How tall do you think a MOSFET heatsink can be before it gets in the way? (P55)

XacTactX

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So this is my current motherboard, a Gigabyte P55M-UD2.

I would really like to experiment with overclocking my i5 750, but I already burned my motherboard one time when I tried 3.6 GHz. I know what I have to do: get some MOSFET heatsinks.

Look at the chips that are boxed in RED
. I need to cool these.



Now my question is, how tall do you think MOSFET heatsinks can be before they start having major compatibility problems with common heatsinks? Maybe 10mm or 20mm, somewhere around there?
 
Using a 212+, I have ~35mm clearance from the lowest part of the fans to the board, could adjust the fan mounts for a couple more mm.

It clears the stock Asus vrm heatsinks easily and they are ~ 30mm at the tallest point from the board surface.
 
I would really like to experiment with overclocking my i5 750, but I already burned my motherboard one time when I tried 3.6 GHz. I know what I have to do: get some MOSFET heatsinks.

Possibly stupid questions, because I don't know that particular motherboard.
  • Does the board come with heatsinks?
  • If you ran the board at stock, would you need heatsinks on the MOSFETs?
  • What brand/model of MOSFET heatsink are you considering?
 
i own a Noctua NH-D14 and if i remember correctly, there is a wide enough gap for the mosfet heatsink on my motherboard Z68A GD65 G3.

i think any heatsink would be fine as long as is is not very wide
 
What's the power rating of the voltage regulator module? I couldn't find any approved CPUs rated above 95W, and an i5 750 @ 3.6 GHz will draw about 125W. What caused the burnout when you tried 3.6 GHz? Cooling isn't always the solution to preventing MOSFET burnout.

I measured 12mm clearance with an Intel factory heatsink, but I'd be surprised if even 30mm didn't clear any heatsink containing heat pipes because that's the height of standard DIMMs. OTOH you'll get very little benefit from MOSFET heatsinks taller than 12mm. OTOH copper heatsinks should be about twice as good as aluminum ones of the same shape and size, and silicone rubber sealer works just as well as thermal epoxy but makes it easier to remove the heatsinks because a razor can slice through the rubber.
 
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