MSI P35 Neo2-FR can use a 120mm tower cooler?

Dutch Guy · 9 Apr 2009 at 13:37

I have had watercooling for 7 years now but I have never really upgraded it so the performance is roughly the same as a good tower cooler.
So I will try aircooling again, but I have a few simple questions about that.

- I have a Lian Li PC60 so the top of the mobo is very close to the PSU, will a 120mm tower cooler fit so that the fan is blowing towards the rear on my MSI P35 Neo2-FR or will it overhang the mobo causing an issue with the case?
- Are the holes on the CPU socket square, in other words, can a cooler be mounted blowing up or to the back?
- What works better, blowing air thru the cooler or pull air through?

KingZeddy · 10 Apr 2009 at 23:58

depends on the cooler, have you tried measuring the clearance against the heatsink specs.

hawker1986 · 11 Apr 2009 at 08:44

I should think it will fit fine (its the same distance from the top of the mobo as on any other P35 mobo). Its better to push than to pull through a cooler, but you could get two fans and do both for a marginal performance increase

And finally yes it is square so you could set the cooler working whichever way you like.

Hawker

IAmATeaf · 13 Apr 2009 at 18:57

I've got a Lian Li 6089 case which I think is very similar and have a Thermalright Ultra 120A heatsink fitted with no problems. One thing to watch out for and it may not apply to you is if your case has a rear 8cm fan then that severely restricts cooling, in my case if I take the side cover off temps drop by around 8-10 degrees.

Columbo · 13 Apr 2009 at 19:27

Im using an Akasa 966 Blue Aurora cooler which uses a 120mm fan on my Neo2 FR. It pulls air through to the back of the case.

Couple of pics below show the clearance.

Hope that help some mate.

Dutch Guy · 14 Apr 2009 at 14:47

Thanks for the replies, by the looks of it it should just fit.

I do have a single 80mm rear exhaust fan, but perhaps I will mod the rear of the case and make it bigger so a 120mm fan will fit or I will use two fans and use the fan that pulls as the exhaust fan.

@ManCuBus, does your heatsink block the first memoryslot or is the heatsink tall enough to allow room for the memory?

Columbo · 14 Apr 2009 at 19:07

Dutch Guy said:
does your heatsink block the first memoryslot or is the heatsink tall enough to allow room for the memory?

Nah it doesn't block it at all mate, plenty of room to get 4 sticks in.