Cooler recommendations.

[bingbong]

Just bought a replacement motherboard and thought I'd replace the stock cooler while I'm at it.

Asus m5a97 pro

AMD 955 BE

I'm a bit confused by the info on airflow in relation to coolers and the position of case fans. Some say you need a fan that doesn't blow air straight up off the cpu?

I'm looking for something cheap and cheerful, around the 20 quid mark. My case only has one 120 mm front fan

the Asgard’s ventilation system creates excess pressure inside, so the air will be exhausted rather than sucked in through the holes

xigmatek asgard midi tower
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-002-XG

Obviously I'm not going to be doing any serious overclocking with my set up, and I'm looking for something pretty quiet because I record music.

Any advice or recommendations?

Reviews of the case say that the coolermaster Hyper 212 won't fit, at least not without a fight.

I saw a review of the case and they used a Zalman CNPS9500 cooler, so that MUST fit, right?

Any advice on fan placement and decent cheap coolers that might fit?

 

[Wiry]

I had that case for approx 9 months, and in the end, I decided to get a watercooling kit with a 120mm rad. which is pretty neat, running my i5 750 @ 22 degrees celsius idle, but it was £120. Although in February, I got a coolermaster HAF X and I'll never buy a cheap case (under £70) again! My advice would be to measure from the cpu socket to the side, top and bottom etc. of the case, with a 2-3 cm gap, and then post the measurements. This does sound complicated, but with a little patience, you can get a cooler that won't cost too much and be useless because it won't fit in your case!

 

[bingbong]

Okay I managed to measure out from right where the cpu pins go in to the side of the case: 160 mm.

so minus a few mill for the cpu itself, give or take that should work out at 155mm.

Quite how people have managed to get a 160mm tall hyper 212 in there I don't know!

Other than an all in one water cooling unit I saw the (expensive) Noctua NH-C14. It's only 140mm tall, but 140 wide too.

What happens to the heat with a downdraught cooler like that? How does it affect case temps?

 

[bingbong]

Sorry, should point out what I want to do case ventilation wise: currently have one front fan, will be adding a rear case fan, and with the noctua I suppose I could also add one side fan?

Ok I've read it actually cools whatever the fan hits. Result!

Found a cheaper version with the same 140 mm fans, but only one, the NHc12 se14. About 50 quid.