe I can find rubber screw replacements that can stretch through the partially showing holes if there is any vibrational noise.
The front I/O cables are tidily taught through a hole which they pass around to the back of the case. In most scenarios this is ideal, but the stacking of a couple thick cables stops the cooler from being in comfortably. Shifting the rear exhaust fan down helped a bit but I pulled the front of the case off to move the cables around enough so the radiator would set in place. I would do this step as a last resort because it may not be the most essential to fitting a a 420mm rad in here.
The rear I/O shroud pushed against the rear of the radiator enough that it misaligned it with the screw holes at the top-rear of the case. To get it flush, I removed the GPU, unscrewed the motherboard, unplugged a few critical cables and moved it out just enough so I could access screws on the back of the motherboard. The I/O shroud is screwed in with two small Philips screws, their positions denoted by a grey outline on the PCB - one near the extreme top and another roughly in the middle. Be warned, there is a thin cable for the RGB LEDs in the shroud, so be careful removing the shroud, and gently shimmy the connector out of the port in the motherboard. Removal gave 1-2mm clearance, enough for the radiator to sit flush against the I/O shield, and enough to let the screw holes align between the case and rad.
Mobo Top
Mobo middle (front)
Mobo middle (back)
Mobo Top
Mobo middle (front)
Mobo middle (back)
Ongoing monitoring
This was a little concerning when I first mounted the the cooler. The brackets, when screwed in, seem to touch some of the capacitors to the left of the CPU socket. I would call it a little off-flush but I judged it to be workable. I'll keep an eye on performance and stability and revisit this if I think its causing a problem.
Initial prime95 testing didn't see the CPU go over 54oC, which is nice. I will consider undervolting (like I have done for my RTX 3090) to keep temps in check and (more importantly for me) noise levels low. I will also consider checking on mounting pressure, and reapplying thermal paste (I used up the last of my thermal grizzly kryonaut and spread it very thin with the spatula. I usually prefer to just throw an excess on the IHS and let it spread itself).
Concluding thoughts
Anyway. That was my modest looking build, with far from modest hardware. It's the first time I've personally owned high-end computing parts for myself (and it sure is more pricey than it used to be) but it does the work I need it to, as well as breeze through any game I throw at it. The case was quite user friendly and hides drives and cables really well. I am confident that the airflow is unimpeded to the GPU and radiator. I like how the removal of the shroud got rid of the only bit of RGB in my case. Nothing against it, just not my style preference. I am aware that many other motherboards out there will not have as bulky of a rear I/O shroud so it won't be a problem - I just happened to be unfortunate with my combo. I imagine it is the same story with other Strix motherboards, if they have the same shroud. I've yet to do further tweaks like fan profiles and tuning, but a busy schedule doesn't permit me much freedom. Maybe I'll have more updates in the future... I hope this is helpful for anyone in the meantime.Bonus
The Old CoolerAlpenfohn Mount Doom K2 - Was used for an i5 4670K (7 years) and a 5800X (a few months, with an AM4 mounting kit for the Matterhorn...)
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