Recommend me a cooler

sneakysnail · 22 Jun 2013 at 19:32

K well here's my situation, I'm using an artic freezer 13 that can only be mounted pushing air out the top of the case because I'm running amd and using standard mounting. I'm going to be adding a 7870 xt (using 7770 now)to my set up and I'm expecting that the temps in my case are going to increase dramatically

my case has 3x 120mm fans (front) 120mm + 90mm (back) 90mm (top) so air flows not that bad and can be improved with better case fans but right now the flows all over the place with the cpu fan pulling from the gpu and pushing out the top.

So I'm looking to grab a cooler that can be mounted facing any direction and that will push a decent amount of air. have low profile ram so most large coolers aren't a problem. I'm not that concerned by noise either as the 7870xt will be making a fair bit of it.

I hear the k2 mount doom is good and so's the silver arrow/be quiet dark rocks but are there others coolers I should consider and should I use the fans that come with these coolers etc and are they all capable of being mounted in any direction on a amd 990fx sabertooth mobo.

or alternativly should I just get one of these http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-022-CS and wait 5-6 weeks and put some better fans on it for around the same cost of a big air cooler? I used to watercool before and not a fan of the all in 1 loops but at such a low price it's pretty tempting

mickyflinn · 22 Jun 2013 at 20:06

In your situation i would go for the watercooler, especially at that price.

fishingcat · 22 Jun 2013 at 21:17

For that price on the H80 I'd definitely go with it. Although it's a shame that your case can't house the H100 for a few pounds more.

sneakysnail · 22 Jun 2013 at 21:56

I could fit a H100 in the bottom of my case and it has pre drilled holes but I'd have to DiY some vents so it could actually push or pull air and I could even mount it at the front of my case but I'm sure the hoses wouldn't be long enough on the h100 to reach the cpu. In all I just think the h80 would be the safer bet for my case.

doyll · 23 Jun 2013 at 12:01

I prefer air to CLC. Less to go wrong.

BeQuiet! AMD mount only allows cooler to be mounted facing up.

Alphenfohn K2 is good for £59.99
Silver Arrow SB-E Extreme is very good value for £53.99
Noctua NH-U14S is very good for £54.95. It's as good or better than best twin towers.

smilertoo · 24 Jun 2013 at 02:08

From various benchmarks i've seen regarding AIO watercoolers VS air, the AIO are only better if noise isn't a concern for you, otherwise high end air tend to do much better in reviews...at the expense of being massive of course.

sneakysnail · 24 Jun 2013 at 17:35

well my 7870 turns up in a few days so If my temps do turn out to be pretty bad I'll buy a big air cooler right away. Probably the silver arrow or K2. If the temps are okay I might just grab a h100 and tie wrap mount it at the front of my case in the 5.25 bays.

logicfry · 25 Jun 2013 at 09:54

just had a look at your mobo (running the same cooler) and i'm not sure how you have mounted it to draw air from the PCIE slot side of the cpu??

running the same artic freezer 13 here and it pulls air from the front of the case and out the back over the usb, audio etc connectors. so the fan sits above the ram and pulls air fron that side of the socket. maybe you can remount what you have?