Safe to travel with 1060g CPU Air Cooler/Tempered Glass?

[chaosphoenix440]

Can I travel by car with a 1060 g air cooler, or will it break my motherboard? Also, would there be any problems with tempered glass during car travel?

I was going to put my computer in the case box with padding and secure it so it won't move around.
I am mostly traveling highway, and the trip will take about an hour each time.
Basically, I want to bring my computer home from college on the weekends.

Otherwise, I will need to go with an AIO cooler, but I have heard that the pumps fail after a couple of years, and they are apparently a lot noisier. Also, I haven't really found one that I like and is reasonably quiet(suggestions?).

I don't want to remove the cooler each time because not only would it be time consuming, but it would probably cost me a huge sum of money because I would need to reapply thermal paste twice each weekend.
Also, once a part is secured, I would rather not mess with it for fear of breaking something.

Btw, my motherboard is an ASUS Maximus X Hero. I was hoping that the reinforced PCI slot would be enough to secure my video card (ASUS Strix 1080 ti OC).

 

[Fallen Kell]

You didn't mention which cooler you are using as the mounting can make a difference. But if you lay the case down such that the heat sink is essentially sitting on top of the board, you will probably be fine.

 

[chaosphoenix440]

You didn't mention which cooler you are using as the mounting can make a difference. But if you lay the case down such that the heat sink is essentially sitting on top of the board, you will probably be fine.

Thermalright Le Grande Macho RT was the cooler I was looking at.

I would be alright getting an AIO cooler because I heard that they are better for transport, but I hear that they are loud. That being said, I am not so sure that the noise benchmarks online are all that fair towards them. Don't the AIO fans replace the front case fans? So an Air Cooler would have 1 or 2 fans on it + 2 fans in the front of the case, and an AIO would have 2 fans on it but also a pump making noise.

So air would be 3-4 fans(1-2 on it plus the 2 in the front), and AIO would only have 2 fans plus a pump. So, I have a hard time seeing how the AIO is louder unless the pumps are extremely loud themselves or if the fans on the AIOs are just loud.

I am wondering if AIO coolers get bad noise benchmarks because of the fans that they use. Because I'm alright putting different fans on if that is the case.

 

[UsandThem]

Water cooling will never be as quiet as a good quality air cooler, because of the fans pushing/pulling through the radiator. Plus, if you put that at the front of your PC, you will be pushing the hot air across all your components. I see most people prefer to use their rad as an exhaust on the top of their PC.

I've never installed the Macho, but I do know Noctua has an excellent mounting system, that would be fine to be transported in a car. With heavy cooler, you just don't to ship them with it installed, because UPS/Fedex/USPS aren't known for always carefully handling or moving packages, and a drop could be very bad.

 

[chaosphoenix440]

Water cooling will never be as quiet as a good quality air cooler, because of the fans pushing/pulling through the radiator. Plus, if you put that at the front of your PC, you will be pushing the hot air across all your components. I see most people prefer to use their rad as an exhaust on the top of their PC.

I've never installed the Macho, but I do know Noctua has an excellent mounting system, that would be fine to be transported in a car. With heavy cooler, you just don't to ship them with it installed, because UPS/Fedex/USPS aren't known for always carefully handling or moving packages, and a drop could be very bad.

Ok, that makes sense why it would be louder. Thanks. I have the NZXT s340 elite case and I have seen some benchmarks on Youtube for both the radiator in the front and on top, and it seemed that the temperatures were lower when it was installed in the front for whatever reason.

The Noctua D15 probably won't fit in my case, so that's why I was considering the Macho.

I really only need my computer to be quiet at idle.

 

[UsandThem]

Noctua makes more coolers than the D15. For example, I own a NH-U12S and NH-U14S. Both are silent and not as big or heavy as the monster D15.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I also am using a Le Grand Macho -- let's call it the (TR) LGM. Without any mounted fan, it weighs in at approximately 900 grams. Most 120 and 140 mm fans should weigh in at approximately 7 oz, and adds to the torque with potential to damage the motherboard if the computer gets thrown around. It shouldn't be a lot of trouble to remove the fan(s) for travel. And the LGM is not really made for two fans. You can buy a TR rubber accordion duct which fits the back of the LGM and mates up with the case rear exhaust fan. Once installed, the duct should help stabilize the cooler mounted to the board.

For travel, I'd suggest laying the computer down flat on its right side. If you want to put cardboard stabilizers in the system to further keep the cooler from torque-ing the motherboard, I suppose that would also help.

I just wouldn't suggest carrying the computer in the back of your 4WD SUV as you travel up Goler Wash toward the Manson family hide-out in Death Valley. You'd even have to be careful with the SUV, for fear of damaging the oil pan.