Noctua NH D14 and DDR4 options and a bonus PSU question

Adam123 · 8 May 2020 at 01:13

Hi all,

TLDR: Does taking the top heat spreader off the TeamGroup 8Pack RAM cause any heat issues? < Yes this has been answered and shown in an image later in the thread.

A 750w PSU (Seasonic gold) should be enough for an OC 3900x/4900x and OC 2080ti/3080ti?

Story time:

I'm after some input on RAM choice for my next build which I will be getting in the next couple of weeks. Build is 95% gaming at 1440p/144hz.

My upgrade cycle is usually 4-6 years so this will be the build to keep me going for a while.

I have already ordered the case so I'm committed now...

Specs will be along the lines of:
CPU: 3600 for now which will be replaced with a 4700x/4900x early next year
Mobo: X570 Tomahawk (depending on release date) or X570 TUF/Strix F
PSU: Seasonic Focus GX 750
Case: Phanteks P600s (all fans swapped to Silent Wings 3 140mm which I already have)
M2: Sabrent Rocket 1tb
RAM: 32gb 3600Mhz
Cooler: Noctua NH D14
GPU: GTX 1070 which will be replaced by a RTX3070 or similar due to using a Gsync monitor.

Sooo I want to reuse my Noctua NH D14 from my current build (4690k @ 4.5Ghz), however, this means I'm restricted to a 44mm RAM height.

From my internet-ing I can see that narrows me down to the following which are all around the same price (give or take £17).

TEAM GROUP 8PACK EDITION 32GB (2X16GB) 3600MHZ DUAL CHANNEL KIT - 16-16-16-38

VENGEANCE LPX BLACK 32GB (2X16GB) 3600 MHZ AMD RYZEN TUNED DDR4 MEMORY DUAL KIT - 18-22-22-42

Crucial Ballistix 32GB (2X16GB) 3600 MHZ DUAL CHANNEL KIT - 16-18-18-38

I'm edging towards the Crucial Ballistix as its the correct height out of the box. Buuuut I have just noticed that the Team Group RAM which has tighter timings, Samsung B die and the top heat spreader can be removed making the RAM height 37mm.

I expect I will be using the Ryzen Memory Calculator to tighten timings etc.

Now here comes the question, can anyone see or does anyone know of any heat issues that I may encounter by doing this?

And as a bonus question, a 750w PSU should be theoretically adequate for an overclocked Zen 3 12c/24t with a (at worst case) 3080ti, right?

Thanks,

Adam

Space Monkey · 8 May 2020 at 04:47

@Adam123

I'm using the P600S case and the Noctua NH-D15 Chromax Black cooler along with the same 8Pack RAM you're considering (I've got some of the new stuff on order, and have used the older stuff with this setup before) and it fits just fine without removing the heat spreaders (you just raise the outer fan slightly) you'll just need to check the height requirements of the NH-D15 vs NH-D14, if it's the same then you're golden

Adam123 · 8 May 2020 at 10:30

Space Monkey said:
@Adam123

I'm using the P600S case and the Noctua NH-D15 Chromax Black cooler along with the same 8Pack RAM you're considering (I've got some of the new stuff on order, and have used the older stuff with this setup before) and it fits just fine without removing the heat spreaders (you just raise the outer fan slightly) you'll just need to check the height requirements of the NH-D15 vs NH-D14, if it's the same then you're golden

Hey, thanks for the reply. The D15 has a slightly different heat fin design. On the D15 the bottom edges of the heat fins are raised/missing to help with RAM compatibility, the D14 is 5mm thinner though on each side. Not going to lie it's been so long since I've been in the case I had forgotten that the fans can be raised, hopefully the heatsink it's self will fit.

I assume that cooler and case is a very cool and quiet combination?

Adam123 · 8 May 2020 at 15:29

So I have ordered the 8Pack RAM.

Any input on PSU's? 750w should do me for a next gen CPU and GPU as I assume they are only going to be getting more efficient?

Space Monkey · 8 May 2020 at 15:31

The cooler and case combo are nice and quiet yes, though I've used the LNA adapters with the Noctua fans to keep them at a lower RPM which has lowered the noise a bit more but most importantly the temps weren't affected

opethdisciple · 8 May 2020 at 21:49

I have a NH D14 and the 8 Pack Ram and just removed the front fan and just left the one in the middle. Apparently according to what info I could find on the internet it doesn't affect thermals much more than 1-2c.

Adam123 · 8 May 2020 at 21:59

opethdisciple said:
I have a NH D14 and the 8 Pack Ram and just removed the front fan and just left the one in the middle. Apparently according to what info I could find on the internet it doesn't affect thermals much more than 1-2c.

Hey, thanks for your reply. Nice to know there is a second option. I suppose you could always mount the second fan on the left side as pull instead of the right. How are you finding the cooling performance with just the one fan?

Space Monkey put this is another thread showing the top heat spreader removed.

I have now ordered some so they should arrive in the next few weeks I think.

Space Monkey said:

Space Monkey · 8 May 2020 at 22:03

I tried putting the 2nd fan as pull on the left side but it was too close to the rear exhaust fan and caused some weird noise so that's why I've ordered the lower RAM (same as you) so I can put the fan back as intended

Adam123 · 8 May 2020 at 22:22

Space Monkey said:
The cooler and case combo are nice and quiet yes, though I've used the LNA adapters with the Noctua fans to keep them at a lower RPM which has lowered the noise a bit more but most importantly the temps weren't affected

I run my CPU fans at 80% all the time, they are just the right level of noise, don't get me wrong 80%+ isn't loud by any stretch of the imagination but 80% is the sweet spot for me - I'm sure in the P600s (which arrived today and I've had to return because the tempered glass version came and not the solid panel one I ordered) I can let the fans go to 100% and not hear much of a difference.

Any regrets getting the 3600x over the 3700x?

What size PSU have you got in yours?

Space Monkey · 8 May 2020 at 22:41

Adam123 said:
I run my CPU fans at 80% all the time, they are just the right level of noise, don't get me wrong 80%+ isn't loud by any stretch of the imagination but 80% is the sweet spot for me - I'm sure in the P600s (which arrived today and I've had to return because the tempered glass version came and not the solid panel one I ordered) I can let the fans go to 100% and not hear much of a difference.

Any regrets getting the 3600x over the 3700x?

What size PSU have you got in yours?

No regrets, the 3600x is a very powerful CPU and for gaming (at this moment in time) there's no noticeable difference to the 3700X.

My PSU is the EVGA P2 1200W (Platinum rated) I got a deal on a new one from a private seller for about the price of a decent 850W so couldn't pass it up :cool:

Adam123 · 8 May 2020 at 23:02

Space Monkey said:
No regrets, the 3600x is a very powerful CPU and for gaming (at this moment in time) there's no noticeable difference to the 3700X.

Agreed, just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. The 3600 is only a frame or 2 behind the 3600x and is around £160 (vs £200 for the extra 200Mhz) at the moment and as you say is more than good enough for now. I expect/hope in 12-18 months the Zen 3 / 4000 series prices will start to drop then I can look to make a small CPU upgrade to a 8c or even a 12c as hopefully they will have higher clocks.

My expectations are that going from a 4690k (4c/4t) even at 4.5Ghz to a stock 3600 (6c/12t) will give me a noticeably different gaming experience, not necessarily with frame rate but with overall smoothness and stuttering/cpu spikes being a thing of the past.

What CPU did you come from?

I've got an RM650 at the moment which is about as old as the 4690k I'm using and a spare AX1200 from 2600k build - figure its time to just replace my current PSU and get a nice shiny, quiet new one for the next 5-10 years.

Space Monkey · 8 May 2020 at 23:10

Adam123 said:
Agreed, just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. The 3600 is only a frame or 2 behind the 3600x and is around £160 (vs £200 for the extra 200Mhz) at the moment and as you say is more than good enough for now. I expect/hope in 12-18 months the Zen 3 / 4000 series prices will start to drop then I can look to make a small CPU upgrade to a 8c or even a 12c as hopefully they will have higher clocks.

My expectations are that going from a 4690k (4c/4t) even at 4.5Ghz to a stock 3600 (6c/12t) will give me a noticeably different gaming experience, not necessarily with frame rate but with overall smoothness and stuttering/cpu spikes being a thing of the past.

What CPU did you come from?

I've got an RM650 at the moment which is about as old as the 4690k I'm using and a spare AX1200 from 2600k build - figure its time to just replace my current PSU and get a nice shiny, quiet new one for the next 5-10 years.

My previous CPU was the Threadripper 1920X, I notice that even in Windows, the 3600x feels a lot more snappy, the PC just feels more fluid.

Yeah it sounds like you could do with a new PSU especially on a new build, can't really go wrong with the Seasonic.

random_matt · 9 May 2020 at 08:58

Seasonic are great, although have not had one since, well a long time. Need a new one myself, waiting for the SF750. Hope the cables reach my board though.

EsaT · 9 May 2020 at 12:51

Adam123 said:
Agreed, just wanted to make sure we were on the same page. The 3600 is only a frame or 2 behind the 3600x and is around £160 (vs £200 for the extra 200Mhz) at the moment and as you say is more than good enough for now. I expect/hope in 12-18 months the Zen 3 / 4000 series prices will start to drop then I can look to make a small CPU upgrade to a 8c or even a 12c as hopefully they will have higher clocks.

My expectations are that going from a 4690k (4c/4t) even at 4.5Ghz to a stock 3600 (6c/12t) will give me a noticeably different gaming experience, not necessarily with frame rate but with overall smoothness and stuttering/cpu spikes being a thing of the past.

No sense to get more expensive than £200 level board if not even being sure about getting above 8 core in the future.

6c/12t certainly beats lowly 4c/4t, though here are games capable to using more cores like Assassin's Creed Odyssey.
https://youtu.be/vVjdhXAdKE0?t=1m51s

Space Monkey said:
No regrets, the 3600x is a very powerful CPU and for gaming (at this moment in time) there's no noticeable difference to the 3700X.

Star Citizen would likely disagree being capable to giving 12c/24t good workout.
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/dkac5j/i_knew_star_citizen_utilizes_multicore_well/
Without SMT majority of cores would be fully occupied.

Adam123 · 9 May 2020 at 15:23

EsaT said:
No sense to get more expensive than £200 level board if not even being sure about getting above 8 core in the future.

Agreed, the boards I'm looking at are around £200, paying anything more than around £250 just seems like a waste. Think the strix F makes the list for all the other little bits (Intel ethernet, flashback, AI suite, bios layout etc) really don't care for RGB though.

EsaT · 9 May 2020 at 21:46

Adam123 said:
Agreed, the boards I'm looking at are around £200, paying anything more than around £250 just seems like a waste. Think the strix F makes the list for all the other little bits (Intel ethernet, flashback, AI suite, bios layout etc) really don't care for RGB though.

Also Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite has Intel NIC and USB BIOS Flashback is basic feature in Gigabyte/MSI X570 boards.
And semipassive cooling capable farther from graphics card's heat chipset cooler design just smashes 15 year old bad design of Asus.

ik9000 · 9 May 2020 at 21:59

have you looked at the NH-U14s? I use it in my Ryzen system 3900x MSi ACE and can get full size RAM in as the low-profile means the front fan doesn't overhang the RAM. Used an Akasa rear fan for quieter operation and will, when I next open it, fit the low-noise adapter for the front fan.

Adam123 · 9 May 2020 at 22:40

EsaT said:
Also Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite has Intel NIC and USB BIOS Flashback is basic feature in Gigabyte/MSI X570 boards.
And semipassive cooling capable farther from graphics card's heat chipset cooler design just smashes 15 year old bad design of Asus.

A friend of mine got the Aorus Elite and he seems to be having issues with the fans ramping up despite a custom fan curve been set. I feel at home in Asus mobos having worked with them for 2 years in the past.

ik9000 said:
have you looked at the NH-U14s? I use it in my Ryzen system 3900x MSi ACE and can get full size RAM in as the low-profile means the front fan doesn't overhang the RAM. Used an Akasa rear fan for quieter operation and will, when I next open it, fit the low-noise adapter for the front fan.

I already have the NH D-14. The Team Group 8Pack RAM with the top heat spreader removed will fit with room to spare. Have you thought about setting a custom fan curve instead of using the LNA which will just limit it to 9v (75%)?

ik9000 · 9 May 2020 at 23:41

tried - it doesn't seem to do much, but I do need to have more of a play with it. The thing is so noisy I've actually gone back to my old win7 machine for the time being.

EsaT · 10 May 2020 at 09:20

Adam123 said:
A friend of mine got the Aorus Elite and he seems to be having issues with the fans ramping up despite a custom fan curve been set. I feel at home in Asus mobos having worked with them for 2 years in the past.

Aqua Computer's fan controllers are only surely working ones.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/aqua-computer-quadro-pwm-fan-controller-wc-338-aq.html
In last year there was in this forum problems with Asus boards having functional fan control only during BIOS phase and fans going fult tilt once Windows took over.
Also in Finnish PC forum people had same issues.