dark rock pro 3 and msi z87i gaming

Soldato
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13 Mar 2004
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16,649
OK so measured this up off the board. Haven't removed my water cooler yet. Straight away it appears there may be clearance issues with the graphics card in the pci slot. Has anyone had any experience with this kinda set up and can advise on whether it fits before I remove my old aio?
 
Soldato
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My bet is it won't fit with GPU inserted.

Boards with low socket positioning like the Z87i Gaming (the Z97i Gaming corrected this) only fit heatsink/fans of 120mm max width. One of the fans in the Pro 3 is 135mm although perhaps that could be shifted away from the GPU a bit. However, the heatsink itself looks to exceed 120mm width from looking at pics (its edges stick out beyond the frame of the 120mm fan).
 
Soldato
OP
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How annoying. I don't think it will fit but I really like this cooler and as such want it to go into my machine. I may just try stick it on after work today despite this belief! Why does MSI have to put sockets in such silly positions?
 
Soldato
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How annoying. I don't think it will fit but I really like this cooler and as such want it to go into my machine. I may just try stick it on after work today despite this belief! Why does MSI have to put sockets in such silly positions?

Yeah, it's a great looking cooler.

Some people have successfully snipped part of the heatsink fins when room has been needed. Safe to do as long as you don't cut the actual heatpipes. Will void warranty of course (not that huge a deal for a heatsink).

As for your question, I wondered that myself a couple years ago and searched for an answer. The answer I found was that it was in order to move the wifi mini-card up to prevent issues with GPU heat affecting it (apparently this issue affected various brands and models). So they sacrificed cooler size to protect the wifi mini-card. Don't take my answer as relaying official statement from MSI - just comments I read from others by way of possible explanation.
 
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