CPU cooler that does not extend over the motherboard

tyeh26 · Post by **tyeh26** » Tue May 13, 2008 12:54 pm

I have a lian li pc v2000b with an inverted Abit in9-32x max motherboard. With the position of the LGA775 socket, a my TRU can only be installed with the long side parallel with the ground or else it will hit the divider in the case. Thus the 120mm exhaust isn't pulling all its air through the cooler (CPU is running fanless)

I was wondering if you guys knew of a better CPU cooler for my situation because I doubt the TRU is running to its full potential right now. thanks.

bumthology · Post by **bumthology** » Tue May 13, 2008 1:11 pm

scythe ninja!
I reckon a scythe is better passive (utilisiing the rear fan of course)

tyeh26 · Post by **tyeh26** » Tue May 13, 2008 2:46 pm

thanks for the quick reply. Here's a pic of my current situation:

Besides the very >explicative< motherboard and its coil whine, the rear CPU exhaust is the loudest fan. Most of the noise comes from the turbulence.

I'm assuming by switching to cooler with less dense fins it will quiet down a bunch. right?

Will a ninja cool better than a TRU with the same speed fan? I doubt I anyone can pull statistics out because a TRU/TRUE has never been tested in this orientation. So... any "IMHO"s?

bgavin · Post by **bgavin** » Tue May 13, 2008 3:17 pm

I calculated the free air precentage of the TR Ultra 120 EX at 76%. Source was FrostyTech measurements of fin spacing and thickness.

I sampled 10 fins and 9 spaces. Calculated the sum as Width. Calculated square area by assuming Width = Length for a square sample area. I divided Free area / Total Area to get the percentage.

Anyway, the TRUE is a relatively high impedance air load by this calculation method.

Ultra 90 and Kama Cooler = 75%
SI128-SE = 80%
Zipang = 81.8%
Mugen = 89.2%
Ninja Mini = 90.4%
NCU-2000 = 93.1%

walle · Post by **walle** » Tue May 13, 2008 3:23 pm

Hi

Minor reservation here, might be mistaken ok, but it doesnâ€™t look as if though the Ninja would fit.

tyeh26 · Post by **tyeh26** » Wed May 14, 2008 11:04 am

I don't have a ruler handy, so I can't check, but do are all CPU sockets at the same place on an ATX motherboard? or do they vary like +/- 5cm? or more?

jonlumb · Post by **jonlumb** » Wed May 14, 2008 11:20 am

tyeh26 wrote:I don't have a ruler handy, so I can't check, but do are all CPU sockets at the same place on an ATX motherboard? or do they vary like +/- 5cm? or more?

Whilst I haven't checked every motherboard, I have built systems with a fair few, and I have never seen anything like a 5cm difference. I am pretty certain the location is part of the spec, so it won't be changing all that much at all.

NyteOwl · Post by **NyteOwl** » Wed May 14, 2008 1:43 pm

No the CPU socket can be in a number of locations. Some are near the "top" edge of the board (when mounted in a conventional oriented tower case. Some have all the memory slots between the CPU and the board edge, others just a row of VRM's or other components.

The only things you can be sure of positioning is that the slots are positioned along the "lower" back edge at a particular spacing and that external ports are positioned along the "top" back edge between the "top and the top most slot position and the backplane is a particular height. board layout beyond that is more a matter of circuit routing requirements.

Check out various motherboard pics on the different manufacturers' sites and you can see a range of mounting positions.

ATX specs - http://www.formfactors.org/FFDetail.asp?FFID=1&CatID=1

tyeh26 · Post by **tyeh26** » Wed May 14, 2008 2:20 pm

alright, thanks. I was just checking to make sure if a CPU cooler would fit, it depends on the motherboard and the case. not just the case.

tyeh26 · Post by **tyeh26** » Wed May 14, 2008 3:30 pm

So I just measured the distance from the divider to the CPU socket, It came out to be about 5.5cm. This would mean if the cooler is symmetric about the horizontal axis when installed, it can be no bigger than 110mm. And what do you know, that's the exact width of a scythe ninja.

unfortunately, i can't be the first kid on the block to test out a scythe orochi because it won't fit.

Anyone know any good off center coolers, like the orochi?