CPU Sink/Fan

[azianai]

Right now, im tryin to find a CPU Fan/Sink that'll fit an Asus P5N-E SLI board. I got a E6550 that I wanna try to OC, the issue is the stupid Northbridge on the Asus. Anyone have any suggestions? or should i just replace the northbridge. I would go watercooling, but I dont know exactly how to go about with it, and Microcenter (lol) wants $130 to install the Watercooling into my system. Not counting parts lol

[gvblake22]

Most of the popular tower style CPU heatsinks should fit it. I have a rebranded Noctua U12F and it fits over the reasonably large heatsinks around the socket on my Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6 rev2.

What heatsink were you looking at getting? If you do need to replace the NB heatsink too, something like the Thermalright HR-05 SLI or HR-05/IFX SLI would solve your problem. Heck, you could probably use the non-SLI versions (straight vertical, not to the side) too.
HR-05 and HR-05/IFX

[azianai]

I think you have more clearance room than I do, I'm just lookin for a viable option that doesn't cost an arm and a leg lol, but will offer good cooling and isn't too loud either.

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

thats the board and as u can see, has a ridiculously large northbridge -_-
oh and i've come to realize 2 PCI slots are definitely not enough lol

[Stormcrow]

Watercooling is actually quite simple nowadays, and a standard water block will fit there fine without having to mess with the northbridge sink. Tyreal, Yellow and RAID are three users I name off the top of my head that have set up their own cooling loops, and I'm sure there's others. If you've built your own system it's a breeze compared to that.

For air, this cooler here isn't much larger then the push pin brackets and will probably fit there. I have the AMD version and its a great cooler for the cost:
Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail

[Yellowhello]

Yep, water cooling isn't really that hard... just read up and really plan out your loop before you install anything. And the benefits are great for the time it takes to set it up (not so much the price). Read THIS guide that Tyreal wrote, it will really help you.

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

For air, this cooler here isn't much larger then the push pin brackets and will probably fit there. I have the AMD version and its a great cooler for the cost:
Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail

That's what I was going to suggest too. Might not provide top super good cooling for a high-end quad core overclock, but it will be quiet and cool well near stock speeds on dual core chips. It's a hard cooler to beat for the price!

[[Dr. V]]

Hmm...the Thermaltake V1's design is quite efficient for space saving as the bulk of the space it takes up is on the top. I definitely would steer clear from any of the later ZALMAN heatsinks because of their shear width. The new Ultra 120 series coolers would probably work well. The Scythe KATANA 2 is a good option, too (click here for HL's review on it).

There are quite a few choices you have. The best one is hard to tell, but we're here to help.

[azianai]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

That's what I was going to suggest too. Might not provide top super good cooling for a high-end quad core overclock, but it will be quiet and cool well near stock speeds on dual core chips. It's a hard cooler to beat for the price!

hehe 1st review on newegg says gotta cut the fans to make it fit on the P5N-E SLI

[qazwsx]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

That's what I was going to suggest too. Might not provide top super good cooling for a high-end quad core overclock, but it will be quiet and cool well near stock speeds on dual core chips. It's a hard cooler to beat for the price!

+1 20*c idle and about 32-40 load but then again its been cold lately, very cold.

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by azianai

hehe 1st review on newegg says gotta cut the fans to make it fit on the P5N-E SLI

I would not take all those Newegg reviews for gospel. When he says he needed to "cut off a corner of the fan and blades", that makes no sense because the fan doesn't even hang over the NB cooler unless you try to orient it that way (which is not the best idea). Most people orient the cooler so the fan is next to or on top of the RAM and blows toward the rear of the case (not toward the top). I don't see how mounting this cooling so it blows toward the rear of the case will cause the fan to hit the NB cooler (but I could be wrong). This is actually a fairly modestly sized heatsink compared to most other tower-type solutions.

You could try contacting Puget Computers and see if they have tried the Freezer 7 Pro on a P5N-E SLI. I know they use that cooler on a lot of their systems and have a good track record of replying to inquiries.

EDIT:
After a bit of searching, I did find some other people saying there was a little bit of modding required to fit the Freezer 7 on a P5N-E SLI. Here is an interesting list to check out for compatible heatsinks with the P5N-E SLI...

Compatible CPU Heatsinks (Guranteed fitment with stock NB heatsink, not with aftermarket NB HS!)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro (Requires slight trimming of plastic on NB side of fan, w/ stock P5N-E NB heatsink)
Zalman 9500
Tuniq Tower 120 (Tight fit, be careful of bending/breaking capacitors)
Ultra-90
Ultra-120
Noctua NH-U12
ThermalTake Silent Tower (Fan must be directed up towards the PSU)
Thermalright SI-128