Low Profile Air Cooler

[cytoSiN]

I'm looking for a relatively low-profile air cooler for a 4670k (at stock for now) in a Silverstone GD08B case. The case is 6.89" tall, but I need to factor in the motherboard offsets, the PCB, and the CPU thickness as well. I KNOW that a Noctua NH-L12 will fit with both fans attached with some room to spare, as will a Phanteks PH-TC14CS with both fans attached. My question is, with that amount of space in mind, what do people think is the best possible choice (including other Noctua low-profile coolers, as well as other brands) if I am considering a small OC at some point? Budget is an issue only to the extent that I like a good value, but I'll consider anything in that regard. Thanks!

EDIT: This one looks very cool too, has good reviews, and should fit, but I can't find anywhere to even consider buying the damned thing!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

That's a beautiful HTPC case -- no doubt about it.

I'll offer an unsolicited opinion, though. Why would you need a 4670K for an HTPC? Or -- why would you want to overclock an HTPC? Now -- here -- our colleagues will remind me, I built my 2600K system specifically for over-clocking (but without water-cooling but for heatpipes). I USE my system for HT functions as well as everything else.

There may be an AiO water cooler that has a rad with fans that fit the twin fan ports in your Silverstone case -- I can't tell. I'd say look into it. Otherwise, your choices for a heatpipe cooler will be limited to those you cited and any others someone knows of.

I've got the "big Noctua" model, and I just finished posting on this forum about another Phanteks that looks much like the D14. It may be that the NH-L12 and similar are your best bet. I just don't hold a lot of hopes for OC'ing a 4670K by more than a couple hundred Mhz under your case and cooler constraints. Surely you could OC to 4.1Ghz.

Here's a customer review on the 4670K CPU dealing with these very issues:

Pros: It installed easily, works great, and was able to overclock to around 4.3 ghz using a low profile air based cooler.
Cons: None
Other Thoughts: I might dial it back a bit as it gets hot at that speed but no complaints so far.

Maybe I'm wrong, though . . .

 

[cytoSiN]

Good question Bonzai re: overkill/overclock. It's actually a dual-purpose rig for Steam Big Screen gaming as well as an HTPC. Essentially any game that is better with a gamepad (which, as others have pointed out, is essentially anything that's not an RTS or FPS), I will want the option to play it on my plasma from the comfort of my home theater.

As far as the case choice, the Silverstone GD08B has optional rack ears so I can mount it along with my other HT equipment (it's actually currently all on shelf-like console, but will be moving to a rack later this year).

As far as the OC, I don't intend to OC it right now, but I'm an enthusiast/tinkerer by nature, and at least one of two things is likely:
1. I may want to tinker with this machine, regardless of its intended use, and as such I'd like to buy one cooler NOW that can serve ANY potential purpose down the road.
2. I may want to repurpose some of the equipment in this build into another build down the road, and as is the case in HT applications, you can never have too much headroom in an HTPC either. In fact, I'm repurposing a PSU, an optical drive, RAM, an SSD, and an HDD for this build, and I usually do so with all of my builds (lots of stuff sitting around here ).

As for water cooling, because this will be rack mounted with other expensive equipment, liquid of any kind is out of the question. Just not worth the (admittedly low) risk.

I agree that the Noctua, Phanteks, and Be Quiet! options that I've listed are all viable, but I always like to consider the opinions of others around here before I pull the trigger.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Good question Bonzai re: overkill/overclock. It's actually a dual-purpose rig for Steam Big Screen gaming as well as an HTPC. Essentially any game that is better with a gamepad (which, as others have pointed out, is essentially anything that's not an RTS or FPS), I will want the option to play it on my plasma from the comfort of my home theater.

As far as the case choice, the Silverstone GD08B has optional rack ears so I can mount it along with my other HT equipment (it's actually currently all on shelf-like console, but will be moving to a rack later this year).

As far as the OC, I don't intend to OC it right now, but I'm an enthusiast/tinkerer by nature, and at least one of two things is likely:
1. I may want to tinker with this machine, regardless of its intended use, and as such I'd like to buy one cooler NOW that can serve ANY potential purpose down the road.
2. I may want to repurpose some of the equipment in this build into another build down the road, and as is the case in HT applications, you can never have too much headroom in an HTPC either. In fact, I'm repurposing a PSU, an optical drive, RAM, an SSD, and an HDD for this build, and I usually do so with all of my builds (lots of stuff sitting around here ).

As for water cooling, because this will be rack mounted with other expensive equipment, liquid of any kind is out of the question. Just not worth the (admittedly low) risk.

I agree that the Noctua, Phanteks, and Be Quiet! options that I've listed are all viable, but I always like to consider the opinions of others around here before I pull the trigger.

Now I see -- it's more clear to me.

Back in 1975, I built my "HT" stereo cabinet. There are refinements that could still be made, but my AV-receiver, DVD/BD players, [cassette-tape! and pho-no-graph!] are in there. I just chose to run a 25' high-quality HDMI cable from my ugly HAF midtower around the room to meet the AV Receiver. I'm running two "monitors" -- HDTV "over there," and a desktop LCD "here." I may add a third monitor -- which is just sitting here unused.

So you present an interesting problem that I might not have chosen to address myself. You want to game, and you want the box to fit on your rack -- without the risks of water-cooling. Now it all makes sense.

You could keep looking for a better low-profile heatpipe cooler, but the models you cited were made by firms producing the top-end of those products generally.

The only problem I see is the environment in which you put the box. If it's a cabinet or rack that has a build-up of warm air, you may want to augment it with some fan assembly. If you want to over-clock, you can de-lid the processor and accept those risks.

On the IB and Haswell cores, the limitations are well-discussed in these forums. But you should be able to "get there" with more limited heatpipes I would think . . . anyway . . .

 

[cytoSiN]

The only problem I see is the environment in which you put the box. If it's a cabinet or rack that has a build-up of warm air, you may want to augment it with some fan assembly. If you want to over-clock, you can de-lid the processor and accept those risks.

Indeed, that's an issue. As of now, the plan is to put the HTPC on the bottom rung, with a space above it before the next piece of equipment. This will keep it in the coolest part of the room, near the floor, and allow for good airflow on all four sides of the case (the rack has an offset on the bottom for exactly this purpose). Also, the case allows for fantastic cooling options. I'm going with four silent 120mm intake fans (two on the bottom and two on the right, near the top of the motherboard) and two silent 80mm exhaust fans (directly behind the CPU), along with the ACX cooler on the 760 and whatever CPU cooler I decide to grab in connection with this discussion. Looking forward to challenge of getting the most out of this machine while keeping it cool!

 

[PliotronX]

Check out the Scythe Big Shuriken and Coolermaster Gemini II. If you can fit a 25mm thick fan it'll enhance cooling substantially with them but they're pretty low pro.

 

[cytoSiN]

Thanks, I had considered the Gemini II (in two different revisions). The Scythe seems to be discontinued and unavailable. I think I'll go with the Noctua NH-L12, since I KNOW it will fit for my purposes, and hopefully it performs as well as the reviews say it will.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Thanks, I had considered the Gemini II (in two different revisions). The Scythe seems to be discontinued and unavailable. I think I'll go with the Noctua NH-L12, since I KNOW it will fit for my purposes, and hopefully it performs as well as the reviews say it will.

Now that I think of it, the Gemini II was also a good cooler per reviews just a couple years ago. But the Noctua should do it.

I'm absorbing the emerging info about Haswell overclocking and cooling limitations. Haswell @ 4.4 Ghz is about neck and neck with my SB @ 4.7 with Cinebench. You might do pretty well at 4.3 or 4.2. You'll have to find out.

 

[cytoSiN]

Now that I think of it, the Gemini II was also a good cooler per reviews just a couple years ago. But the Noctua should do it.

I'm absorbing the emerging info about Haswell overclocking and cooling limitations. Haswell @ 4.4 Ghz is about neck and neck with my SB @ 4.7 with Cinebench. You might do pretty well at 4.3 or 4.2. You'll have to find out.

Yeah, I think I'll try to get it to 4.0 and see where temps are, then likely scale back closer to stock for now. Just want to see how much I've hit the chip lottery, or not, within reason (obviously these low profile coolers aren't meant for much OCing).

 

[sf101]

I Used a Noctura NH-C12P SE14 On a clients pc and he asked me to oc his unit for him with no promises and his 3770k Ran at 4.5Ghz Quite easily under this Thick heavy but much shorter than the D14 Heatsink from noctura. I was quite surprised so if you Are looking for a Good air cooler then that is one you can depend on for solid temps while maintaining Decent Quiet noise values that nocutra is known for.

You may want to also whip out the measuring tape and check your clearances as a AIO watercooling unit might also Work really well in a HTPC also being quite Quiet It can offer a more cleaner setup overall than when adding a Large air cooler as it does still take up a good amount of realestate.

 

[cytoSiN]

I Used a Noctura NH-C12P SE14 On a clients pc and he asked me to oc his unit for him with no promises and his 3770k Ran at 4.5Ghz Quite easily under this Thick heavy but much shorter than the D14 Heatsink from noctura. I was quite surprised so if you Are looking for a Good air cooler then that is one you can depend on for solid temps while maintaining Decent Quiet noise values that nocutra is known for.

You may want to also whip out the measuring tape and check your clearances as a AIO watercooling unit might also Work really well in a HTPC also being quite Quiet It can offer a more cleaner setup overall than when adding a Large air cooler as it does still take up a good amount of realestate.

Yep, I ended up getting the Noctua NH-L12. As I mentioned above, watercooling isn't an option for this particular build due to rack-mounting issues and risk to other components.

 

[cytoSiN]

The NH-L12 arrived today. Final piece of the build, which I'll begin tomorrow. Just wanted to note that it SCREAMS quality, as do all Noctua components. From the packaging right down to the sleeved cabling, this is a quality product. How it performs in this build remains to be seen...

 

[BonzaiDuck]

The NH-L12 arrived today. Final piece of the build, which I'll begin tomorrow. Just wanted to note that it SCREAMS quality, as do all Noctua components. From the packaging right down to the sleeved cabling, this is a quality product. How it performs in this build remains to be seen...

I admire your attention to a "specialty project" PC build -- "specialty" which nevertheless incorporates gaming performance as well as media or "Home Theater." I'm optimistic that you found the right cooler for the project.

Since you nevertheless planned some mild over-clocking, I'd build a set of different speed profiles and settings that you could (hopefully) store in the machine's BIOS. You would find out which of them take you into upper temperature ranges that are "just acceptable."

That would define your limits with this new system and the cooler you selected. And you wouldn't necessarily need to run those settings 24/7 -- with an ability to change them on-the-fly through an occasional reboot into BIOS. Or -- you would know which setting you feel most comfortable with for 24/7 use without any reboots.

 

[4960X]

I have a Noctua NH-L9i and it can handle my 3770K at stock without an issue. If you won't be overclocking your CPU then I highly recommend giving the NH-L9i a try.

These are two reviews that you can see that it handle quiet a bit of heat.

http://www.relaxedtech.com/reviews/noctua/nh-l9i-nh-d14/1
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/noctua_nhl9i/4.htm