@zlimness said:
@jjweatherman:
I have the exact same case with a H60 cooler. The case is spacious and easy to work in, so it wasn't a big problem to mount the cooler. But yeah, be careful once you've applied the paste and stick the cooler on the CPU. It will squirm a bit :) but it's a lot easier with the Intel brackets. I had a AMD CPU first and it was much more difficult to get that in place. I also changed the fans to Noctua. The 500R case is open and noisy as it is without the stock Corsair fans. Other than that and some cheap plastic parts, the case has a nice quality feel. It feels future proof as well. You can mount a lot of massive GPUs in there if you remove the storage trays. The storage trays are designed for both 3.5 HDDs and 2.5 SDDs.
Nice.
So you applied your own thermal paste? I know they pre-apply some stuff, and I wouldn't be sure how to safely remove that to put on my own. Seems easier to just use the pre-applied.
As far as the Noctua fans, I didn't know those existed until now. And now I want a couple. I'll try out the stock fans to test the noise level and see if I want to upgrade from there. Fan swaps on a radiator would be simple to do down the line, after all.
Yes I have a tube of paste because I fiddle with CPU fans now and then, and once you've removed the CPU fan, you need to apply some new paste. It's good to change paste now and then as well, since it dries up after a few years. Especially if it's cheap, pre-applied paste.
I assume you're going to order parts and assemble the computer yourself? Then you don't need to remove the paste, because the pre-applied paste is on the stock fan that comes with the CPU. You still need to apply new paste though. I use this. You don't need a special tool for this. An old plastic card is what I use.
If you ever need to remove paste, use some sort of industrial solvent. I use acetone or clean alcohol. Dip a Q-tip and gently rub off the paste.
Removing thermal paste and applying new can seem a bit messy, since it involves liquids on computer parts. But you only use these liquids on metal surfaces, so you won't damage anything.
Noctua make some of the best fans. Quite expensive but definitely worth it. The Corsair fans are OK, but after switching to Noctua, I've become really sensitive to loud fans. And they still do their job of moving a lot of air. Not a priority at this point, but after a while the noise of a gaming PC will probably drive you nuts :)
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