What HSF Will Fit in Rosewill Legacy QT01-B?

GNTSquid · 24 May 2015

I built my computer back in November, originally the stock HSF that came with my intel i7 4790 did the job. But lately i've been pushing the computer more with the Witcher 3, and intel ETU says my CPU temps have been hovering in the 70c to 80c temps. From what I understand thats acceptable but i'd be more comfortable if the processor stayed cooler.

I have a Rosewill Legacy QT01-B case, its not a large gaming case so there's isn't loads of room in there. What im wondering is if its possible to fit a good after market HSF in there? The case says the CPU cooler can't be taller than 160mm. Doing some research I see this Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO is a very popular HSF. It says its height is 158mm...I get that this is under 160mm but just how tight is that fit going to be and is it worth it? Is there a shorter HSF that would work? Is it worth getting if there's just 2mm to spare, from the sound of it that Hyper 212 is going to be right up against the side panel of the case.

Forgot to add the RAM because I was reading that can sometimes interfere with the HSF fitting. Its Kingston HyperX Fury 8GB and its all on an MSI z97 Gaming 7 mobo

ignatzatsonic · 24 May 2015

In my experience, the quoted figures for cooler height and max cooler height acceptable are accurate.

If accurate, the 2 mm difference would not be an issue. That's nearly 1/10 of an inch. Close but not too close.

Of course, there is some chance the quoted figures are simply inaccurate. I have no way of knowing as I don't use that case or that cooler. You might Google to see if you can find someone who has successfully used that case/cooler combination.

The RAM appears to be quite low profile and I wouldn't expect it to be an issue.

The Cooler Master is generally regarded as an excellent choice if your budget won't allow a more expensive cooler. A lot of bang for the buck.

If you spent a little more, you could get a bit better cooling (maybe 5 degrees) than the Cooler Master, but I wouldn't think that would be a requirement in your circumstances. You won't be overclocking much if at all and don't need an exceptional cooler---just something noticeably better than the stock cooler.

There are coolers that would likely improve your cooling by more than 5 degrees, but they tend to be too tall to fit in your case (160 mm and above) or they are much bulkier and heavier dual towers. Or they are a lot more expensive.

There are a few "down-blowing" relatively short coolers that are at least as good as the Cooler Master and would fit in any case, but they tend to be more expensive.

One I would recommend: Scythe Big Shuriken 2 revision B. It's a downblower, less than 70 mm tall, quiet, and high quality. It can be found for maybe $45. It cools about as well as the Cooler Master in its standard form as shipped. It comes with a thin Scythe 120 mm PWM fan. If you replace that fan with a standard 25 mm height fan, it would cool even better. It's just an alternative if you are concerned about height and don't mind the price.

Note: do NOT get the ordinary Big Shuriken, which doesn't cool nearly as well and is hell to mount. Make sure it's the Big Shuriken 2 revision B.

Another possibility is the Noctua NH-L12, another downblower. It comes with very quiet and high quality PWM fans: 92mm and 120 mm. You can use one fan or both. It's 93 mm tall with both fans. Cools nearly as well as the Cooler Master, but is over $60.

I'd say the Cooler Master should be an OK choice in your circumstances.

GNTSquid · 24 May 2015

Thanks, those all looks like promising options then. With the downblower fans does that just mean they blow straight out from the processor as opposed to blowing to the back of the case? Is there a disadvantage to having a downblower fan, do they not circulate air as well? Does it matter if hot air is floating around inside the case? I have very little experience with cooling so this is all new to me and something I didn't even realized needed so much consideration.

ignatzatsonic · 24 May 2015

GNTSquid said:

Thanks, those all looks like promising options then. With the downblower fans does that just mean they blow straight out from the processor as opposed to blowing to the back of the case? Is there a disadvantage to having a downblower fan, do they not circulate air as well? Does it matter if hot air is floating around inside the case? I have very little experience with cooling so this is all new to me and something I didn't even realized needed so much consideration.

Downblowing means they blow down directly onto the processor and motherboard, rather than to the back of the case. Of course, they create a general turbulence around the area, which is good--the hot air isn't going to be stationary. Your power supply fan should be helping to move air out as well.

You should definitely have an exhaust fan that will pull hot air out of the case. Ideally 120 mm or larger

And, preferably, you should have an intake fan on the front side that sucks air into the case. Ideally 120 mm or larger.

Regardless of the cooler style, you want some front to rear airflow. That's why you need exhaust and preferably intake as well.

Downblowers don't blow directly to the rear. But the exhaust and intake compensate for that. They have an advantage of helping to cool motherboard components.

In reality, either style will work, assuming you have a tolerably good case, at least an exhaust fan, and aren't trying to break world records for over-clocking.

I like downblowers because they aren't bulky and heavy and tend to be high quality units with quiet fans.

Most people would probably go with a tower style UNLESS they had height problems, if for no other reason than towers are traditional, plentiful, and can be cheap.

You have to decide how much noise bothers you. The Cooler Master fan isn't particularly quiet, but maybe you don't care. It can be replaced if it does bother you.

Scythe and Noctua are known for high quality and quiet fans, but any fan will start to become audible at 1000 rpm, particularly if it's a case fan mounted near the outside of the case or if you have a case that has a lot of openings or mesh that lets noise sneak out.

Here's pix of the Big Shuriken 2 B and the Noctua NH-L12. The first one is the Noctua, with 2 fans.

GNTSquid · 24 May 2015

That makes more sense, I was thinking the downblower fan was sucking air away from the processor, not blowing on it.
I do have two intake fans on the front of the case and one exhaust fan at the rear all of which are at least 120mm, plus the power supply fan.
Noise isn't a huge concern for me, just as long as it doesn't sound like a jumbo jet. It seems like the downblower coolers would be a good option then if anything just to save space.

ignatzatsonic · 24 May 2015

I've heard that Witcher can be intensive and demanding, so I'm not surprised by the heat.

And the 4790 is known to be be on the warm side compared to other Intel i5 and i7 processors.

Good things about the Shuriken 2 B: $20 cheaper than the Noctua L12, very low profile, fan can be replaced by standard 25 mm height fan if necessary and it would still be pretty low profile. Stock fan known to be quiet and could be used for other purposes if replaced. Includes thermal paste. Lighter than the Noctua.

Good things about the Noctua: includes thermal paste, PWM splitter cable, 2 low noise adapters that will let the fans run even slower if desired, 2 very quiet PWM fans, and very easy mounting system. Can be used with one fan or both fans. More easily found than the Big Shuriken 2 B. The fans alone are about $20 each, so if you only use one fan on the cooler, you've got a spare PWM fan to use elsewhere.

They are very close in noise level, both a lot quieter than the stock Intel.

Their cooling performance would be pretty close to each other and both would be considerably better than the stock Intel cooler. Thermal paste from each is good.

If you are the type that wants to drive temps as low as possible regardless of cost or weight, you probably wouldn't be happy because a heavy dual tower would result in somewhat lower temps.

GNTSquid · 25 May 2015

Witcher has definitely been demanding at times, at other times when not so much is happening on screen its been good. It still keeps the case nice and toasty though. Then my video card fan likes to whine when its its under stress as well, but from i've read its can take temps up to 98c and be ok and it hasn't gotten too close to that. Its tolerable.

Now I did some reading on this PWM fan and i'm still not sure what it means or what its advantages are. It looks like its just a cable with 3 tails that'd serve to just take up more room. I've also read about the difficulty of the Shuriken installation, I don't know if you have any hands on experience with that? Overall though it sounds like either HSF is going to come down to personal preference.

ignatzatsonic · 25 May 2015

GNTSquid said:

Now I did some reading on this PWM fan and i'm still not sure what it means or what its advantages are. It looks like its just a cable with 3 tails that'd serve to just take up more room. I've also read about the difficulty of the Shuriken installation, I don't know if you have any hands on experience with that? Overall though it sounds like either HSF is going to come down to personal preference.

Shuriken mounting: the standard Big Shuriken is very difficult to mount. The Big Shuriken 2 B much much less so. There's a video on youtube of Big Shuriken 2 B installation. I do have personal experience with installing the standard Big Shuriken. It was a bitch because it used the standard Intel-type push pins. The cooler was so close to the pins (overhanging them( that it was almost impossible to wedge your fingers in there and put enough down pressure on the push pins to make them lock in. The 2 B model does not use push pins. It uses a bolt through blackplate. Noctuas have the easiest mounting of all, also using a backplate.

Yeah, coolers have a degree of personal preference. If you aren't doing a heavy duty overclock and don't much care about noise, it comes down to price, whether they will fit, and the mounting issues.

PWM fans have 4 pins and have to be connected to a 4 pin header on the motherboard if you want to take advantage of the PWM capability. You can connect them to a standard 3 pin header, but in that case they would run at a fixed speed (unless modified in the BIOS). The advantage of PWM fans is that they will ramp up in speed as the load/heat level rises, automatically and they can spin at very low rpm. If you are idling, as most PCs are most of the time, a good PWM fan might spin at only 300 or 400 rpm, which you would not hear at all.

If you don't care about noise levels, you may as well get fixed speed fans or connect PWM fans to 3 pin headers.

Your BIOS likely has some type of fan control as well that would apply to both 3 pin standard fans and 4 pin PWM fans.

The Noctua coolers come with a PWM splitter, so you can run 2 PWM fans off of a single PWM header, such as the CPU fan connector. Maybe your motherboard has 3 or 4 PWM headers, I don't know.