GA-P55M-UD2 CPU Cooling

[ysottot]

I have the P55M-UD2, i7 860, and 8 gig (2x4) Corsair Vengeance RAM.
What would be a good CPU cooling system to overclock with?
Can I liquid cool?  Read that some boards need a cooling system that supplies air to the surrounding
chips.
Case is Cool Master Elite 310

Thanks

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome to the Gigabyte Forum.

All motherboard s need a flow of air around them, to help cool the components. Now you can elect to stay with air only and use heatsinks/fans for the entire cooling system or you can use liquid cooling. Either way though you must still maintain a cooling airflow through the case.

The liquid cooling is much more efficient and generally quieter than air alone. The only downside is that it costs a lot more and is more bother to set up. Liquid cooling systems are not an easy option.

[ysottot]

Thanks for the quick reply.
I've been researching and it seems that the air coolers have come a long way and will most likely work for me.
Any suggestions for what would fit the P55M-UD2 and not have issues with the location of the memory slots or size of the Vengeance RAM sticks?
I don't want to buy something and find it won't fit and have to return it.

Thanks again

[Dark Mantis]

As you quite rightly say the air coolers have evolved a lot over the last few years and there are some cracking ones on the market now. The only downside is the size and weight. The Noctua coolers are some of the best but the bigger ones do overhang the memory slots. I have just fitted a Gigabyte G-Power 2 Pro and that seems like a nice combination. It is large and powerful but doesn't seem to be so intrusive because of the way it's designed.

[forumjoe]

DM's so right, there are some really good coolers on the market now.

I'm not au fait off-hand with the type of CPU socket on a UD2 but on my LGA 1156-based P55-US3L I've used a fanned air cooler known as the Arctic Cooling Freezer that I got from QuietPC.com and it's been simply brilliant. Okay, I never really push my PC, as I'm not into overclocking and suchlike but, if my BIOS is to be believed, my CPU core temperature never gets above 30 degrees C with this cooler. Even feeling the cooler with my hands after the PC's been on for a long time, it's barely warm.

The cooler's an 'air' type, not 'liquid'. Its full name is the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Revn2. It costs about £15. Uses a 90mm fan. If you're canny, you can wind the revs of the fan right down to 900 rpm. (I bypass the fanspeed control in the BIOS and instead use a Fanmate to set the speed). The fan runs very quietly indeed. The multifinned heatsink itself is not so tall as to normally present any problem, width-wise, in fitting it into the PC's case.

[Dark Mantis]

I have today just posted a review of the Gigabyte G-Power 2 Pro cooler with a few pictures so that you can get an idea of the design.

http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,4717.0.html