Cooler help...
In a weird spot right now and looking for advice. I've been building PCs since my first K6-233 and things just get weirder and weirder around here. I'm finally, reluctantly upgrading my i7-7700k due to lack of Windows 10 updates and the current hardware won't support Windows 11.
I went looking at AMD this time around and came to RAM prices and my jaw hit the floor, I reached out to a friend who had some DDR5 lying around so I picked up his kit and checked compatibility of all the components in PCPartPicker and ordered everything. I got a Thermalright PS 120 SE as a decent upgrade to the Hyper 212 that has kept the i7 in check for quite some time. Upon pre-assembling things I noticed that the Corsair Dominator RAM is like a mini skyscraper jutting off of the motherboard!
I can either only install one fan in the center of the PS 120, or try the Hyper 212 on the Ryzen 5 9600x. Will either of those cool sufficiently for that chip? I can't water cool in my current case as it doesn't have sufficient clearance for a top mount radiator and a single 120 radiator at the rear likely wouldn't be enough either. I'm REALLY trying not to buy a new case and radiator.
Posted Apr 5, 2026, 3:09 PM UTC