Quiet CPU cooler with no backplate

xy16644 · 18 Dec 2013 at 16:29

Hello All

I have a Fractal Design Mini case with a Supermicro X10SL7-F motherboard. One of the annoying things with this combination is that the CPU cutout in the case doesn't allign with the Supermicro motherboard. Therefore I can't use a nice CPU cooler like BeQuiet or Nocua since they need backplates and there isn't enough space between the case and the motherboard for this to fit.

Currently I am using the CPU cooler fan that came with the Xeon Haswell v3 1150 which is a bit noisy.

So the question is, does anyone have any recommendation for a very quiet Xeon 1150 CPU cooler that does NOT have a backplate? It must be quiet and cost isn't an issue. I was looking at:

Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme Rev.2 High Performance Quiet CPU Cooler

Comments or suggestions are welcome!

Steampunk · 18 Dec 2013 at 17:01

You should be able to fit a backplate, it just means you have to take the motherboard out to do it. Replacement backplates are usually thinner than the default backplate, or some fit around the existing one. They are not so thick that they will fill the width of the standoffs. Is there something particularly strange about the case that the motherboard doesn't use standoffs or something?

Big heatsinks come with big, slow fans and are quiet, but because they are big, they need backplates. If you can fit one, you will have a much bigger choice of better heatsinks and fans. I personally wouldn't want to mount anything as big as the Freezer Xtreme just on push-pins instead of a proper backplate.

xy16644 · 18 Dec 2013 at 21:56

Hehe, I feel real dumb! I dismantled the entire machine (again!) and managed to fit the BeQuiet cooler to the motherboard and it wasn't an issue with the case. Its just so add how the cut out for the CPU in the case doesn't line up with the motherboard.

I thought micro ATX meant micro ATX and it would all line up but apparently not.

Steampunk · 18 Dec 2013 at 22:07

Glad you got it sorted. I guess micro-ATX doesn't have a standard position for the CPU socket, so it could be (as yours is) in a different spot from the back panel cut-out.

Before cases had cutouts for backplates, you just had to fit the backplate before you screwed the motherboard into the backpanel, so what you've done is no different than people had to do a few years back.