SG07 with i5

Widge · 28 Dec 2012 at 11:12

I'm building an SG07 with

i5
Gigabyte Z77N-WIFI LGA1155
8GB RAM (Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation)
250GB Samsung SSD
660 Twin Frozr

That much is sorted. I was wondering about cooling the i5.

Assuming that it comes with a fan, but had my interest perked by the mention of the Noctua NH-L9i Low Profile CPU. That is obviously a fan jobbie, is there anything else anyone could recommend? Perhaps a passive one? Or is it pretty much good to stick as I am?

.:SAmSuNG:. · 28 Dec 2012 at 11:57

If it says retail it comes with a stock cooler.

Widge · 28 Dec 2012 at 15:19

Indeed! I was wondering more about the alternatives though. Passive or that Noctua. Worth it? or even feasible to fit in the SG07.

Janesy B · 28 Dec 2012 at 15:47

Yeah it'll fit, clearance is 117mm for the cooler on the 07 so you have a bit of room to play with - your main concern is finding something that won't foul the PCI-E slot.

Widge · 2 Jan 2013 at 09:14

Thanks for the advice! I think I'll be ok with the stock after building it (not an OC'er), but that Noctua looks like it'll fit fine if I fancy a tinker.

The main issue turned out to be the epic fan on top of the SG07. A bit of plastic that runs down the PCI-E side is obscured by the 660's heatpipes. Looking at pictures of all the 660 variants, this looks like it could be a common problem.

THANKFULLY the offending piece of plastic can be unscrewed and removed, meaning that I could still build my delightful Steambox.

Had Skyrim & Deus Ex running with the case fan on low last night... stuck my hand over it after a while and it felt lovely and cool.