I7 920 Cooler: Megahalem or?

[bigehugedome]

Yea i know, not another i7 cooler thread. But i need some personal advice.

I have:
Asus P6t Deluxe
i7 920
Antec 1200

I need to get a new cooler. The Megahalem is looking good (I dont want to have to lap anything), but I wanna know whats the best for my setup. The Megahalem should fit fine in my case. But will I be able to have 2 fans on the Megahalem with my ram right there? If so what fans should I get. What size (25 or 38)? And will everything work witha front bay Fan controller, and what kind do you recommend. I heard the Scythe's are great, but this is my 24/7 PC and I dont want it to be super loud when idling(when underload sound is not too much of a problem).

Also I may add a fan on the side panel, but will the Megahalem interfere with that?

I did my research and im pretty sure I want the Megahalem. Im asking for more of a personal opinion with my setup.

Thanks alot

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Here is a link to a very good web site with a lot of useful information about cpu heatsinks that you might want to look at:

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

Here is a link to a very good web site with a lot of useful information about quiet pc's. It has a separate section about quiet fans:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article63-page2.html

The Antec Twelve Hundred is a very good case. Ventilation, air flow, and cooling are excellent. It is a full tower case so there is plenty of room for components. Here is a link to a Tom's Hardware article comparing the acoustic and thermal properties of the Antec Twelve Hundred and three other full tower cases:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/full-tower-case,2105-10.html

Now, about the memory - A memory stick with a very tall heatspreader located in the memory slot closest to the cpu will interfere with the primary fan on a tower style cpu heatsink fan. Those tall heatspreaders kind of look like a comb. You would be better off getting standard height memory sticks with standard height heat spreaders. Here's a tip -Install the memory first, then install the heatsink. It makes installation a lot easier and quicker.

If you intend to install a secondary cpu heatsink fan for a push pull effect, then you have to check the area between the cpu and the rear exhaust fan. Some of the newer motherboards I looked at my local Fry's Electronics store have a heatsink in that location and some of them are quite tall. I took a look at photos of your motherboard. There are 3 heatsinks surrounding the cpu socket. None of them appear to be taller than the clips on the memory banks so you should be okay.

Finally, the case is 8.4 inches wide so it can definitely accomodate a large tower style heatsink. The location of the fan mount on the side panel is not over the cpu. Instead, the fan on the side panel will be lower and right over the video card. It is designed to help cool the video card.

 

[bigehugedome]

Thanks for all the info. I have Dominator RAM so hopefully it will work. I’ll have to look at the measurements of both and see if they will fit. I wish I had a Fry's near me.

Also, I’m not sure if all these fans are going to help or if they are overkill. I don’t have money to experiment with things that’s why I'm asking for help.
For instance, the CPU fans will not line up exactly with one of the rear exhaust fans. It will be right in the middle of the 2. Will that make a difference with different fans on the CPU cooler and the Case? And the HDDs are in the middle of the front intake and the CPU fan. I can either:
1) Keep the HDDs are in the middle of the front intake and the CPU fan
2) Move the hdd's to the bottom cage, so there is nothing in between the front intake and the CPU.
3) Move the hdd's to the bottom cage, so there is nothing in between the front intake and the CPU and add another 120mm fan in between them.

I’m having a hard time explaining this. If you don’t understand what I'm trying to ask then Ill upload some pics tonight. I basically want to know what configurations will give me the best airflow in my case.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

The Antec Twelve Hundred is one of the very very few cases I have seen with two 120 mm fans on the rear panel. The others were custom gaming builds. Both fans will exhaust hot air. That's okay. The cpu heatsink fan(s) will not always line up exactly with the exhaust fan on the rear panel. That is not unusual. It happens all the time. It just depends on the location of the cpu socket on the motherboard. Not all manufacturers locate the cpu socket in the exact same location.

You can move the hard drives so that they are out of the way of the front intake fan and improve air flow. You can also install another front intake fan. Both options are acceptable. However, I would suggest that you start with just the stock case fans and the stocks fans that come with the cpu heatsink you select just to see what happens. The stocks fans do a very good job of cooling. If you find it necessary you can always change or add fans later.

The classic airflow pattern is bottom front to top rear. Here is a link to a Lancool web page that has an animated video clip at the bottom of the page depicting classic air flow:

http://www.lancoolpc.com/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=15&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=62&g=spec

The case does not match the Antec Twelve Hundred but the concept and the direction of air flow is the same.

 

[bigehugedome]

Thanks so much. After looking at it more I'm definitely getting the Megahalem with 2 fans. I'm going to just get the extra fans and just spend a day trying different things. I think moving the HDD's to the bottom may benefit. I also saw a pic of someone with a 1200 and a TRUE but the exhaust on the heat sink was facing the top fan and not the back. If mounted that way then it shouldn’t hit the memory, and it looks like the side panel fan can cool the GPU and give cool air to the TRUE.

Also came across this. I think he takes it a little to far but props to him.
http://www.evga.com/FORUMS/tm.asp?m=100661259

Thanks for the help, now I got to just wait for my paycheck and order the parts.