CPU Coolers
You probably won’t need one of these if you’re going for a prebuilt system, but you definitely will need one of these if you’re building it yourself.
The Thermaltake Gravity i2 will probably be the go-to recommendation considering it can adequately cool most 1155 processors (and it’s really cheap).
If you decide to go for another option, make sure it’ll fit (height). Otherwise you’re going to be really sad.
| Brand | Model (link) | Fan Size | Rated TDP | Other info | Expected Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thermaltake | Gravity i2 | 92mm | 95W | Best value low profile cooler. | $9.00 |
| Cooler Master | i71C | 120mm | 95W | Low profile cooler. RGB LEDs. | $20.00 |
| Cooler Master | Hyper 212 Black Edition | 120mm | 150W | Normal price $35, goes on sale a lot | $25.00 |
| Cooler Master | MasterAir G100M | 92mm | 130W | Low profile cooler. RGB LEDs. | $40.00 |
| Arctic | Freezer 12 | 92mm | 130W | Best value tower cooler. | $20.00 |
| Arctic | Freezer 12 CO | 92mm | 130W | Same as above, but fan doesn’t shut off. | $22.00 |
| Arctic | Freezer 34 | 120mm | 150W | $33.00 | |
| Arctic | Freezer 34 CO | 120mm | 150W | Same as above, but fan doesn’t shut off. | $32.00 |
| Arctic | Freezer 34 eSports | 120mm | 200W | Sometimes cheaper than Freezer 34. Multiple colors. | $35.00 |
| Arctic | Freezer 34 eSports DUO | 120mm | 200W | Same as above but dual fan. Multiple colors. | $38.00 |
| Noctua | NH-L9i | 92mm | ??? | Extremely low profile. Brown. | $40.00 |
Other Parts to Consider
For the internal SAS HBAs and Warp Drive / Flash Accelerator cards, you may need a full height bracket. Good thing is that they are really cheap ($1), bad thing is that they may take a week or two to arrive.
| Type | Item (link) | Expected Price |
|---|---|---|
| SAS HBA | LSI 9201-8i SAS2 (add 8 SATA3/SAS2 ports) | Varies |
| SAS HBA | LSI 9210-8i SAS2 (add 8 SATA3/SAS2 ports) | Varies |
| SAS HBA | LSI 9211-8i SAS2 (add 8 SATA3/SAS2 ports) | Varies |
| External SAS HBA | LSI 9201-16e SAS2 (for DAS expansion) | Varies |
| Cable | 2-pack SAS → SATA breakout cable (for SATA drives) | $12.00 |
| Cable | SAS → SATA/SAS breakout cable (for SATA/SAS drives) | $13.00 |
| Cable | 6-pack SATA cable | $8.00 |
| Cable | 2-pack SATA to 4xSATA power splitter | $12.00 |
| Fans | Arctic P12 PWM PST 120mm 5-pack | $28.00 |
| Fans | Arctic F8 PWM PST 80mm 5-pack | $24.00 |
| Add-on card | 2 port SATA 3 card for boot/cache SSD, max performance, TRIM support | $14.00 |
| Add-on card | 4 port SATA 3 card for boot/cache SSD, max performance, TRIM support | $18.00 |
| Add-on card | 10Gb Mellanox MNPA19-XTR SFP+ | $29.00 |
| Cable | CISCO SFP+ 3M cable for 10Gb Mellanox card | $18.00 |