NH-D14 compatibility/clearance check

bremen1874

bremen1874

bremen1874

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My current system consists of:

Corsair 550D
Gigabyte Z77-D3H
Intel 3570K
4 x 4GB standard height (30mm) RAM

I was going to install a Thermalright True Spirit 140, but then found that it blocked the first PCIe slot. Unfortunately this is the only place I can install my sound card.

I’m now considering getting a Noctua HN-D14 and don’t want to hit the same problem. I’ve checked as best I can that it’ll fit, but does anyone know any better?

Noctua's compatibility list doesn’t mention any issues, and according to the published specs it’s 15mm narrower than the True Spirit, so hopefully it’ll be okay.

Thanks
 
Cooler size comparison
K2 . = . 140x128x158mm 146x154x160mm w/fans (WidthxDepthxHeight looking from front of case with motherboard laying flat)
D14 = . 140x130x160mm 140x158x160mm w/fans
TC14 = 140x134x160mm 140x159x171mm w/fans
SA . = . 147x123x160mm 151x149x160mm w/Fans
SB-E. = 155x105x164mm 170x130x170mm w/fans
Extreme 155x105x164mm 155x130x165mm w/fans Reason it's smaller is 140mm fan vs 150mm fan.

From Thermalright website:
True Spirit 140
Length 155mm x Width 53mm x Height 170mm God only knows where they stand to get their length/width/height.
Obviously the 155 is width of cooler if you are standing in front of case laying on bench.
Obviously the 55mm is thickness of cooler.. depth as you stand in front of case laying on bench.

So
155x53x170mm
No mention of with or without fan.
TY-140/141/143 fans are not 160x140x26.5mm They are 151x141x26.5mm

I got a rep to fix it on the Silver Arrow SB-E Extreme measurements, but for some reason the don't think other fans same size should show same old 160mm measurement. :face-palm: And based on 9mm error in fan size who knows about the rest of their measurements. Reviewers are no better as most just parrot whatever manufacturer says. :mad:
 
I had the same motherboard and the D14.

As long as you use low profile ram and not the massive heatsink type it will be fine.

I used Corsair Low profile ram (1600mhz) vengeance without issues.
 
It is exceptionally close, ~5mm either way. From looking at my P8z77-v which has the same distance between CPU and the first PCIe slot my estimate would be that the fan clips will be overhanging the PCIe slot but the heatsink/fans themselves will not so you'd need to do a slight mod so they weren't touching.
 
Thanks.

I’ve just rechecked the clearance for the first PCIe slot and I think it’ll just clear. The card in slot 1 isn’t very tall so I think the clips will miss, or at least won’t need much tweaking.

I've decided to risk it so we’ll see.
 
I have the UP4 and there is loads of room I think it's similar to your board. You shouldn't need any tweaking of the fan clips, I wouldn't need to on the UP4. The front 120mm fan will cover all the ram slots but theres enough room to fit normal height ram underneath.

The sound card will probably touch the fan clips on my D14 if it was on my board and was a large card like my Audigy. I'll quickly have a look for you if it's not too late. :p

The slots should be in the same place.
 
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Okay I checked for you, on my board with my full size Audigy 2 ZS it would fit perfectly snug along side the D14, but to be on the safe side I would put some electrical tape on the fan clips as there will be less than a mm of clearance. If it's not a tall card you will probably actually miss the fan clips like you said it's only the bits that stick out from the cooler that would almost touch.
 
strip some insulation off of some scrap wire and slip it onto the fan clip... Or use a piece of heatshrink.. I couldn't find my heatshrink when I needed it.
 
the d14 or pretty much any cooler is going to foul the very top pci express x1 slot or do you mean the pci express x 16 slot ? and if so why are you not running your gpu in that

the d14 only has 40mm clearance so for example a xonar dx wont fit in the top pci express x 1 slot as the d14 fins are fouling it you'd need to have a sound card less than 40mm high

The low profile bracket doesnt change it's height it just changes the pci slot holder height a xonar dx with or without a low profile bracket wont fit in the top pci x1 slot if you are running a d14 PERIOD ! you have to measure the dx from pci-e socket contact point to the top of the card brackets don't change that height.

I am running a d14 on an msi p55 gd 80 and 100% my xonar dx doesn't fit in the pci express x1 slot nearest the cpu socket when using the d14 it would if the xonar were about 5-10 mm shorter
 
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C64 said:
the d14 or pretty much any cooler is going to foul the very top pci express x1 slot or do you mean the pci express x 16 slot ? and if so why are you not running your gpu in that

the d14 only has 40mm clearance so for example a xonar dx wont fit in the top pci express x 1 slot as the d14 fins are fouling it you'd need to have a sound card less than 40mm high
Click to expand...

Or simply use a lower slot.

All of the big coolers pretty much kill the use of top PCI slot for anything of any height or depth. Can still put a fan control slot cover in. :D
 
I could fit a PCI card in between my D-14 and GPU on a UP4 TH Giabyte board. Might have to put something non conductive on the widest part of the fan clip though if it's a very tall sound card.
 
edit : the d14 is 44m clearance so the top pci x1 slot is a no go the xonar dx is about 55mm with or without the low profile bracket
 
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