Noctua NH-D15 chromax (Black) hight and Ram clerance with NZXT 510i

Meridiusuk

Meridiusuk

Meridiusuk

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Hi all

looking at the Noctua NH-D15 chromax (Black) with the heatsink covers Noctua NA-HC4 in a NZXT H510i case unsing a amd gigabyte master & 3900x and also team group 8pack ram

I looked at the spec of this heatsink and it fits the H510i case as the case can fit a 165mm Heatsink which this is.

So the questions are

1, You can use only one fan as the ram is to tall, would this effect performance much using just one fan ?

2, I noticed some people place the 2nd fan at the other end of the cooler next to the rea case fan, would this help or would using one fan be better

3, You can buy the heatsink covers Noctua NA-HC4 and i read it adds 5mm to the hight but what i read was the heatsink without fans is 160mm and with its 165mm so adding 5mm using the covers would take it to 165mm inlione with the fans so it would still fit the NZXT case ? as it will not make it 170mm as the heatsink is 160mm to the metal tips so it shold be fine. is this correct.

4, would using a single fan on this heatsink be just as good at cooling and sound levels as a be quiet dark rock pro 4 ? as this uses two fans as well or by placing the fan at the other side of the NH-D15 meaning you can still use two fans be the samoe performance as a dark rock pro 4


any other help that i might of missed would be great would be great
thanks
 
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Meridiusuk said:
1, You can use only one fan as the ram is to tall, would this effect performance much using just one fan ?
Click to expand...

2-3C according to reviews, same as the difference between NH-D15 and NH-D15S.


Meridiusuk said:
3, You can buy the heatsink covers Noctua NA-HC4 and i read it adds 5mm to the hight but what i read was the heatsink without fans is 160mm and with its 165mm so adding 5mm using the covers would take it to 165mm inlione with the fans so it would still fit the NZXT case ? as it will not make it 170mm as the heatsink is 160mm to the metal tips so it shold be fine. is this correct.
Click to expand...

Yes.


Meridiusuk said:
any other help that i might of missed would be great would be great
Click to expand...

You could buy one of these to use at the front:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £50.68 (includes shipping: £8.70)​
​

Or go with single fan.

The Dark Rock Pro 4 is very quiet and only a couple degrees away from NH-D15S or NH-D15 with one fan.

Scythe Fuma 2 is reviewing very well and would not block the RAM at all.
 
cheers

I have a Dark Rock Pro 4 but have not used it yet becasue for the reason below, i just bought the noctua NH-D15 chromax.black & Noctua NA-HC4 Chromax Heatsink Covers in white. the reaon for this,

1 Nocuta uses a better mounting system with tension springs and any heat expansion the springs should take up the expansion, wheres with the DRP4 theres nothing like that and is screwed solid to the motherboard so it could cause the motherboard bending in time with all the heat as i have read this could be possible and does make sence.

2. Nocuta has better ram support as you dont need to take off the HS when you want to access all 4 ram slots wheres with the DRP4 you can use all the 4 slots but with two of the slots you would need to remove the HS to get 2 of the 4 ram out of the motherboard which is not ideal. You can move the fan on both systems to fit taller ram but with the noctua you may need to replace the 140mm fan with a 120mm fan to keep the hight under the 165mm mark whihc is basicly the same as the DRP4.

3. I like the look of the HS covers in white that will match the 510i NZXT case but this is more a personal thing.

4, the Noctua has slightly better cooling but not by a lot, but I will be using one fan only as the case will not let me which will make the CPU a littile hotter but will keep the sound levels down but will be still way way better than the stock HS cooler you get with the 3900x and the temps will be prob slighty worse than the DRPRO4 with 2 fans but should not be by much. The other 140mm fan could be used as a top outake fan on the case.

I will have both HS in front of me so i can decide then.

I see what your saying about the 120mm fan as when you think about it this is how the DR PRO4 does it one 135mm fan and one 120mm fan so if i have any heat problems which i dought with one fan i could always try getting the 120mm fan and add it to the side like you suggest.
 
I have the D15S and it clear Rams but I still had to raise front additional fan (it only come with one fan for this reason).

I would be more concerned with the top PCI-E slot, that is what the D15S primary was made for, the NZXT site will tell you exactly what it will and will not fit.
 
I will be only able to use the centre fan, one only but its only makes 2c to 3c difference anyway so no big of a deal.

This means I can have a spare fan as backup. I have seen others mount a 120mm at the front of the hs but I don’t think I will bother for the difference in c as this noctua hs will destroy the wraith cooler and be much more silent with just one fan. Plus it will be on par with the dark rock pro 4 with one fan as the noctua is about 1c to 2c better at cooling with two fans so in theory it will be about 1c worse than the dr pro 4 with one fan. .

I always buy noctua it’s just when I got the dr pro 4 which I still have not used the noctua Black was not out. But it is now and has a better mounting system. Plus I bought the all white covers to go on the top to match the case, seen a couple of images like that and it does look nice
 
Keep in mind is 1-3c not 2-3c .. and it's only if single fan is running same speed as 2 fans are. Because 2x fans are about 3dB louder than single fan, if single fan is running at same noise level temps are the same because basically the same amount of air flows through cooler .. only time there is 1-3c difference is with fans at full speed. ;)
 
Drollic said:
Can you not raise the front fan slightly so it clears the ram?
Click to expand...

no, the fans make the hS 165mm and the case can only take 165mm max

The NH-D15 provides 64mm clearance for tall memory heatsinks in single fan mode
In dual fan mode, the NH-D15 should be used with standard height RAM (up to 32mm).

the 8pack ram is 45mm tall so moving the fan up would make it 178mm high so would not fit as the case can only take 165mm so i would need to remove the fan

there are only 3 options poss 4 options

Option
1, remove fan and use one only
2, buy a 120mm noctua fan and place it on the front, abit how the DRpro4 does it as that has one 135mm fan and one 120mm fan, there are some videos with people who already done this
3, dont know yet but i might be able to place it next to the rear case fan at the other side of the HS

but to be honest i think becasue of the size of the heatsink and one 140mm fan running it would be ok and would be much better than the stock cooler by a large margin i expect.

removing the heatsink from the ram would make them 37 mm still to high and plus i would not do that anyway.
 
Meridiusuk said:
no, the fans make the hS 165mm and the case can only take 165mm max

The NH-D15 provides 64mm clearance for tall memory heatsinks in single fan mode
In dual fan mode, the NH-D15 should be used with standard height RAM (up to 32mm).

the 8pack ram is 45mm tall so moving the fan up would make it 178mm high so would not fit as the case can only take 165mm so i would need to remove the fan

there are only 3 options poss 4 options

Option
1, remove fan and use one only
2, buy a 120mm noctua fan and place it on the front, abit how the DRpro4 does it as that has one 135mm fan and one 120mm fan, there are some videos with people who already done this
3, dont know yet but i might be able to place it next to the rear case fan at the other side of the HS

but to be honest i think becasue of the size of the heatsink and one 140mm fan running it would be ok and would be much better than the stock cooler by a large margin i expect.

removing the heatsink from the ram would make them 37 mm still to high and plus i would not do that anyway.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Seems like a lot of messing around given fast ram options all have increased height due to the heat spreaders. Think I'd rather go aio.
 
just got the Noctua cooler today, very nice and very big

I AM not wanting to go AIO as they are noisier as they have pumps and more parts, also not to keen on water been in there as you need to keep a check every so often to make sure there a no leaks. They need to be replaced every 5 years i think as well.
 
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