2600K: Archon vs. MUX-120

[darkware]

Okay, this is going to seem like a silly question, but let me explain. I've got a 2600K (and I'm embarrassed about it), a P8P67 to put it in, and 16GB of G.SKILL Ripjaws X (1600). At the moment, I'm looking to put them all in a Corsair 650D, but if Fractal Design decides to release the Arc Midi, I might change my mind.

I'm having trouble making a decision between these two heat sinks. These two have been leading the pack due to their non-interference with the RAM area and support for a variety of fans (Sorry Prolimatech Armageddon).

Archon:
Pros:

Better performance
Larger fan sizes
Better stock fan
​

Cons:

More expensive
Takes up more room, including possibly interfering with first PCIe 1x slot
​

MUX-120:
Pros:

Costs less
More efficient for 120mm push/pull
Less chance of interference with case/components
​

Cons:

Less effective
I don't trust the fan and would likely discard it.
​

---

In either case, I'd have the option of running push/pull with a pair of NoiseBlocker 120mm PWMs. If I do that with the Archon, I'll probably use the TY-140 as a case exhaust.

(NOTE: Why the MUX-120 Black? A couple reasons: some places still seem to have old stock of the MUX which may be using push-pin install rather than the new pressure vault. The Black only has the pressure vault. So long as I get the vault, I don't care which color I get. Also: It was higher up on the TR product page.)

 

[Termie]

You should check out DrBoss's experience with the Archon on his system: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2155564&page=3. He said the Archon blocked the first ram slot on his MB. But temps are quite good, that's for sure.

My hunch is that the lower heat spreader of the G.Skill modules may just clear the Archon, whereas his Corsair Vengeance does not.

 

[darkware]

I was under th impression that the Ripjaws were just short enough to avoid the fan, while the Corsair Vengeance (which DrBoss has) was just a little too tall.

I asked him about it. We'll see what he says.

 

[darkware]

Okay... I'm silly. I've been struggling over this question for a week now, totally forgetting that I've got all four sticks of Ripjaws X sitting in a room upstairs. A tape measure and Google (for the conversion) later, and I can confirm that the Ripjaws X is 40mm tall, and shows no change from the center to the edges (er... but not the far edges). The previous non-X Ripjaws had taller outer teeth, but these sticks do not.

So, the RAM is 40mm tall. Math to the rescue:

The Archon has 42.55mm clearance from the socket to the first fin. Its fan stack is 127.7mm tall. The TY-140 fan is 140.8mm tall. If the fan is centered on the stack, then it will protrude 6.55mm above and below the stack, reducing the clearance to just 36mm over the socket height. I measure the difference between the RAM seating height and the socket height to be 2mm (I had to estimate the height of the CPU over the mounting bracket).

This puts the final clearance height of the fan over the memory seating to be 38mm.

Converting back for convenience, the minimum clearance height for the Ripjaws X would be 38mm. The Archon w/Fan has a clearance of 36mm. Now, that's only 2mm. I'd figure you could shift the fan by 2mm without any trouble at all.

Looking at other options: The MUX-120 has more than enough clearance (46.28mm), while the Venomous-X has notably less clearance (38.02mm), but might still work, depending on how the fans are clipped in.

 

[DrBoss]

Converting back for convenience, the minimum clearance height for the Ripjaws X would be 38mm. The Archon w/Fan has a clearance of 36mm. Now, that's only 2mm. I'd figure you could shift the fan by 2mm without any trouble at all.

True, when installing the fans, there is some flexibility. You may be able to position the fan slightly higher (further away from the mobo) to get the clearance you need.

Do you still need my measurement?

 

[darkware]

Do you still need my measurement?

Well... er... it would be cool to get some confirmation from someone who actually owns the heatsink, but I'm not going to think less of you if you don't. The definitive numbers would be:

1. The distance from the motherboard surface to the bottom of the TY-140
2. The distance from the surface of the motherboard to the top of your module heat spreaders
3. The measured height of your modules from bottom (insertion) edge to the top of the heat spreader
4. The distance the fan can be moved up on the fin stack

With that, we could calculate the maximum height of a RAM module that would fit in the first RAM slot under an Archon. But again, you've already been very helpful and you're not a jerk for just wanting to play some games on your new build --especially if taking this measurements requires any disassembly.

My sole purpose in posting those numbers was to try and help anyone else who has similar questions (and it seems that I'm not the only one asking). If you want to add your numbers to that, cool. If not, that's fine too. Whatever heat sink I get, I'll try to get these measurements too.

For additional information, it does appear that most P67 boards are placing the RAM slots a little closer to the socket than P55 boards. The difference seems to be only a few millimeters, but this makes the difference between the Archon's fan sitting just inside the closest RAM slot and just overhanging it. Judging from various schematics and photos on the web, it seems like a standard tower heatsink would have to have a maximum fan stack depth (airflow direction) of 50mm centered on the socket in order to completely avoid the first RAM slot. The Hyper212+ is 51mm wide, so it should push the fan right up against RAM in the first slot, which (I think) matches reports.

 

[DrBoss]

But again, you've already been very helpful and you're not a jerk for just wanting to play some games on your new build --especially if taking this measurements requires any disassembly.

I will open up the case tonight and take whatever measurements i can - without disassembling anything

 

[Syzygies]

I have exactly your equipment (2600K, P8P67 Pro, 16 GB of Ripjaws) and the Noctua NH-D14 cooler. The Noctua's performance is perhaps second only to the Cogage Arrow, only with a better mounting system, and it can take arbitrary 120mm x 25mm fans; I needed to swap in a PWM fan. The swap was trivial.

The Ripjaws appear on both the P8P67 Pro and the Noctua compatibility lists. They fit easily under the Noctua cooler, and 16 GB booted first try.

The only issue with the Noctua is weight; my build is horizontal in part to ease the use of such coolers. I added suspension wires to relieve the weight of a Prolimatech Megahalems in an earlier vertical build, after observing motherboard flex. Noctua has a better mounting system, and claims this isn't needed. They even claim you can ship a computer with their cooler installed. I wouldn't; the cooler is easy to pop on and off, and their method of thermal paste application (4-5mm dot in middle) works and is as stress-free as it gets.

One could argue that the 2600K doesn't need extreme cooling; it bottlenecks on voltage. However, my Noctua is virtually silent, getting by just fine with one 600 rpm PWM fan at idle.

Just offering another option.

 

[DrBoss]

From the face of the mobo to the bottom of the TY-140 fan i have approximately 37mm. I believe the fan could be shifted up an addition 2 or 3 mm... mean maxium clearance from the bottom of the fan to the face of the mobo would be 40mm.

i do not know the height of my ram sockets... i think the ripjaw would be cutting it close, unless of coarse you removed in push fan and simply ran the Archon in a pull configuration.

hope it helps.

 

[darkware]

Well, its nice to hear that my calculations weren't far off. If I understand correctly, the RAM should seat directly on the motherboard PCB, so... there we are. 40mm is the max height, requiring some fan shifting.

I'm actually a bit torn.

I'm really leaning toward the MUX, just to avoid the whole issue. If I run a push/pull on it and get the TIM applied properly (IC Diamond FTW?), it should more than handle 4.5GHz. At the same time, part of me wants the Archon just so I can figure out if it can be done, because it seems that there is no one in the world who is using 4 sticks of one of the most popular RAM sticks with one of the highest rated heatsinks. This seems to be a question that needs an answer. I feel that answering it might be a suitable way to contribute to the community that helps me with my builds every three years.

But is it worth the risk?

 

[stahlhart]

with one of the highest rated heatsinks

I'm not sure that I understand why this is such a concern for you with a Sandy Bridge build.

 

[darkware]

I'm not sure that I understand why this is such a concern for you with a Sandy Bridge build.

It's really not. I just expected to be able to find more people using it.

As for the reason why I even considered it: I looked at the Hyper 212 and it should work, but I plan to overclock, none of the cases I was looking at had a direct forced-air path to the CPU, and the location the computer will live in has restricted options for airflow (no side panel airflow, unreliable top panel air flow). So, I was willing to pay some money for a more capable heatsink to hedge my bets.

I was looking in the $50-$60 dollar range. The Archon is just outside that, but comes with a fan that I would either use on the heatsink or elsewhere on the case (most others either come without fans or need to be replaced).

I recognize that top-tier coolers aren't required. But I also recognize that in the past, CPUs in that location have run 10-15C hotter than people expect. I would rather pay $55 for 35-55C temps than $20 for 45-65C temps.

 

[stahlhart]

Hang on -- my bad -- I misread that post last night, and apologize. For some stupid reason I thought that you were referring to the heat spreaders on the RAM modules, not the tower cooler (doh!).

It seemed as though the focus of the discussion was to get ram of some certain height to work, when there doesn't appear to be any real advantage to push the environment on memory for a Sandy Bridge build, and that any advantage of having heat spreaders/sinks on the modules amounts to being little more than cosmetic.

I ran into the same issue, and I just punted and went with the Sniper memory. The front fan (same as what's on the Archon) is literally resting on top of these modules, and there's still a few mm left on top, so the side panel still fits without touching. When I did the math before ordering the parts it looked like it was going to work, but it was so close that I really wasn't going to know for sure until I put it together. But I got lucky, I guess. If I had gone with either the RipjawsX or the Vengeance I was originally considering, it wouldn't have.

Again, sorry for the misunderstanding...

 

[darkware]

Hang on -- my bad -- I misread that post last night, and apologize.

No problem. The discussion is a bit roundabout.

It seemed as though the focus of the discussion was to get ram of some certain height to work...

More like: The focus was to find a heatsink that will work with RAM which I've already purchased.

I ran into the same issue, and I just punted and went with the Sniper memory.

Yeah, that was my plan, too. But I was able to buy 16GB of DDR3-1600 for just $135. Sniper RAM was still at $175. Of course, since then it dropped to $150 a couple times, and I'd probably willingly pay the $15 now to avoid this issue of clearing the heat sinks.

At the time, people told me I wouldn't have any problem. Most of those people missed the fact that I was buying a 4x4GB set and would need to use all four RAM slots. Oh well. That's the fun part of building, right? If everything just worked, where's the sense of accomplishment?

 

[nyker96]

personally if you case can take Archon, I'd go with that supercooler instead of the MUX120 which isn't that great nowadays. the only thing is you need to check if that 1st ram slot will be blocked or not, that might limit your upgradability.

 

[hank119]

The Corsair Vengeance modules are somewhat more than 5cm. tall.
It's unlikely that you can find a cooler that will clear the top of the memory modules other than a top-down model like the Noctua NH-C14.
I understand that a Prolimatech Armageddon will squeeze into the space between the CPU and the module in slot 1. I'm going to investigate that one further. If you resolve the question about the Archon fan fitting over the memory modules please post. That seems like a good cooler.
I have the same problem. My build consists of the Intel i7 2600K in an MSI P67A-GD65 motherboard. I'm using 8GB of the Corsair Vengeance memory. My case is Antec 300.
Currently, I'm using the stock cooler and I'm looking for a replacement.

Hank

 

[garyhope1]

Gee, I know that some of you (we, I include my silly self) can get a little obsessive over details and can sometimes be more concerned with building the computer rather than just using it. Why don't you just bend or trim some of the cooling fins on either the RAM or the heatsink and fan cooler? I don't think it will make much actual difference to the real cooling ability of either the RAM or the heatsink. I'm not all that concerned with appearance compared to funtionality. As Dennis Miller says:..."I may be wrong, but I don't think so." Tell me what you think. Cheers.