Use Cryorig's Origami Tester To See If CPU Cooler Fits
Who knew origami would ever make its way into the PC enthusiast community?
Surely you've been in a situation where you wondered "Will this CPU cooler fit?" and surely you went out, bought it, and discovered that it didn't fit. Surely enough, you then also found that your favorite retailer doesn't accept returns of opened packaging, after which you, surely enough, were not amused. Well, the guys from Cryorig have come up with a rather brilliant solution: Origami.
Yep, you read that right; Cryorig published Origami patterns for its most popular CPU coolers that you can print, cut, fold, piece together, and use to check whether that CPU cooler will fit on your motherboard. The design includes a tester base, a simulated fin array, and another piece that mimics the heatpipes.
Of course, it will be a little difficult to test this if you're still in the process of ordering your parts, because you will need to have the motherboard you intend to use on hand. You'll also have to know how to print with the right scale, although that's just a matter of selecting the correct paper type and using the "Actual Size" or "True Size" option in your printer settings. The printable PDFs include a 3-cm and 3-inch scale checking tool, which you can use with a ruler.
Templates are available for the Cryorig R1 Ultimate, R1 Universal, C1, and the H5 Universal.
Follow Niels Broekhuijsen @NBroekhuijsen. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.
-
Christopher1 This is the reason why I am hesitant at the least to order after-market coolers for computers that are OEM. You never know whether they will properly fit until after you have tried it and most companies won't take the things back after they have been opened.Reply
To the people who are asking "When would you need an after-market cooler for an OEM machine!".... when the OEM cooler has failed. As two of them have on my computers in the 20 years since I started with x86 machines. -
c2roth Once again Cyrorig impresses with how well thought out everything the company brings to market and how they bring products to market.Reply -
Lutfij Talk about pushing boundaries. I bet this sort of innovative idea will take ages for other brands to pick up.Reply
Bravo Cryorig! -
bit_user I think the best solution would be to have a database of 3D models for cases & coolers. Maybe a site like PcPartPicker.com could do something like that, but they'd need cooperation from manufacturers or maybe some enthusiastic users to supply the models.Reply
The models needn't be very detailed. At minimum, you'd need the dimensions of the main cavity and mounting position of the motherboard. I don't even know if motherboard standards dictate the CPU location. If not, then you'd need that too.
The benefit would be that you could see how much space there'd be for airflow, and maybe the site could even offer crude airflow simulations if the speeds of the fans are known.