CPU Cooler for Asus H81I-Plus Mini ITX with tall ram

OrionTC · 30 Jan 2015 at 17:00

I'm after a CPU cooler for the Asus H81I-Plus Mini ITX board.

My main worry is the height of the ram and if there is enough clearance for the cooler. the stock cooler would fit fine but ideally i want an after market cooler even though i cant overclock the CPU anyway.

I looked at the trusty Hyper 212 but open to suggestions for a smaller cooler that would fit.

Turns out i cant link images from google, must be against the rules.

Intel Core i5-4460 3.20GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail
TeamGroup Xtreem LV 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-21300C11 2666MHz Dual
BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Arctic White
Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard
Corsair Builder Series CX 430w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply

tnx · 30 Jan 2015 at 17:05

I would suggest a sealed water cooler.

On the lines of this :
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-010-AN&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=2262

OrionTC · 30 Jan 2015 at 17:07

ironically i found a pre built PC that used a similar designed cooler. I never dabbled in water cooling, it is a simple thing to install?

OrionTC · 30 Jan 2015 at 19:50

How about one of the below?

Zalman CNPS8900 Quiet Heatsink & Fan
Noctua NH-L12 CPU Cooler

tnx · 30 Jan 2015 at 19:51

I have only every used Corsair sealed water coolers.
They are very easy to fit, falling off a log would be harder.

I chose that on because it was the cheapest.
I just had a quick look at your case. Be mindfull of the size of the fan and the max size your case can go to.

Maybe a lower profile memory would have been better in the first place.

tnx · 30 Jan 2015 at 19:54

I missed the cheapest. Silly me

YOUR BASKET
1 x Cooler Master Seidon 120V Ver. 2 AIO CPU Cooler £39.95
Total : £45.92 (includes shipping : £4.98).

tnx · 30 Jan 2015 at 19:58

Looking closer at that cases spec it only has a 120mm fan on the rear.

The cooler Master cooler does have a 120mm fan.

But looking at the pictures it looks tight and the water cooler might be too big.

More reading is advised.

OrionTC · 30 Jan 2015 at 20:00

yeah i probably should have just picked smaller memory to start with. it was more of an after thought. never dealt with a small form factor PC before.

it wont be overclocked so i dont need anything too flashy, just something that will fit and do the job.

tnx · 30 Jan 2015 at 20:06

Been looking around trying to find some info and found this YouTube vid

Code:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKXrMp0igwM

It is not in English but if you watch it, it does show a Corsair H80 fitted in there.

tnx · 30 Jan 2015 at 20:08

Don't know how much you want to spend but here would be my personal choice but I am a Corsair lover

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Hydro H60 V2 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060007-WW) £54.95
Total : £64.55 (includes shipping : £8.00).

OrionTC · 30 Jan 2015 at 22:22

do you recommend anything air cooled? and is water cooling worth it on a system that's not overclocked.

McGraw · 31 Jan 2015 at 13:36

I use a h60 v2. Got it for £30 from here on special.

Does a good job in my ITX rig.

OrionTC · 4 Feb 2015 at 12:21

after much research and a bit of faith I got this to fit.

McGraw · 4 Feb 2015 at 19:43

Seems like a palace in there compared to mine.

tnx · 4 Feb 2015 at 20:13

I am no expert but...

is the rear fan exhausting ?

Which direction is the coolers air flow ?
If it was in the direction of the fan on the left would that not mean the two fans are just sucking air from each other ?

McGraw · 4 Feb 2015 at 20:20

Surely it's impossible to tell which way the cooler fan is pointing?

tnx · 5 Feb 2015 at 06:39

McGraw said:
Surely it's impossible to tell which way the cooler fan is pointing?

Your right but usually the rear case fan is set to exhaust, and the air coolers I have used usually have the fan sucking the air through the heat sink.

Maybe the OP could shed some light on the air flow.

Telecaster · 5 Feb 2015 at 15:10

McGraw said:
Surely it's impossible to tell which way the cooler fan is pointing?

You can tell from the blades. That noctua is blowing towards the case fan and that is set to exhaust.

tnx · 5 Feb 2015 at 16:52

Telecaster said:
You can tell from the blades. That noctua is blowing towards the case fan and that is set to exhaust.

If this is the case does it mean the two fans are sucking on the same air space. To me this sounds a bad idea.

Telecaster · 5 Feb 2015 at 17:03

tnx said:
If this is the case does it mean the two fans are sucking on the same air space. To me this sounds a bad idea.

No, it means the CPU fan is blowing air through the cooler and the rear fan is pulling air in the same direction and then out of the case, if anything it will be helping the CPU fan.

Front intake fan -> CPU fan -> Rear exhaust fan ->