Which cpu cooler for Z87N-WIFI?

[DrG]

Hello.

I've just gotten myself a Z87N-WIFI, together with a i5-4670K. Seeing I wanted to do a mild to moderate overclock I got myself the Hyper 212 EVO, which, in theory, should allow me to do so. However, it doesn't. I can easily get up to 4GHz on all four cores without voltage adjustments, and that gets me into the mid-60s Celcius. For even another 100Mhz I need a voltage adjustment, and the temps suddenly go all the way up to 100, causing the CPU to downclock itself.

Thing is, the heatsink feels cold. So, I did the first thing everyone should try here, and did it all again, taking great care. Exactly the same issue. The cpu cooler appears to make good contact, but now I'm wondering whether there's anything in the way that may keep it from pressing down on the CPU hard enough. I'm no longer sure this was a good cpu cooler to use for this board.

So, what are my alternatives?

For simplicity, I'd really like to stick to air. Is there any decent cpu cooler anyone can confirm fits nicely on that board (it is not allowed to block the PCI-E lane, RAM is less of an issue as mine are very low profile), and does a decent job cooling the cpu even under a moderate overclock?

Any help with this is appreciated!

Edit: I'm not sure anymore this was the right place for this thread, if it isn't, please move it to its appropriate place. Thank You!

[ysw]

you may try to down your vcore to check.
if the auto vcore is 1.3V, you may try 1.29V to see if stable.
if stable, you can set it to 1.28v, 1.27V..., to check and make sure the system is stable.
high vcore will make cpu temp to go up easily.

[DrG]

you may try to down your vcore to check.
if the auto vcore is 1.3V, you may try 1.29V to see if stable.
if stable, you can set it to 1.28v, 1.27V..., to check and make sure the system is stable.
high vcore will make cpu temp to go up easily.

Thanks for trying to help, but vcore isn't really my issue. I don't want to get a higher overclock with the current setup, I want to fix the issue with there not being enough heat transferred from the cpu to the cpu cooler. Even though the CPU temps hit max, the heatsink remains cold to the touch. Irrespective of the high temperatures, and my CPU being forced to downclock itself, my system remains rock-solid. It didn't miss a single beat in any torture test yet, regardless of temps.

[DrG]

you may try to down your vcore to check.
if the auto vcore is 1.3V, you may try 1.29V to see if stable.
if stable, you can set it to 1.28v, 1.27V..., to check and make sure the system is stable.
high vcore will make cpu temp to go up easily.

Played around with the vcore, just to see how much I could get out of the processor while still staying under 80 degrees celsius (that was my upper limit). Managed to get 4.3GHz on all four cores. To get it stable at 4.4GHz I had to run it over 80 degrees, which was out of the question. Still didn't think the cooler was sitting properly, so was looking into alternatives. I was actually considering liquid, in particular the Corsair H60, but I can confirm that it does not fit on that board. I finally found a cooler that did fit, quite nicely actually, not blocking the pci-e lane, and even leaving enough room for at least standard height ram, the Zalman CNPS9900. Currently running it at the same settings as before, 4.3GHz on all cores, and the temperature barely makes it over 60. Going to stick with that one now. Figured I'd report back, in case someone else runs into the same issues I did, and is looking for a at least halfway decent cooling solution for the Z87N-WIFI.