Cooler advise needed!

chudy94

chudy94

chudy94

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Joined
22 Apr 2020
Posts
4
Dear Overclockers,

As in subject I’m looking for a cooler for OC. I’m a newbie with this kind of stuff so I really need your help! ;)
I’m looking for a very good cooler for my i5 2500k. Something that gonna fit in my case and motherboard. Something what is easy to install (I.e. i Heard that water cooling coul be hard to install).

My PC case: Zalman Z11
Motherboard: gigabyte z68ap-d3

Any help will be appreciated!

PS. Price doesn’t matter
 
Upto 160mm is good for height I've read on another forum, there's a few cheap ones on OCUK like the Arctic Freezer coolers, BeQuiet Pure Rock... They should fit that socket type fine most coolers will fit the 115* socket
 
chudy94 said:
Dear Overclockers,

As in subject I’m looking for a cooler for OC. I’m a newbie with this kind of stuff so I really need your help! ;)
I’m looking for a very good cooler for my i5 2500k. Something that gonna fit in my case and motherboard. Something what is easy to install (I.e. i Heard that water cooling coul be hard to install).

My PC case: Zalman Z11
Motherboard: gigabyte z68ap-d3

Any help will be appreciated!

PS. Price doesn’t matter
Click to expand...
Zalman Z11 NEO needs 2x good pressure rated front intakes and a 3rd bottom intake would also help. I would block all openings in front half of case no covered by intake fans so air fans are pushing into case has to move through case and out the back, not leak out in front. I would remove all PCIe back slot covers to increase rear vent area and thus improve front to back airflow.

Z11 NEO has 175mm CPU clearance so will fit even the tallest coolers.

GA-Z68AP-D3 center CPU to near side of RAM is 49mm and near side of x16 PCIe is 93.1mm. PCIe x4 socket is 72.7mm center CPU to near side of socket.

What CPU cooler you use depends more on what you like the looks of because there are a bunch of top tier coolers all withing a degree or two of each other with only a few having super hi-performance fans giving better cooling, but also making much more noise. Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E Extreme is best, Silverstonetek HE01 are coolest and loudest, and to use them effectively you need similar case fans moving similar high amounts of airflow.
 
doyll said:
Zalman Z11 NEO needs 2x good pressure rated front intakes and a 3rd bottom intake would also help. I would block all openings in front half of case no covered by intake fans so air fans are pushing into case has to move through case and out the back, not leak out in front. I would remove all PCIe back slot covers to increase rear vent area and thus improve front to back airflow.

Z11 NEO has 175mm CPU clearance so will fit even the tallest coolers.

GA-Z68AP-D3 center CPU to near side of RAM is 49mm and near side of x16 PCIe is 93.1mm. PCIe x4 socket is 72.7mm center CPU to near side of socket.

What CPU cooler you use depends more on what you like the looks of because there are a bunch of top tier coolers all withing a degree or two of each other with only a few having super hi-performance fans giving better cooling, but also making much more noise. Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E Extreme is best, Silverstonetek HE01 are coolest and loudest, and to use them effectively you need similar case fans moving similar high amounts of airflow.
Click to expand...



your response was great! I much appreciate details you given. The only issue is that my case is Zalman plus https://www.amazon.co.uk/ZALMAN-Z11-Plus-Tower-Computer/dp/B007C008L2

it’s clearly my fault. What cooler would you recommend? Just to clarify I don’t mind noise, how the cooler looks like and price. The only facts that matters for are: is that gonna fit in to my case / motherboard and quality
 
I can't seem to find Z11 Plus CPU cooler clearance on Zalman site, but Noctua says it's 162mm.
https://noctua.at/en/case/Zalman_Z11_Plus
162mm definitely limits what coolers will fit.
be quiet! Shadow Rock 3 spec is 163mm so would likely fit and it is offset back for fan to fit between front of cooler and RAM.
Scythe Fuma 2 is out of stock until 30 May 2020 but would be a very good cooler for you if you can wait. It uses one fan spinning clockwise and other spinning anticlockwise and cools among best. Front of fan is 50mm in front of center CPU but is only 120mm. 162mm CPU clearance means there is 170mm from surface of motherboard to case side. so if top of your RAM is 49mm or less above surface of motherboard Fuma 2 front fan will fit over it.

Scythe Mugen 5 (do not get PCGH model as it's fans are only 300-800rpm) will fit .. and again out of stock on OcUK except for more expensive RGB ones.

Thermalright makes some very good coolers like Macho HR-02 / Rev. A / Rev. B that will fit, but OcUK does not sell them.
 
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