I'm close to losing my mind at this point trying to determine which liquid CPU cooler to get for my system. Reason being, either I fundamentally misunderstand the practical meaning of the various dimensions of CPU coolers, or I don't understand how those dimensions translate to case installation as a practical matter, or I'm just screwed with my case.
I'd never built a PC before, and I decided I wanted to make my first foray into it in some capacity. So as a compromise, I pulled the trigger on a stellar deal from Micro Center which gave me many of the components I needed to start out (i.e., Intel i7 8700K, Asus Prime Z370-P, G.skill 16GB DDR4-3000 ram, Samsung 500GB SSD, Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, Corsair Bronze 650W PSU, and Windows 10 Pro preinstalled, all tucked in a sturdy midsize case with decent Cooler Master case fans in nearly all available positions). Before I purchased (for just over $800 including tax), I checked the build against PCPartPicker, and couldn't have possible built my own rig for the same price, let alone cheaper. Plus, I liked that I was able to choose my own GPU, and had the capacity to spend some more on other upgrades since I was coming in under my self-imposed budget from the get go. So I bought it (the computer model is called the PowerSpec B741, by the way).
Fastforward a few weeks, and due to a series of I guess lucky breaks finding deals on the exact components I wanted, I've added myself a Zotac GTX 1070 TI Amp (which is blowing away my expectations), 16GB more of the same exact ram that came stock, and 1TB Adata - PXG m.2 NVMe SSD).
The only thing I haven’t been able to decide on yet is the CPU cooler, which I’m deadset on adding in to replace the Hyper 212 EVO, given that I plan to overclock my CPU, GPU and RAM. And the reason I haven’t been able to decide on a CPU cooler yet is because I (as well as several customer/tech service reps I’ve gotten on the phone) have not been able to lock down a definitive answer to the question of what my options are for CPU cooler sizing/configuration.
The case that came with my system, according to Micro Center, is called the SolyTech PCD-02 (aka PowerSpec PCD-02). There is literally no publicly available information (which I’ve confirmed) as to the specs of that case, so I was directed by customer service to use as a guideline for specs the Corsair SPEC-02 case, which they said is virtually identical spec-wise.
Well, according to the online user manual for the SPEC-02 case, Corsair lists ONLY 120mm under “Radiator Compatibility,” (which the manual further confirms refers to the rear of the case). Well, assuming the Corsair case IS INDEED the same as mine for these purposes, having only one option for an alternate cooler—a 120mm rear-mounted one—would lead me to get a Corsair Hydro H60, and accept that I’m going to need to limit my overclock until I have enough time and willpower to buy a new, bigger case and move everything over.
However, I had a couple of other ideas. According to the Corsair SPEC-02 manual, there are 2x120mm fan mounts on the top of the case, as well as 2x140mm or 2x120mm (per user’s choice) fan mounts on the front of the case (which currently occupy 140mm case fans). That is undoubtedly the exact same setup/specs as the case I have. So I thought, couldn’t I just mount the radiator and fans on the top or the front of the case? Well, I can already say with 100% confidence that the top of the case is a no-go, as there’s no chance on earth there’s enough clearance over the motherboard to house it there.
That leaves the front, and that’s where my confusion can hopefully be resolved. Like I mentioned, I have a 1TB m.2 NVMe SSD plugged straight into the PCIe of the motherboard. That SSD is both my boot drive, and my program file + data drive, and I really don’t need any more storage than that now. So I could easily remove the SATA SSD that came stock with the system, and then also remove the hard drive bay altogether, leaving that entire front area of the case wide open. And that front area of the case has availability for either 2x140mm or 2x120mm fans. So I thought, well I surely would be able to fit a 240mm CPU cooler system (i.e., the Corsair h100i Pro, or Thermaltake 3.0 RGB 240, or EVGA CLC 240, etc.), or better yet perhaps even a 280mm system (i.e., Corsair H110i/H115i, NZXT Kraken X62, etc.), in that giant void in the front of the case, right?
Some quick Youtube video research showed me tangible proof that, at least in the similar Corsair SPEC-02 case, folks were able to mount at least a Corsair H100i v2 in both the top and front of the case. However, I haven’t seen anything about the fitting of any other AIOs I’d consider, or about 280mm AIOs. So that begs the question for me—is there any reason why the front of my case would be able to hold 2x140mm or 2x120mm fans, and yet (even with taking out all the hard drive crap) may still not be able to fit a 240mm or 280mm AIO system? If so, I just really don’t understand how this all works (especially with variables such as “radiator height,” fan height, etc.) and what the heck dimensions actually matter.
Hopefully someone can make this simple for me, guide me in the right direction in how to understand all these dimensions on a broad level, and then on a specific level what my options are likely to be for installing a new AIO CPU cooler. Thank you very much in advance for taking the time to read, and to respond if you have the answers and the time!
I'd never built a PC before, and I decided I wanted to make my first foray into it in some capacity. So as a compromise, I pulled the trigger on a stellar deal from Micro Center which gave me many of the components I needed to start out (i.e., Intel i7 8700K, Asus Prime Z370-P, G.skill 16GB DDR4-3000 ram, Samsung 500GB SSD, Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO, Corsair Bronze 650W PSU, and Windows 10 Pro preinstalled, all tucked in a sturdy midsize case with decent Cooler Master case fans in nearly all available positions). Before I purchased (for just over $800 including tax), I checked the build against PCPartPicker, and couldn't have possible built my own rig for the same price, let alone cheaper. Plus, I liked that I was able to choose my own GPU, and had the capacity to spend some more on other upgrades since I was coming in under my self-imposed budget from the get go. So I bought it (the computer model is called the PowerSpec B741, by the way).
Fastforward a few weeks, and due to a series of I guess lucky breaks finding deals on the exact components I wanted, I've added myself a Zotac GTX 1070 TI Amp (which is blowing away my expectations), 16GB more of the same exact ram that came stock, and 1TB Adata - PXG m.2 NVMe SSD).
The only thing I haven’t been able to decide on yet is the CPU cooler, which I’m deadset on adding in to replace the Hyper 212 EVO, given that I plan to overclock my CPU, GPU and RAM. And the reason I haven’t been able to decide on a CPU cooler yet is because I (as well as several customer/tech service reps I’ve gotten on the phone) have not been able to lock down a definitive answer to the question of what my options are for CPU cooler sizing/configuration.
The case that came with my system, according to Micro Center, is called the SolyTech PCD-02 (aka PowerSpec PCD-02). There is literally no publicly available information (which I’ve confirmed) as to the specs of that case, so I was directed by customer service to use as a guideline for specs the Corsair SPEC-02 case, which they said is virtually identical spec-wise.
Well, according to the online user manual for the SPEC-02 case, Corsair lists ONLY 120mm under “Radiator Compatibility,” (which the manual further confirms refers to the rear of the case). Well, assuming the Corsair case IS INDEED the same as mine for these purposes, having only one option for an alternate cooler—a 120mm rear-mounted one—would lead me to get a Corsair Hydro H60, and accept that I’m going to need to limit my overclock until I have enough time and willpower to buy a new, bigger case and move everything over.
However, I had a couple of other ideas. According to the Corsair SPEC-02 manual, there are 2x120mm fan mounts on the top of the case, as well as 2x140mm or 2x120mm (per user’s choice) fan mounts on the front of the case (which currently occupy 140mm case fans). That is undoubtedly the exact same setup/specs as the case I have. So I thought, couldn’t I just mount the radiator and fans on the top or the front of the case? Well, I can already say with 100% confidence that the top of the case is a no-go, as there’s no chance on earth there’s enough clearance over the motherboard to house it there.
That leaves the front, and that’s where my confusion can hopefully be resolved. Like I mentioned, I have a 1TB m.2 NVMe SSD plugged straight into the PCIe of the motherboard. That SSD is both my boot drive, and my program file + data drive, and I really don’t need any more storage than that now. So I could easily remove the SATA SSD that came stock with the system, and then also remove the hard drive bay altogether, leaving that entire front area of the case wide open. And that front area of the case has availability for either 2x140mm or 2x120mm fans. So I thought, well I surely would be able to fit a 240mm CPU cooler system (i.e., the Corsair h100i Pro, or Thermaltake 3.0 RGB 240, or EVGA CLC 240, etc.), or better yet perhaps even a 280mm system (i.e., Corsair H110i/H115i, NZXT Kraken X62, etc.), in that giant void in the front of the case, right?
Some quick Youtube video research showed me tangible proof that, at least in the similar Corsair SPEC-02 case, folks were able to mount at least a Corsair H100i v2 in both the top and front of the case. However, I haven’t seen anything about the fitting of any other AIOs I’d consider, or about 280mm AIOs. So that begs the question for me—is there any reason why the front of my case would be able to hold 2x140mm or 2x120mm fans, and yet (even with taking out all the hard drive crap) may still not be able to fit a 240mm or 280mm AIO system? If so, I just really don’t understand how this all works (especially with variables such as “radiator height,” fan height, etc.) and what the heck dimensions actually matter.
Hopefully someone can make this simple for me, guide me in the right direction in how to understand all these dimensions on a broad level, and then on a specific level what my options are likely to be for installing a new AIO CPU cooler. Thank you very much in advance for taking the time to read, and to respond if you have the answers and the time!
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