Cooling Difference between AMD and Intel clearance height?

[IntoxicatedPuma]

I am using a case which advertises 43mm of clearance for the CPU cooler but am running into issues with a CPU cooler fitting. I am also using the Silverstone AR-05 cpu cooler which is advertised at 37mm clearance. It doesn't fit however.

If the case clearance that is listed is wrong, then the actual clearance would be around 32-35mm (me guessing). The other possibility is the measurement is for Intel, and AMD has different clearance measurements? I am using it on a Gigabyte A88XN-Wifi motherboard. I didn't measure the cooler directly because its hard to reach, but it seems like the case listed dimensions are accurate. Is it possible I am missing something?

 

[confusis]

The CPU heatspreader on Intel and AMD are indeed different. I don't have verniers to hand, but AMD is 8-9mm from PCB to top of heatspreader, Intel 115X is around 4-4.5mm from what I can find.

On top of that, CPU heatsinks are advertised with the height, from the top of the heatspreader.

 

[K888D]

I am using a case which advertises 43mm of clearance for the CPU cooler but am running into issues with a CPU cooler fitting. I am also using the Silverstone AR-05 cpu cooler which is advertised at 37mm clearance. It doesn't fit however.

If the case clearance that is listed is wrong, then the actual clearance would be around 32-35mm (me guessing). The other possibility is the measurement is for Intel, and AMD has different clearance measurements? I am using it on a Gigabyte A88XN-Wifi motherboard. I didn't measure the cooler directly because its hard to reach, but it seems like the case listed dimensions are accurate. Is it possible I am missing something?

I believe the CPU cooler height is measured from the flat CPU surface to the top of the cooler, so it doens't count how far off the motherboard the CPU sits. I could be wrong though!

 

[jeshikat]

I'm not sure on the mainstream sockets but LGA2011 is 8mm from the top of the heatspreader to the motherboard.

 

[iFreilicht]

Intel 115X is around 4-4.5mm from what I can find.

That is not correct. As you can see in the LGA1150 Socket Application Guide, the height is roughly 8mm. Or, to be precise:

Integrated Stackup Height (mm) From Top of Board to Top of IHS: 7.781 ± 0.335 mm;
Note: The integrated stackup height value is a RSS calculation based on current and planned processors thatwill use the ILM design

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

The AMD chip does seem thicker. But this seems to be about 10mm difference between the specs given and what I'm actually seeing.

I'm going to try and get a Gelid Silent-A cooler to go in this case.

 

[K888D]

I did not rate the Gelid Slim Silence cooler at all, I tried to use one with an i7-6700. It was definitely not silent, clearly audible at idle speeds and very audible under moderate usage.

On the plus side it cooled relatively well, is relatively cheap and is very low profile.

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

I think it may be my only choice, it seems anything over 30mm clearance won't fit. I will be using an 120mm slim fan as the only case fan as well. Hopefully it'll be enough to cool the system.

Just curious, what temps did you see on the 6700 and what cooler did you end up using?

 

[iFreilicht]

Don't go with the Gelid, you don't have to! The Zalman CNPS2X is a very capable cooler that is just 27mm tall. If you have a way to measure the internal clearance, though, do that first. The Scythe Kodati is 34mm tall, so maybe it could just fit. Wouldn't even matter if it touched the sidepanel as the fan is on the bottom, so turbulence won't be a problem.

 

[K888D]

Just curious, what temps did you see on the 6700 and what cooler did you end up using?

I posted a review of the cooler on this page:

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/gelid-solutions-slim-silence-iplus-low-profile-intel-cpu-cooler

It idled at around 33C in a 21C room, it was used in the new InWin Chopin case (which is a great case by the way), it has a meshed top panel that the CPU pulls cold air through.

I'm not sure what load temps it got, but I don't think it was high, I didn't do too much testing because straight away it wasn't suitable from the fan noise.

The Intel Gelid Slim cooler is a slightly different shape to the AMD version, but I would expect them to be similar performance.

In the end I replaced it with a Noctua NH-L9i. The build was for a customer that wanted a small and Silent i7 computer, I selected the Gelid due to its 'silence' name and 15db noise claim. But in the end I had to resort to the more expensive Noctua cooler to achieve it (which also had slighty lower temps too at around half the rpm).

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

The kozuti is really difficult to find here and the zalman is about $80. Strangely I had a zalman on the PC I brought with me here, it's now sitting in my dad's computer, but in the US.

Temps on the Gelid seem OK but a bit high of an idle. Since you were using an i7 I think on the AMD it should be fine.

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

You were right...the Gelid is really loud