Cheap cooling solution for awkward case.

[Geoman37]

Hey Tech Forums, thanks for helping me build my first pc!

Basically I have a Cooler Master k350 because it was only £15 providing I got it with a Cooler Master PSU, which meant that I had enough money to get a 7870 as opposed to a 7850 (the 7870 was on a deal the day I bought it as well so I couldn't really say no- it was about £50 off). Being the eternal cheapskate that I am, I decided to just stick with the stock AMD CPU cooler for a few months until I felt the need to overclock. Big mistake, I know. Problem is that due to this when I bought my K350 I wasn't really thinking of aftermarket CPU coolers when I bought it and now I am stuck with a case that is one cm too narrow to fit the type of coolers that I now want to get, such as the Hyper 212. I only have 148.5 cm of clearance for a CPU cooler and am finding it hard to find a cooler that is small enough to fit in my case, quiet, in my budget (£25, at a push £35 but I need to spare £5 out of that budget for some MX-5 thermal paste), and keep my FX-6300 at around 55 degrees whilst on a small to moderate overclock- 3.8 or maybe even 4.0 ghz. I realise this is quite an ask from my budget but do any of you have any suggestions or at least some opinions on the following:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Mast...TF8&qid=1388756692&sr=1-9&keywords=cpu+cooler

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scythe-Shur...qid=1397731253&sr=1-1&keywords=Big+Shuriken+2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1D873RMPMIV2C

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Mast...=1397733780&sr=1-1&keywords=cooler+master+tx3

Bear in mind I have the asus m5a97 r2.0, fx-6300, corsair vengeance and 148.5mm max height when looking at coolers for which clearance may be an issue.

I know I have rambled a bit but thanks in advance and any response is appreciated.

NB. I also plan on getting a cheap arctic f12 120mm case fan as an exhaust.

 

[Trotter]

I would go with the Arctic Cooling Freezer 13. I have use the Freezer 7 with good results and the Freezer 13 is just a stronger variant of it.

 

[Geoman37]

Other people did seem to be really positive about that model. I know that it comes with thermal paste pre applied, do you know if it is good stuff? I assume it is MX as the cooler is made by arctic but it doesn't seem to say what type it is.

 

[PP Mguire]

Looking at your sig, how exactly did your stock cooler "break"? Your setup doesn't need to be overclocked or you run the risk of blowing your cheap PSU. If by broken you mean the fan on the stock cooler quit or something you can modify a 120mm decent fan to it so you can run your CPU at stock again.

 

[Geoman37]

It was the fan and at the moment I just have the fan from an old heatsink on the stock FX-6300 heatsink.

Is my PSU that cheap? I know it wasn't top of the line, but I didn't think it was cheap either and I am only going for a small overclock:
Cooler Master: Extreme Power Plus 500W

Whilst modding the stock does sound interesting, I would rather just get a new one and be done with it unless it is very easy and effective to do so.

 

[PP Mguire]

Yes, it's cheap. 500w rating is peak so the max I would push through it is about 350w tops. There was another guy here running a more advanced CM PSU that was 650w and a first gen Intel i7 and GTX 570 were making it run hot.

Just for the record, to keep your FX 6300 at load temp of 55c you will need more than just an EVO, especially if you're overclocking.

Modding the stock heatsink is as easy as I said, put a better fan on it. Another member here had success doing so with an 8320 so I would assume the FX6300 would yield better results. The other member put a 120mm fan on it most likely with zip ties or super glue.

 

[Geoman37]

Fair enough might just do that. For future reference though if I was to do a small overclock in the future (again 4.0 ghz) what is the cheapest PSU you would recommend me upgrading to?

 

[PP Mguire]

It won't be cheap to you (judging by the posts) but the Seasonic S1211 520w or at the minimum the Corsair CX600. The CM you have should handle it ok for a while. Your total rig is going to consume between 350 and 400w on an overclocked FX6300 (remember turbo isn't the same as full CPU OC). I just wouldn't run it that long that way.

 

[Geoman37]

Good point. Don't really think that an overclock by 300 mhz is that worth it so I might just keep it on stock with turbo enabled (it isn't at the moment). Thanks!