Is this rear-mounted AIO cooler setup okay, or should I use an air cooler?
Asked by
MellowCedar47
I'm building my first small PC with a Ryzen 5 9600X and an ASRock Phantom Gaming B850 motherboard. It won't have a dedicated graphics card and will mainly be used for office work, replacing an old mini PC. The included MSI liquid cooler only fits at the rear, but part of its radiator and fans are blocked by the motherboard. There isn't enough clearance to mount it on top, aside from possibly using two slim fans. Is this setup acceptable for a low-power office PC, or would a larger case or air cooler be a better choice?
Answers
That’s an awkward position for an AIO, and a Ryzen 5 9600X doesn’t need liquid cooling for this kind of workload. A decent tower air cooler would be simpler, quieter, and less likely to create clearance or pump-related problems.
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It’ll probably work for office use since the system shouldn’t generate much heat, but the radiator placement isn’t ideal and the restricted airflow could still hurt cooling performance. If there’s no room on top, I’d seriously consider switching to an air cooler instead.
MellowCedar47: There’s no usable top clearance with the motherboard installed, so only slim fans might fit there.
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I’d replace the AIO rather than change the whole case. Something like a Peerless Assassin or another reasonably sized air cooler should handle the 9600X easily, and it avoids having a partially blocked radiator in a compact case.
MellowCedar47: I picked up a Peerless Assassin for about $20. That seems much more worthwhile than dealing with the awkward AIO installation.
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MellowCedar47: The AIO came free with the motherboard and processor bundle, but I can use it in another build and buy an air cooler for this one.