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Recommended CPU cooler for 4670K in FD R4 case.

D

dnut_00

Member
Hello everybody.

The title gives the idea. I am planning to buy a 4670K (for mild OC a bit later on) on Gigabyte Z87x - UD3H board (with no tall RAM, AFAIK).

I've asked before (thanks to mfenn, again) and received a confirmation that Noctua NH-U12S would do OK, as would 212+.

Unfortunately, both of those are OOS for me, as is 212 Evo (I am not getting these in the US and newegg is not an option).

I've looked into the following:

1. Arctic Cooling i30 CO
2. Noctua NH-U12P SE2
3. Noctua NH-C12P SE14

I also would like to avoid some monstrosity a la Mugen 3 (if that makes sense, I feel insecure with that thing attached to the Mobo 🙁)

What would you suggest?

Thank you.
 
Mugen 3 is not any larger than any of the other coolers you mentioned. They're all roughly the same size and also perform roughly the same. The Noctua U12P probably has a slight advantage, but it's also typically more expensive than either the i30 or the Mugen 3.

The i30 CO version uses a ball bearing fan as opposed to Fluid Dynamic Bearing which is found in the regular version. Ball bearing is more durable but FDB is quieter. I would rather have FDB - it's a better match for the R4 which is designed for quiet computing. The Mugen 3 uses a sleeve bearing fan at a similar RPM to the i30 fan, they should sound very similar.

There's also a Mugen 4 which I think has replaced the Mugen 3, but there's not much difference between them.

TL;DR get the Mugen, but if you can find an i30 regular version (non CO) for less cost, get that instead.

(if that makes sense, I feel insecure with that thing attached to the Mobo )
Click to expand...

Why? The motherboard is tightly secured to the case with nine screws. The case is what carries the cooler's weight. These coolers aren't even that heavy, there are much heavier ones like Noctua D14 and Phanteks TC14PE which also don't pose any problems.
 
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You are right, for some reason I wrote Mugen 3, but had Ninja 3 in mind (that over 1kg :O)...

Noctua is 95 x 126 x 158 mm and Mugen is 130 x 108 x 158 mm.

I couldn't tell which is depth and width in Mugen and from the images it seems that Mugen would have RAM quite tight, no? It also seems that Noctua is a bit thinner in that department.

Is there a way to tell?

P.S. I don't mind paying extra for Noctua, if it is indeed better.
 
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I have a Mugen 2 and it's wider than its successor, and the heatsink itself just about clears the RAM so that only the fan hangs over two of the slots. With Mugen 3, the fan would probably hang over the first RAM slot, you can still install regular height RAM under it though.

I don't see how the Noctua is worth the extra money unless you just want to pay for the warranty. Personally I'm happy with the Mugen 2 I bought 4 years ago for about $40, still going strong. 🙂
 
Thank you again.

And the last, so far ;-), question: there are two ways to install Mugen, right? So, which one is preferable? (there is a GPU as well).
 
Are you referring to horizontal vs vertical orientation? In the Define R4, you'll hopefully have both top fan slots blocked i.e. no change to default configuration. So you don't want the fan to push air towards the top of the case if there's no way out that way. FWIW, there are some tests which show that a horizontal orientation where the fan pushes air up performs better if the top is open for air to go through. But that orientation is also more restrictive on the memory slots.

If you're referring to whether to install the fan pushing air or pulling air through the heatsink, pushing is always better; install the fan on the side of the memory modules.
 
WOW. Now I am totally confused.

1. I wasn't planning on adding more fans to the R4. 1 intake front and 1 exhaust back. No top level fans. Is this why you said it is hopefully blocked - as in "no fans installed"?

2. So A and C are the preferred positions (depending whether there are 2 fans or 1)? Wouldn't that push some hot air towards GPU (if that's a bad thing)?

 
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You cannot use the fan orientation shown in C for the cooler. The fan on the rear side of the cooler should be reversed so it pulls air. Pushing air from both sides is counter productive.
 
Aha, so one push and the second pull? But this is the horizontal and it is the one that is normally preferred, right?
 
1. I wasn't planning on adding more fans to the R4. 1 intake front and 1 exhaust back. No top level fans. Is this why you said it is hopefully blocked - as in "no fans installed"?
Click to expand...

Not just no fans installed, but with the slot covers in place.

2. So A and C are the preferred positions (depending whether there are 2 fans or 1)? Wouldn't that push some hot air towards GPU (if that's a bad thing)?
Click to expand...

As Alan G said, C is not preferable.

Aha, so one push and the second pull? But this is the horizontal and it is the one that is normally preferred, right?
Click to expand...

Push-pull in general is not worth it, it results in higher noise levels and costs you money and for what, a couple of degrees better cooling? You only need one fan to achieve a mild overclock as you put it in the OP.

By the way, if you were going to add fans to the R4, the common thing to do is to add an extra 140mm intake. The integrated fan controller handles three fan headers, and putting the extra fan in the front ensures positive pressure which keeps dust out of the case (as long as you clean the filter regularly).
 
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Yeah, I new about the pressure and the front intake fan. Should I add one really (that's a rhethorical question really)?

Thank you.
 
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