Cpu cooler for htpc case?

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1

I have a Silverstone htpc I wanna throw an old qx6950 in, but the clearance isn't great and no aio liquid support either. My height clearance amounts to an 80mm fan above the motherboard io, and then the top of the case. What would be my best air cooler option that'll net me a mediocre overclock and still fit?

2

what mobo?

3

And what case?

4

not knowing all the info, i would look at this https://pcpartpicker.com/product/fhqbt6/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhl9x65
65 mm tall

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47mm tall, will fit basically in any case/motherboard combo.

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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185174

I have that one, and it gets the job done.

7

I have no idea what case it is. I know it's big, black, horizontal and with a door on the front covering the front io. The board is an evga 680I sli

8

Will those lp coolers be enough for my chip at say 3.7?

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The best bet is probably snowBlind's solution. The coolers Fred and I both linked do not support Socket 775, so the one Snow linked is the only one that will actually mount to your motherboard.

I'm fairly skeptical that you would be able to do any overclocking on that cpu with any of the aformentioned coolers. The QX6950 is a power hungry part, with a 130 watt stock TDP. I have doubts with any of these coolers being able to really cool the QX well at stock tbh.

10

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/9FGj4D/be-quiet-cpu-cooler-bk002
this and add a noctua 140mm
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Mb4gXL/noctua-case-fan-nff12industrialppc3000pwm

your new fan will move about twice as fast at max speed and move 20% more air at 6.1x pressure.

it not THE best air cooler but its close to the best you can get on 775 with your restrictions. cost wise it makes more sense to invest in a better cpu and spend less on a cooler but with 775 you are probably getting the best or close to the best cpu available for cheap.

now at 3k rpm that fan will not be quiet, but it'll be cool. it can run at 700rpm at which point you wont be able to hear it or will barely be able to, but it wont cool as effectively. your motherboard may or may not have software in the uefi that can control the fan speed based on temps. if not you can download quite a few different ones for free.

11

I know about fan speeds and whatnot, and I know it's an old chip, I have plenty better but this is just my fun toy that I've had for years and finally wanna see it live. Temps I'm aiming for sub 60c to 65c gaming load. It just seems to me that the coolers I've seen go from towers that are slightly too tall to skimpy little bastards that couldn't cool an ice cube. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places. I'll post a pic or 2 of the case in a few

12

ok well i guess my phone's camera is too good for this site... idk how to photo edit at all, or resize or any of that on android, so poop.