Noctua D-14 / 15 clearance

Finguz

Finguz

Finguz

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We've just ordered a new 3950X, Asus ROG Xhair VIII Hero and 32Gb Team Group Xtreem 8pack edition 3600 ram from Overclockers.

I've been told that the memory modules have quite large heatsinks.

Can anybody confirm if my current Noctua D14 with the NM am4 mounting kit will fit comfortably over the ram modules? If not what about a D15?

If neither will fit and I have go with an AIO liquid cooler, which ones should I be looking at?

Thanks.
 
This list says it's compatible. There is always the caveat that tall ram modules can interfere, so I would check the clearance on the cooler versus the height of the memory modules to double check.

D14 is listed as 44mm clearance under the cooler, but the ram is shown at 48mm height, so they won't fit if the cooler is over the memory slots.

D15 & D15S with a single fan can offer 65mm clearance. Otherwise, the limit is 32mm with the second fan in place, unless you have a very wide case, where you can move the fan upwards, but that makes the cooler taller than it's listed 160mm.
 
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Sorry, but Steampunk is mistaken.

NH-D14 44mm measurement is from bottom of fins to cooler base/top of CPU.
Surface of motherboard is 8mm below top of of IHS and RAM socket raises RAM 2-3mm.
That is 44mm + 5mm = 49mm tall RAM will fit between mobo and fins.
Your 48mm height RAM will fit.

OcUK says RAM is "approximately 45,6 mm" withheat spreader and "just 37 mm" with heatspreader removed. so you should be fine.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...3600mhz-dual-channel-kit-black-my-08q-tg.html
 
doyll said:
Sorry, but Steampunk is mistaken.

NH-D14 44mm measurement is from bottom of fins to cooler base/top of CPU.
Surface of motherboard is 8mm below top of of IHS and RAM socket raises RAM 2-3mm.
That is 44mm + 5mm = 49mm tall RAM will fit between mobo and fins.
Your 48mm height RAM will fit.

OcUK says RAM is "approximately 45,6 mm" withheat spreader and "just 37 mm" with heatspreader removed. so you should be fine.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...3600mhz-dual-channel-kit-black-my-08q-tg.html
Click to expand...

Thanks very much doyll! I'll try the D14 first when the kit arrives and if it fits comfortably I may return the D15S. I have had the D14 for a long time now though, so an upgrade may be in order.
 
doyll said:
Sorry, but Steampunk is mistaken.

NH-D14 44mm measurement is from bottom of fins to cooler base/top of CPU.
Surface of motherboard is 8mm below top of of IHS and RAM socket raises RAM 2-3mm.
That is 44mm + 5mm = 49mm tall RAM will fit between mobo and fins.
Your 48mm height RAM will fit.

OcUK says RAM is "approximately 45,6 mm" withheat spreader and "just 37 mm" with heatspreader removed. so you should be fine.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...3600mhz-dual-channel-kit-black-my-08q-tg.html
Click to expand...

<shrug> As per my links, I'm going by what the manufacturers have listed. IIRC, OCUK (used to) say the manufacturers spec was the final arbiter and the specs on the website couldn't be guaranteed to be correct.

Having said that, if OP already has a D14, I'd certainly try that for size before buying a replacement, as the D14 should fit if the ram slots are far away enough.
 
Steampunk said:
<shrug> As per my links, I'm going by what the manufacturers have listed. IIRC, OCUK (used to) say the manufacturers spec was the final arbiter and the specs on the website couldn't be guaranteed to be correct.
You misinterpreted Noctua specifications on website. Their dimensional drawing clearly shows 44mm measurement is from bottom of cooler base to bottom of fins, not from motherboard or bottom of RAM socket.
nh_d14_measurements_1.jpg

Top of CPU / bottom of cooler base is 8mm above motherboard.
RAM socket raises RAM 2-3mm putting bottom of RAM 5-6mm below base of cooler.
5-6mm + 44mm + 49-50mm maximum RAM height., as shown in below drawing. Granted, it's my own drawing so if you don't believe it you can measure a motherboard with CPU installed to verify it's accuracy.
7fc6ee8b_CPUFanClearances.png

Having said that, if OP already has a D14, I'd certainly try that for size before buying a replacement, as the D14 should fit if the ram slots are far away enough.
Click to expand...
Going from NH-D14 to NH-D15 or NH-D15S is nto really an 'upgrade' D14 with stock fans is 1-2c warmer than D15, but D15 fans are higher speed. Put same fans on D14 and performance is basically the same if not slightly better. D15S is 1-2c warmer than D15 because of single fan so no better coolign than stock D14. There are a few coolers slightly better than D15, but the differences are pretty much within +/-1c margin of error. Thermalright TRUE Spirit 140 while not being better is about fifty quid so much lower priced, but it is 171mm tall and 155mm wide so fins reach 77.5mm each side of CPU center.

Higher performance can be gotten by changing fans to hi0-performance ones, but that also means changing case fans so case airflow is matched to coole .. and of course this all means a much louder system if additional coolin ability is used.
 
The D14 fits just fine! However I'm going to put it back in the old machine for the Mrs, so I've installed the D15S and ordered a 2nd fan for it.

Thanks again for all the help, it's appreciated!
 
Good news!

Just so you know, 2nd fan only lowers temps at full speed by 1c, 2c at the most. Becuase 2x of same sound source (like fans) are 3dB louder than 1x source. 1 fan spinning faster making same amount of noise cools as 2x fans cools the same as 2x fans.
 
There was hint in one of the early reviews was they would bring out a fan to fit in the centre of the two towers, I think it is about 35mm and in days gone by you could get 35mm deep fans as they were specifically to get air through the denser fins on the coolers back then, but modern coolers are less dense for less noise.
 
I think NH-D15S is better choice than NH-D15 for anyone planning

Very few coolers restrict airflow much. Cryorig coolers are probably most restrictive.

Only 35mm thick fan I know of (other than industrial ones) is Silverstone FHP-141. I tried one in original Silver Arrow years ago an it did more more air but cooling was about the same at similar noise levels.
 
Have not used any snakeoil fans. I see they don't publish their pressure rating. To me pressure rating is easily as important as airflow rating, maybe more.
 
This was 2002-2008ish so the PC enthusiast market was not as it is today and I am sure many did not publish them, either way the early samples leaked fluid and though quiet were not as quiet as the specs claimed and I am sure they are defunct now (the company).

The likes of 3DGameMan etc were doing video reviews well before YT.
 
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