air cooling solutions

[dnoam]

after a dissapointing run with the corsaair hydro 100 as i had to replace 2 units i decided to go for an air cooling solution but i run into space issue , i am using the 1st pci-e slot as i am installing 3 cards and i am using 16 gb of memory so the b2 and d2 are used.as a result i am remaining with a bit small place to place on of those huge 3 fans cooler , any idea for a good solution will be welcomed.thanks

[HiVizMan]

Welcome to the forum. It might be rather helpful if we had an idea as to what your system was.

Regards

[dnoam]

1. Rampage extreme 4 2011
2 .3 Asus GTX 560 TI Direct CU2 TOP
3.16 GB G- SKILL
4 I-7 3930
5. Obsidian 800d

[HiVizMan]

The Gskill ram do not have a very high heat sink you should be able to use any high end cooler.

Noctua NH-D14, Thermalright Silver Arrow and Phanteks PH-TC14PE

[dnoam]

Thanks for the quick respond.i would have thought that the space problem is with the card at the 1st pci-e slot and not so much with the G-Skill.i just want to know if sombody have experience with that kind of set up ( big aircool device with card at the first slot)
Thanks

[HiVizMan]

I run multiple cards using the first slot.

Your fan position is over the furtherest ram slots pushing the air out of the case. The fan will never be near to the GPU. Or at least it should not.

[dnoam]

It might by not the right place to ask that question but as you know it all.. i would like to know where do i find that 4 pin EZ _ PLUG _2 power cable?
Thanks.

[Helios1234]

Any reasons you are using 3 GTX560Tis? As far as I know, they don't support Tri-SLI unless they are the 448 shader ones.

Anyway, as for air cooling recommendations, the three mentioned above are terrific. If the G-Skill memory you are getting are the RipJaw-X/Z, then they are 1cm taller than low profile modules so the Phanteks and Silver Arrow might have issues with the front fans.

Have a look at this review: http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/alpenfoehn_k2_cpu_cooler_revisited,10.html

The Alpenfohn K2 is another alternative that like the Noctua NH-D14 has a front 120mm fan that can be adjusted to accommodate slightly taller memory modules.

As for your concerns regarding the first PCIe slot, the best thing to do would be to have a look at the width of those 4 coolers and see how they would fit on the motherboard.

[NightDiver]

If the big brick-style coolers are a bit tight, you can also take a look at the Zalman CNPS9900Max. The asymmetric cooling fins keep the cooler from overhanging your RAM (which allows you to add additional cooling there if you want). Since it is round rather than a block, it also curves away from the PCI-e slot and gives video cards plenty of room. It may not give quite the cooling as the big blocks, but for nearly silent performance, its compatibility with other components footprint-wise, and its ability to handle moderate OC'ing, it might be a valid option for you. Below is a pic of one in use in my current system.

[dnoam]

NightDiver wrote:
If the big brick-style coolers are a bit tight, you can also take a look at the Zalman CNPS9900Max. The asymmetric cooling fins keep the cooler from overhanging your RAM (which allows you to add additional cooling there if you want). Since it is round rather than a block, it also curves away from the PCI-e slot and gives video cards plenty of room. It may not give quite the cooling as the big blocks, but for nearly silent performance, its compatibility with other components footprint-wise, and its ability to handle moderate OC'ing, it might be a valid option for you. Below is a pic of one in use in my current system.

this is exectly my issue i am using the first expention slot why by your set up is closed , as a result my sapce is much limited.here is a picture of my firsts stepes( the 3rd card is not installed yet..