Cooling Best Low-Profile CPU Cooler on the Market?

[Kmpkt]

Makes me wonder if you could just slap a fan on top of something like the K129 from Dyntron as it is just a whopping slab of copper and get good thermals

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W04RE1131

 

[lordzahl]

Dan has tested it, there's a comparison chart on the previous page.

I have the LP53 and I'd like to warn everyone that it may not be compatible with all motherboards, specifically the Asus Z170I and the Z270I models. They have VRM circuits both over the CPU socket and to the left of it.
I have the Asus Z170I and no matter how I turn the cooler, some of the heatpipes are pushing against a VRM heatsink. The only way to use the LP53 with it is to remove one of the RAM DIMMs and turn the tips of the heatpipes towards the DIMM area. This basically makes it a bad choice for this MB unless you're into modding (which I haven't experimented with).
So if you want to use the LP53 / ITX30, you'll need a motherboard that has just one group of VRM components, preferably at the top of the MB, leaving the space between the CPU socket and the rear IO area empty (like the MSI Z170I/Z270I for example, though I haven't tested them myself).

Thanks for your post! I also have the Asus Z170I Pro Gaming. Seems like i better don't get the LP53. But this has to be really close if you point the heatpipes towards the RAM?

Well LP53 + NF-A9x14PWM certainly blows NH-L9i out of the water

https://hardforum.com/threads/thermolab-cooltek-lp53-review.1923635/

Here it works just fine with Gigabyte GA-Z97N-WIFI
The Asus does not look that much different (in the direction of the RAM)?

Too bad, has to be very close..

 

[lordzahl]

Makes me wonder if you could just slap a fan on top of something like the K129 from Dyntron as it is just a whopping slab of copper and get good thermals

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W04RE1131

I also thought about that. You might find this interesting: https://www.computerbase.de/forum/showthread.php?t=1279570&p=19069030#post19069030

 

[Zerofool]

Thanks for your post! I also have the Asus Z170I Pro Gaming. Seems like i better don't get the LP53. But this has to be really close if you point the heatpipes towards the RAM?

Sure, you're welcome, I was surprised that nobody tested this combo before (or at least I couldn't find any mentioning of it).
To answer your question - no, it's not close, we are talking about 2 mm or so. Below I'll explain why.

Here it works just fine with Gigabyte GA-Z97N-WIFI
The Asus does not look that much different (in the direction of the RAM)?

Too bad, has to be very close..

The whole problem with Asus Z170I (and Z270I ?) comes from the VRM heatsinks.
The orientation of the cooler on the quoted Gigabyte mobo is the ideal one:

The bent parts of the heatpipes are facing the RAM slots, while the tips of the heatpipes are facing the mobo IO area.
The cooler itself is not symmetrical, the side where the tips of the heatpipe are located is a few mm longer (because of the tips themselves).
You can't put the LP53 on the Asus Z170I (and Z270I ?) in the orientation pictured above because the tips of the heapipes are hitting the VRM heatsink opposite to the RAM slots. You can rotate the cooler 180' and then the bent part of the heatpipes doesn't conflict with the VRM heatsink, but the heatpipe tips on the other side are conflicting with the nearest RAM DIMM. Rotating it 90' or 270' is conflicting with the other VRM heatsink - either the flat part of it (when the bent parts of the heatpipes are facing it) or the slanted part (when the hp tips are facing it, particularly the right hp tip, the left one is unobstructed).

The reason why the Gigabyte board is OK is that it just doesn't have any VRM heatsinks.
I was thinking of removing one of the heatsinks on the Asus Z170I, but I noticed a warning in the manual that the VRM elements are designed to work only with heatsink, removing it might damage them. I guess one could drill just a bit into the heatsink so that the hp tip could fit, but it's too much trouble I guess. It is to me anyway.

 

[danger]

I guess I have to buy LP53s for my Sentry and A4.

 

[|||]

BONUS!

 

[Phuncz]

@Josh | NFC you really make very interesting and compelling vids.

 

[lordzahl]

Not sure if this applies to this thread or not, but since we're on the subject of CPU coolers... Silverstone released their AR10 series. Saw it a couple weeks ago and finally saw one pop up on Ebay. Non-server low profile tower-type, 70mm fan, 80mm height.

Hopefully they will release an 80mm/92mm fan version. Those are what I want to see. I wonder how they stack up against something like the NH-L9x65.

Has anybody tried any cooler which has a similar airflow like this one? All low profile coolers e.g. <2u (~60mm) are in the top-blower regime. My Coolermaster CM 260 case has intake vents on both sides of the case, so i wonder, if an airflow parallel to the mainboard would make sense. If the case is than put upright, one would have also naturally chimney like airflow.
So the idea is: put something similar to the k129 (better even something tower-like, but only max. 55mm high, the more effective cooling area, the better) on the cpu, and have 60mm case fans blow air like a chimney trough the complete case.

Probably nobody does this, because a tower like cooler like in the quote of a maximum height ~ 55m would only support a 40mm fan. And nobody wants that (and also the cooling ability would be limited)

edit: candidates would be the
Raijintek Pallas
http://www.raijintek.com/de/products_detail.php?ProductID=9

or Noctua NH-l9x65
http://noctua.at/de/nh-l9x65

which are 55mm (Raijintek), 51mm (Noctua) high, without the top fan. Does anybody know how they perform passively with a 65W TDP cpu? That would help, deciding if this is feasible.

 

[jeshikat]

Probably nobody does this, because a tower like cooler like in the quote of a maximum height ~ 55m would only support a 40mm fan. And nobody wants that (and also the cooling ability would be limited)

I've had to use the Dynatron mini-tower cooler that comes with the ASRock X99E-ITX/ac and it's horrible.

 

[zovc]

Well LP53 + NF-A9x14PWM certainly blows NH-L9i out of the water

https://hardforum.com/threads/thermolab-cooltek-lp53-review.1923635/

Wow. The power of copper, huh?

 

[GreatestUnKnown]

Wow. The power of copper, huh?

And a proper vapor chamber...

 

[Kmpkt]

Anyone have an informed opinion on painting the LP53, what kind of paint to use, and what kind of thermal effects it would have?

 

[zovc]

Anyone have an informed opinion on painting the LP53, what kind of paint to use, and what kind of thermal effects it would have?

I've only heard this anecdotally, but supposedly painting your fans can affect the weight/balance/texture of your fans if you don't do a very precise job. No idea how significant of an effect that would actually have, but considering different fans have pretty drastically different performance it actually makes sense to me that it would make a difference.

 

[Kmpkt]

I don't want to paint the fan, I want to paint the heatsink.

 

[GreatestUnKnown]

I don't want to paint the fan, I want to paint the heatsink.

Would anodizing or plating be possible vs. painting?

 

[Kmpkt]

I'm not sure, but I'll contact the anodizer in Vancouver and ask. I reckon a gunmetal anodized copper heatsink with a redux fan would look uh-mazing.

 

[Curiosity]

I think you could successfully get it plated, painting it might negate any of the benefits the copper gives you.

 

[zovc]

I'm not sure, but I'll contact the anodizer in Vancouver and ask. I reckon a gunmetal anodized copper heatsink with a redux fan would look uh-mazing.

I could be mistaken--I'm not sure I ever looked into colors copper could be anodized to--but I don't think 'gunmetal' is a color you can anodize metal to.

 

[Rysen]

Not sure if someone mentioned it already but dondan is working on a new cpu cooler under 48mm

 

[MarcParis]

Good to know. But i fear about ram height compatibility