Hey,

This is my first time posting on these forums, as I think this would be the best forum for my question.
I'm looking for a top down cooler for my latest build, but I have a hard time finding one that would fit without only mediocre results.

Currently the build consists of:
Asus Maximus Gene V (mATX with the CPU socket rather close to the first PCIe slot)
Intel 3570K (Hoping for a decent overclock)
8GB Corsair Venge low profile (2x4 DDR3-1600 CL9)
Lian Li PC-V600FX (Was hard to find, and pretty expensive)
Corsair 750AX (overkill but 650ax wasn't in stock, and I'm going to buy the sleeved cables set from Corsair)
XFX 7950 Double D (possible CF) air cooled but with the EK Backplate (just looks so damn good, unsure if it'll work on stock cooling though, but it should)

At first the AXP-140 was the obvious choice, but there is almost no clearance (5mm or so) between the top of the motherboard and the top fan.
The CPU socket is just to close to the GFX slot to put the cooler horizontal I'm afraid (hasn't been 100% confirmed though).

The case only supports towers up to 155mm (150 to be safe, as there is only a low amount of data and pictures on the PC-V600FX).
I also prefer top down coolers over towers, as it'll just look better in my opinion.

After lots of browsing, most of the decent top down coolers I find seem to be to big to mount horizontal (the heatpipes) or either to small for decent performance (Noctua L12)

Please don't suggest any;
Tower coolers, only the few that fit have either low performance, are noisy (CNPS 9900 MAX), or are ugly in a rather small case (TR Macho)
Scythe coolers

Someone with a similar build:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1712163

Thanks in advance,
Thomas

According to the data given by Antec the Kuhler Box is 148mm high.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm not really fond of the desing/looks and I've pretty much got my mind set on a top-down cooler.

Are there any top-down coolers that support 140mm fans that are actually 140mm wide even with mounting?
Or will I have to go with 120mm sized coolers, like the Noctua L12 and have mediocre results?

The combination of the Noctua L12 run in PWM mode and plugging the Lian Li case fans into the motherboard chassis fan headers of the Asus Maximus Gene V should in fact allow a decent degree of system cooling. The Asus Silent BIOS profile would keep the fan noise minimized at idle and low loads, and ramp all the fans up automatically to cope with the higher temperatures created under gaming load. The supplied Fan Xpert software can be used for greater flexibility.

These are the CPU coolers that come to mind for your particular situation:

Scythe Samurai ZZ
Scythe Big Shuriken Rev. B
Noctua NH-L12

I don't know whether these CPU coolers will fit or not, though I would be quite sure that the Samurai ZZ would fit. It fits on a m-ITX board where the PCI-e slot is very close to the CPU.

For looks the obvious candidates are copper coolers from Zalman and Zerotherm. Both have towers and top blowers.
Zalman 9700/9900 are flower style cooler with decent performance, but the fan isn't in the same league as the recommended fans and hard to replace.
The Zerotherm BTF95 has a similar fan problem, the BTF 92 is the same heatsing without the fan, you would have to rig a fan.
The Zalman 9X00 and 8X00 have similar problems with fan moise and replavement.
THe Zerotherm CF900 is a good cooler for it's size, but it's so small performance isn't great, but the fan is a little more quiet and easy to replace.
Thermaltake Mini Typ 90: Ok heatsink, full copper fan is easy to replace, possibly EOL.
Phanteks PH-TC14CS: Great performance, comes in many colors, loud fans but easily replaceable, expensive.
Deepcool Killer Whale Premium: performs only slightly worse than AXP-140, full copper.
I would use the Deepcool with a transparent fan for looks. Or the Zalman if you like tower coolers better.

May I know other CPU coolers aside from the 3 stated above? Thank in advance!