Cpu cooler for asus p8z77vlk

[SpeedRacer87]

Hello, I'm new at building computers and I'm also new to this site. I need some help figuring out what aftermarket cpu Cooler will fit on my asus p8z77vlk board? I have 4 sticks of corsair Vengeance Blue 4gb ram in each ram slot. I have no idea what would be the right cpu fan to go with. I have had this pc built for 3 years now and just recently upgraded the auxiliary fans, so I have much better cooling now. Here are the specs of my pc
Haf 912 case
i5 3570k @ stock speeds (but I eventually want to overclock)
Amd 7950 3gb
16gb corsair
Vengeance ram
600w thermaltake tr2 psu

I just need help on finding a good cpu cooler.I'm afraid that I'll pick the wrong cooler and it will not fit bdva
Anyof the ram I have installed.

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

Welcome to Toms! To answer your question, anything that can fit really. When it comes to aftermarket coolers a lot of people recommend the Hyper 212 EVO due to it's price to performance. The bigger the cooler the better it performs, one that can fit a regular 120 mm fan in either push or push/pull configuration is highly recommended. Solid choice for light overclocking.

If you decide to go with the 212 EVO which will fit in your case, all you have to do if you have clearance issues is slide the fan up.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $29.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-03 07:20 EDT-0400

 

[SpeedRacer87]

Are you sure the 212 evo will fit with the high profile ram that I have on my motherboard? I have seen how big this cooler is and it makes me think it's way to big and I would have clearance problems. I have never installed one before, so do I just remove the stock cpu fan that I installed 3 years ago and replace it with the cpu cooler?

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

Yes it (should) fit, I googled it just now to make sure and a lot of people are using it in their CM 912's. As for clearance, all you should be able to get away with in the worst case scenario would be raising the fan because it's mounted and easily removeable, which won't really affect cooling.

You start by removing the CPU fan, if you have 70% (preferably 90+) rubbing alcohol use that to clean your CPU before attaching the new cooler, in most cases it should come with pre applied thermal paste, however I own the 212 myself and in my case I got a tube of CM thermal paste in the box. The hardest part would be mounting the actual cooler, it can be a bit tricky, therefore I recommend looking up a tutorial on YouTube and you will be good to go!

 

[SpeedRacer87]

Thank you for the quick reply. I'm sure it will fit in the cm haf 912 but I'm not sure about it fitting in the asus p8z77vlk motherboard due to clearance issues with ram slots being so close to the cpu fan. I have tried to look up compatible cpu cooler for the board but I couldn't really find where to look. Would you care to help me with this too? I have typed in asus p8z77vlk compatible cpu cooler but nothing really comes up on Google. I'm just afraid that the fan is not going to fit because of the Corsair Vengeance Blue ram I have installed. So you say that I can actually mount the fan upside down, in case of clearance issues? Wouldn't that blow the air opposite of the cpu? I apologize if these are stupid questions but I'm a noob at this type of thing and I want to be certain I'm ordering the right parts for my board. Also would the zalman CNPS14X Pure aluminum high be compatible? If someone could provide me a list of compatible coolers for this board and case that would be great! Thank you Suzuki for all your help!

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

EDIT: It will fit on your motherboard.

The CPU heatsink should be facing this way (your case):

http://i49.tinypic.com/24lr0gw.png
Not my picture, credit to whoever took it

As you can see the CPU Fan is mounted on the right, this is where your high profile RAM is, correct? If that's the case, then all you have to do is raise the fan, still mounted on the same side, just raising it to about the same height as the copper pipes sticking out on the top, that should give you enough clearance!

 

[SpeedRacer87]

Yes my high profile ram is mounted to the right of the cpu. Thank you for helping me put my mind at ease with this question! Now I just have to figure out how to go about installing the cpu cooler! Do you have any other suggestions on any other coolers other than the 212?

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

No I really don't. For the price nothing beats it. You can also start get into overclocking with this cooler. For installing the cooler watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjsri0s6Uhg

But don't do what he did with the thermal paste. It should be no bigger than a pea placed in the middle on the CPU, and your cooler should be installed ontop and thermal paste spread due to pressure.

 

[SpeedRacer87]

I have the asus ai suite ii and it has a program called turboevo. Would you recommend this for a beginner overclocking? The last time I tried to use this piece of software it booted my pc 3 times but then said overclocking failed press f1 to continue. I only have a 600w power supply. Do you think that would cause the problem with the failed attempt at the overclock?

 

[Suzuki@1473780084@1473780163]

I recommend overclocking in BIOS, if you need help with this later on then create a new thread and plenty of people will be able to help you out. No, 600W is enough!