Question Cooler Suggestion - i5 4690k / Corsair Carbide SPEC-ALPHA

[Thatpkmtrainer]

I usually don’t keep the side panel on my pc attached. I usually leave it open and casually let a fan blow some cool air in, it may not be orthodox but it’s just something I do. I really like the Noctua coolers and I personally wanna stick with air cooling.

 

[Aeacus]

With Spec-Alpha, you have CPU cooler clearance of 156mm when side panel is on.

Best Noctua you can fit in there would be Noctua NH-U9B SE2,
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Y4fp99/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhu9bse2

But without side panel on (which is a bad idea), you can go all the way to the king of air coolers: Noctua NH-D15,
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/4vzv6h,xCL7YJ/

NH-D15S, compared to NH-D15, has better clearance for GPU and it comes with 1x fan, while there are clips to add 2nd fan as well.