OK, I would really like to get this heatsink:

Thermalright SI-97

However, it seems that it is at least 120mm in length, and from what I can tell that will be the vertical length (when it is in the tower). Because of this, there's no way it would fit, since my PSU is right above the motherboard.

What should I do?

The thing is lightweight, the fins are even in a good orientation -- front to back! How can I pass this up?

Any case mods that could fix this?

If I decide to take the PSU out of the PC, which type would be quieter -- the 120mm bottom-feeder or the regular kind?

edit: also, what are good places to buy from?

I'm not sure at all becuase i've never seen the heatsink in real life, but those heatpipes look flexible - perhaps the bulk could just be repositioned?

Erm..... get a different heatsink?

Seriously, if it aint going to fit, try something else. If you want to duct the heat out of the case, get a tower heatsink like the Aerocool HT-101 (I'm assuming you've got a socket A mobo). It is nearly as effective as the SI-97 (according to this System Cooling test), and depending on your socket orientation, you can duct the heat directly out of your exhaust fan or into a bottom feeding PSU.

I have a KT7A mobo which has the CPU socket quite close to the top left of the mobo, which is perfect for doing this. I'm even thinking of removing the heatsink fan altogether and using the PSU fan alone to cool it.

Hey that sounds pretty cool.

And it turns out that I have 111 mm to work with. (I measured with a square made of lego bricks ) Imagine that. The SI-97 says it's 116 mm long.

http://www.thermalright.com/a_page/main ... t_si97.htm

So I'm 5 mm short??? Is that possible? 2.5 mm on each side and I wouldn't have this problem. 2.5 mm just on the top really. Even less than that because I really had a tiny bit of extra space around my lego square. So 2 mm really -- that's all I'm missing.

BUT... according to the pictures on here:
http://www.systemcooling.com/thermalright_si-97-01.html

It looks like the heatsink is not centered over the CPU. (I checked this by putting it into mspaint and checking the distance from the clip to either side of the heatsink .. makes sense, right?)

Can these things be put in either way? Or does the clip enforce a one-way orientation of the thing?

EDIT: Nope!



http://www.systemcooling.com/thermalright_si-97-02.html

The internet is awesome.

Now I just need to make sure the 116mm includes the heatpipes and I'll be all set

EDIT: and you know what, I've seen pictures with 92mm fans on it, and they just cover the fins, so I think I'm good to go.