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CustoMac Mini Deluxe 2014, which cooler?

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I tried the stock cooler for a i7-4790S (65W) in a Hadron Air case. It's fine until I run Handbrake all-out, and then the CPU temp gets up to 80 and occasionally 85C. I've ordered a Noctua NH-L9I, because it seemed to be the best regarded of the few no wider than the stock cooler, and on my board (H87N-Wifi) there's only an extra 4-5mm past the stock cooler before you run into the video card. But I won't know how well it works until tomorrow. :)
 
Jeepers
GA-H87N-WIFI |  i7 4790S |  GeForce GT 740
Ah I see. I won't use it as a powerhouse. So perhaps the stock cooler is good enough for me?!

Let me know how your Noctua NH-L9I worked out. :)
 
forrestgumpx said:
There is no cooler listed at http://www.tonymacx86.com/441-building-customac-buyer-s-guide-august-2014.html#mini_deluxe

Which cooler should I buy, which one is affordable and quiet?
Click to expand...

CPU coolers are not on the recommendations because too much depends on the case and the owners ability/desire to overclock and how far he/she pushes it. The heavier the OC, the better the cooler has to be, yes?

So, OEM fan will work for non-OC and daily usage of office apps, mail, web browsing, etc. If you are into gaming heavily and will be taxing the CPU to the limit in your game, you might want to add Coolermaster Hyper 212 or a Noctua NH-12P or a Scythe Ninja. Or you could also go with one of the liquid cooler solutions if the radiator will fit your case.

Do your homework and make sure the mounting supports the motherboard socket and the unit will fit the area around the CPU, clearing the top of the RAM and missing the GPU in the first slot. These problem areas are what makes the difference in your choice of CPU cooler.
 
I'm looking to build this same tower.

What else do I need other than what's listed? Which wireless card will fit on the tower? Does bluetooth work? Thanks.
 
Going Bald said:
CPU coolers are not on the recommendations because too much depends on the case and the owners ability/desire to overclock and how far he/she pushes it. The heavier the OC, the better the cooler has to be, yes?

So, OEM fan will work for non-OC and daily usage of office apps, mail, web browsing, etc. If you are into gaming heavily and will be taxing the CPU to the limit in your game, you might want to add Coolermaster Hyper 212 or a Noctua NH-12P or a Scythe Ninja. Or you could also go with one of the liquid cooler solutions if the radiator will fit your case.

Do your homework and make sure the mounting supports the motherboard socket and the unit will fit the area around the CPU, clearing the top of the RAM and missing the GPU in the first slot. These problem areas are what makes the difference in your choice of CPU cooler.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input, I won't OC.

It's gonna be my emergency system when my iMac goes wrong. So for the time being, it has backup/downloading purposes.
So I believe the stock cooler will work just fine.

My aim is to have a simplistic backup-budget PC and a Hackintosh without any problems, or at least hassle-free as much as possible.
 
OK, the Noctua NH-L9I fit fine and is a small improvement over the stock cooler. It seems to keep the CPU temp under 80C under full handbrake load (whereas with the stock cooler I needed to limit Handbrake to 3 of 4 cores to get the same). I would have been happier with "under 70C" but I think the case and board may be a limiting factor -- the CPU and cooler are wedged up against the video card, which looks like a big wall cutting down on the air flow. I've seen reports of people using other Mini-ITX boards that allow larger 120mm coolers (CPU socket farther from PCIe slot, I guess), but those boards weren't among the recommendations here. :)

So the bottom line is I'm reasonably happy with the Hadron Air case and Noctua NH-L9I cooler on a 65W i7-4790S, but I would hesitate before putting anything hotter in there. For the purposes you've outlined, I'd stay with the stock cooler.

And tlatch89, I replaced the mini-PCI wireless/bluetooth card on the GA-H87N-WiFi board (with one recommended by this thread) and hooked it up to the antennas supplied with the original. WiFi works but I haven't had much luck with Bluetooth so far. That part isn't specific to the case, though.

Last thought: it seems possible to replace the fan on the NH-L9I with a beefier one, but I'm not sure I'm going down that route.
 
Jeepers
GA-H87N-WIFI |  i7 4790S |  GeForce GT 740
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