- - Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2
- Xigmatek HDT-S1283
- Radeon HD 5770
- Arctic Cooling Accelero L2 VGA cooler
- Creative X-Fi Platinum card
After placing the heatsinks on the video card, I realized I couldn't insert it into the PCI-e slot because the CPU heatsink/Xigmatek was in the way. I had to remove three of the four heatsinks on the "back" of the card in order to make it fit. I've never used anything aside from stock cooling; is it such a bad thing that my build layout is preventing me from installing heatsinks on the opposite side of three of the chips?
The second issue is tied to the first. The slots on the P55M mobo are, from top to bottom, the faster PCI-e slot, two PCI slots, and the slower PCI-e slot. When I install the 5770 in the top slot, the Accelero L2 completely blocks both PCI slots. I had planned to install my sound card in a PCI slot.
I removed the fan on the Accelero, and the 5770 and sound card just fit:
So the compromise here is a fanless Accelero with missing heatinks, nestled right beside a PCI card on the bottom, and the CPU heatsink on the top.
Would it be silly to stick with this layout, and use the fanless Accelero to cool the 5770 passively? I wasn't planning on OCing the video card; I just wanted it to be as quiet as possible. My gut tells me the fanless Accelero, could be comparable to the stock fan, with less noise. But I also believe in unicorns...
The alternative is to re-install the stock Radeon cooler, but I'm not even sure if it will fit (I suspect it would). Too many options that require compromise. I'm not pleased. Any suggestions?