CPU Cooler Clearance Issues

Samwise.Gamgee

Samwise.Gamgee

Samwise.Gamgee

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Currently running a Noctua NH-D15 chromax paired with an RTX 5090 — absolute beast of a CPU cooler. I’ve got the fan curve dialed in so it’s pretty much silent.

Only issue is, the cooler is physically touching the back of my GPU. From what I’ve read online, this shouldn’t impact performance or cause any problems, but I wanted to double-check with the community.

Would this setup be fine long-term, or should I consider swapping to a smaller cooler?
For reference, I’m on a 7800X3D.

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Whats App Image 2025 08 12 at 11 19 08 ba115c71 — Postimages

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(Please note the only PIC I have is when I had my RTX 4070, but same issue exists with reference RTX 5090)

Thanks!
 
deviation said:
Does the NH-D15 allow you to offset it? Some HSF's do, although not as efficient going against the offset mountings intended direction, in your situation, it would gain you clearance from the GPU.

If you've got some spare thermal paste, it may be worth you seeing if you can flip the mounting 180 degrees. I know the Peerless Assassin and Phantom Spirit offer an offset AM4/5 mounting, to add the spread over the cache IIRC, as I've seen someone test fit it 180 degrees the wrong way.

Hope this helps, if not, I'd personally change coolers - the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120SE or Phantom Spirit 120SE can be had for very little (OCUK Sell both and other Thermalright HSF's ;)), and I'm sure you could easily sell the NH-D15 and have some change after covering a Thermalright HSF.
I personally wouldn't want any form of heat transfer from the CPU HSF or GPU, nor to risk scratching such an expensive GPU.

Hope this helps!
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I'm actually already using the Noctua offset bracket which allows for better cooling, however it pushes the cooler down even further to the GPU!

noctua.at

NM-AMB12

The NM-AMB12 are offset AM5 mounting bars for Noctua CPU coolers with 83mm mounting pitch that require their mounting points at the north and south side of the socket for optimal orientation, such as the popular NH-D15(S), NH-D14, NH-C14S or NH-D9L (see detailed compatibility list). By...
noctua.at noctua.at

"If you've got some spare thermal paste, it may be worth you seeing if you can flip the mounting 180 degrees. I know the Peerless Assassin and Phantom Spirit offer an offset AM4/5 mounting, to add the spread over the cache IIRC, as I've seen someone test fit it 180 degrees the wrong way."

The above is a solid recommendation, however if I remember rightly it's only the G2 that allows for inversion. The standard version can only be mounted the one way. But I will reinvestigate.

If the above fails I may go down the route of another cooler, as I also don't like how close the two components are to one another, and it's a nightmare whenever I need to take the GPU out. Shame really as I'm a Noctua fan boy at heart!
 
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deviation said:
So does that mean without the offset bracket, it will clear? Or do you mean that's the only way that you can mount it?

Thanks, yeah it's definitely worth checking mate, you might get lucky.
Yeah, you could easily sell your cooler secondhand for the price of a Thermalright and probably a bit of cash left over? Either way, you will gain what you need - checkout the reviews, they match your cooler pretty much, along with any competitor at the time of release. Cant go wrong for the money. The Phantom Spirit has an extra heatpipe, but from what I've seen in reviews, you barely gain much in terms of real world temps, maybe 1-3 degrees if you're lucky IIRC - so if it was me I'd just get the Peerless Assassin 120SE and have some money left over ;):D

I Personally would not be happy with them touching, regardless of if it doesn't transfer heat. It'll still scratch a very expensive GPU.
Click to expand...
"So does that mean without the offset bracket, it will clear? Or do you mean that's the only way that you can mount it?"
If I remember rightly it clears without the offset, but by the smallest smallest amount, E.G 0.000001mm. With the offset bracket it 100% touches.

Will have a play round tonight and report back, but I think a new CPU cooler may be on the horizon!
 
I had another look at the cooler placement today and wanted to provide some further images, to see what you think. Upon further inspection it’s still really close but from what I can see does not actually appear to be touching?

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Album — Postimages

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GPU Clearance

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Thanks again!
 
hornetstinger said:
It's fine.

Just get a piece of paper if it slides between the two, it's ok.

Saves selling off a perfectly good HSF just to get a similar one. It's not like you have a crappy stock HSF
Click to expand...
The paper fits! That's genuinely such a good test, can't believe I didn't think of that.

Thank you.
 
mickyflinn said:
What are the temps like ?

If the CPU and GPU are at acceptable temps under load then your good
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Temps seem fine to me.

  • GPU idles at around 38 - 42c then I see highs of 75 - 77c under 100% load with furmark.
  • CPU idles at around 36 - 40c then I see temps anywhere from 60 - 70c while gaming, sometimes high 70s. But I have the fan curve set quite low, so I reckon I could reduce the temp further with a more aggressive fan curve.
 
mattyfez said:
Can you flip it around... I'm sure mine is asymetrical... I'd assume they all are?

Mine is quite tight at the top where the cpu fan headers are, but clears the GPU easily and yours looks like theres loads of room at the top?

ATX is ATX so the spacing on the board should be the same regardless between CPU socket and top PCIE-e socket

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The new version of the DH15 G2 is asymmetrical so you can flip it to gain more space, however the DH15 to the best or my knowledge is symmetrical so I wont gain any more space by flipping the orientation.
 
mattyfez said:
Looking at your pic again... The cooler is also way out of line with your rear exhaust fan.

You've just mounted it upside down, that's all.
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Just flipped it, I'm afraid it didn't make any difference to clearance. I might try and remove the offset bracket and put the original one back to see how that affects clearance.

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mattyfez said:
Yeah my first thought is remove the offset bracket from the equation.. It might me muddying the waters..

And see what's what.

But if you look at the cooler itself when it's out of the case, it should be pretty obvious if it's asymmetrical or not, as per the pic I posted up thread.
Click to expand...
Just remounted with the normal brackets and the spacing seems about the same to be honest. Might just go down the AIO or smaller AIO cooler route as the spacing is driving my OCD a bit mental.
 
mattyfez said:
Well is are the radiators symmetrical or not? Can you take a pic?
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Looking at the cooler it does appear symmetrical to me, please see photos.

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mattyfez said:
Well is are the radiators symmetrical or not? Can you take a pic?
Click to expand...
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Sorry a better image here, definitely symmetrical.
 
Sorry for the delayed reply, the joy of newborns! I have taken as many pictures as possible of the mounting, how I had it with the normal bracket and some additional pictures with the offset ones. From the looks of things they can only go in one orientation?

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mattyfez said:
I've never built an AM5 so I can't really help... What's the offset bracket thing you were taking about? What does that look like?

Another option would be to send some pics to noctua and see if they can offer advice?
Click to expand...
Funnily enough I had the same thought and reached out to them yesterday, this was their response.

"If you would like to increase the distance between the CPU cooler and the GPU we would recommend adjusting the mounting configuration to not use the offset mounting option. However, we would not see a cause for concern as the pictures seem to indicate that the two components are not touching and therefore not interfering with each other."
 
Fantastic news everyone, I’m an idiot! Well not quite, but it turns out with the normal mount it has made quite the difference.

Originally when dry mounting it didn’t appear like it had many any space, but after adding the GPU it’s got a good sized gap now that I’m happy with!

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Album — Postimages

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Additionally, I have also ran a prime95 test after repasting and at full throttle I’m only seeing a max temp of 61c!

What a glorious day, praise the emperor.
 
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