Minor disaster

The Scythe Ninja cooler I'd bought for this project turns out to be so huge it won't fit in the case. Luckily I hadn't wrecked the box to get it out, or stuck termal paste on the base.

So it's going back for a refund.

Once I knew it wasn't going to fit I measured the space from the top of the processor to the top of the case. Anything over 115mm tall is going to be awfully tight or just plain too big.

After spending hours looking at the alternatives, and there isn't a lot out there under 11.5cm tall (including fan).

The alternatives fall into a couple of categories in my head.

Ones that will take a 120mm fan

There's a thermalright SL-120 which seems to be discontinued everywhere, or the Silverstone NT06. It's basically 3 heatpipes that rise from the base on the cpu core with a bunch of fins stuck on, and a 120mm fan facing down blowing air vertically down through the fans.

It's not as ideal as the ones that blow air horizontally, since the air will no longer be vented straight out the side of the case.

What I really want is a cooler with a nice copper base, and a bunch of heatpipes going to a 120mm radiator that can sit right up against the case fan, kind of like an expanded version of the I.C.E. coolers found on Shuttle cubes (at least they were last time I looked inside one, in about 2003).