Maximus VII Gene mATX Air Cooler Space

[Steve_N__Mavron]

Can someone with this board give me maximum dimensions, as referenced from the CPU center of the 4 cooler mounting holes, how much space there is to the closest RAM slot and closest PCIe slot? If I don't end up doing liquid cooling I'm investigating what is the largest air heatsink/fan cooler that would fit without blocking tall RAM in the first slots and doesn't touch a GPU in the first PCIe slot. Here are some candidates that may just fit but not sure:

Cooler Master V8 GTS (154mm wide x 149.8mm deep w/2 inner 140mm fans, note: the heatsink sides rise high above RAM seen photos with 4 Corsair Vengeance)
(www.coolermaster.com/cooling/cpu-air-cooler/v8/?lv01_type=cooling&lv02_type=cpu-air-cooler&prd_path=...)

Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 (155mm wide x 106.66mm deep w/2 slim 140mm fans, slants away from PCIe side)
(www.thermalright.com/html/products/cpu_cooler/archon_ibe.html?panel=1)

Noctua NH-U14S (155mm wide x 104mm deep w/2 slim 140mm fans - note: comes with only 1 fan, would have to get another)
(www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=64&lng=en&set=1)

Noctua NH-U12S (125mm wide x 95mm w/2 slim 120mm fans - note: would definitely fit but less cooling than others and comes with only 1 fan, would have to get another)
(www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=63&lng=en&set=1)

Yeah I know the last 3 have ugly fan colors LOL but more interested in maximum size vs overclock cooling ability.

[Marko56]

Just did a build with this MB and Corsair H80 water cooling, 16G G.Skill Ripjaws and EVGA 970GTX in a Thermaltake V21 box and there is lots of room. If you were to populate the MB with 4 sticks of ram it might get tight close to the CPU. Sorry I'm not at home right now to take measurements.
Will check later tonight.

[Steve_N__Mavron]

Since posting I've done some scale graphic mock-ups that I'll post here. Maybe they will be helpful to others wondering what CPU air coolers fit with what I think based on the 'footprint' dimensions should provide 100% RAM and PCIe compatibility and still be decent. These all have different heights so factor in your PC case of chocie too.


ASUS Maximus VII Gene - using a large 2440x2440px image (10px = 1mm) and then re-scaled smaller to 600x600px for web posting. Measured distances from CPU mounting plate center to RAM and PCIe slots. Use these numbers as an estimate. I've seen another unofficial illustration that measured 1/2mm less in both directions.




Here is my #1 choice at the moment. It's good and think it also looks cool like a jet engine - Cyrorig R1 Universal




Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 - Actually this one overlaps the first RAM slot frame by just a bit. Not sure if the fan would lean into a tall heatsink or not?




Noctua NH-U12S w/extra rear Noctua NH-F12 PWM fan for improved performance




Again my criteria for these coolers was 100% fit without blocking RAM or the primary GPU slot. There are a few others I would love to use but they either block tall memory and/or the top graphics card slot.

[Aralex]

Finally!!! I've been doing a similar research...thanks alot for these photos and posts 🙂