| Thermalright IFX-14 CPU and Back-side Heatpipe Cooler
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Additional Notes:
I did have a chance to test the Thermalright IFX-14 with and without the back-side cooler and on the test bench there was only a marginal difference in performance. I do however believe the back side cooler would be beneficial in an enclosed environment where temperatures are much higher and air flow is more restricted. This benefit could be further improved with the addition of an optional 80mm fan to the back-side cooler. Unfortunately I was unable to test this theory because it wouldn't fit in my Antec 900 case due to space restrictions. I was able to mount the IFX-14 sans back side cooler to my Asus P5K Premium in my Antec 900 case, but the height of the cooler required a small modification to the case's side panel.
I had to cut two plastic fan holders off the acrylic side panel. The images below show a before and after of the modification.
 
There was another issue with the back-side cooler arrangement that I found more troublesome. The back-side cooler's heatpipe routing, and the required orientation of the back plate, puts it in contact with several pins on the bottom of the Abit IP35-E motherboard used during testing. Thermalright does place a rather durable plastic material on the cooler's heatpipes and the back plate to prevent any electrical shorts, but given the frequency with which I swap RAM, CPUs, and other hardware, I still worry about its longevity. In their defense, this isn't completely Thermalright's problem, it's also related to how our motherboards are designed and built. Rotating the back plate 90 degrees solves the issue, but also negates the ability to mount the back side cooler.
This problem could probably be resolved by trimming the extended pins closer to the pcb, but I didn't attempt this and just trusted the plastic protective film would do its job. It did.
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