Question CPU cooler compatibility with MB

[tunaceylan20]

Hello, I am planning on upgrading my rig (new CPU, GPU, MOBO and RAM) and I actually have a Dark Rock Pro 3 CPU cooler from Be Quiet, and I saw they had a tool to check the compatibility of their CPU coolers with motherboards, I checked if my Dark Rock Pro 3 was compatible with the new MOBO I was planning to buy and it said "RAM slot usage limited", I wanted to know what that precisely meant, like will I be able to use only one or two slots ? If you have the same CPU cooler/MOBO combination, I'd like to know if these two works together, thanks.

 

[Furzumz]

I checked if my Dark Rock Pro 3 was compatible with the new MOBO I was planning to buy and it said "RAM slot usage limited", I wanted to know what that precisely meant, like will I be able to use only one or two slots

"ram slot usage limited" is rather vague. Could mean one of two things:

• One or more RAM slots will be blocked by the cooler regardless of ram height
• The cooler will overhang one or more RAM slots but might not physically block the RAM if RAM height is low enough

As far as how many slots it will overhang / block who knows. Does the website specify this information somewhere? Also what motherboard are you looking at?

 

[tunaceylan20]

"ram slot usage limited" is rather vague. Could mean one of two things:

• One or more RAM slots will be blocked by the cooler regardless of ram height
• The cooler will overhang one or more RAM slots but might not physically block the RAM if RAM height is low enough

As far as how many slots it will overhang / block who knows. Does the website specify this information somewhere? Also what motherboard are you looking at?

Hi, thank you for your answer, I found this on the website : "Please consider that the cooler dimensions limit the height of the RAM units for some motherboards. Make sure to compare the cooler dimensions with the height of your RAM units". I am thinking about buying an MSI B360 Gaming Plus.

 

[Furzumz]

Hi, thank you for your answer, I found this on the website : "Please consider that the cooler dimensions limit the height of the RAM units for some motherboards. Make sure to compare the cooler dimensions with the height of your RAM units". I am thinking about buying an MSI B360 Gaming Plus.

Do you know what your ram is? I might be able to look up its height to see if it might meet the clearance based off what the dark rock pro lists for its measurements

Their website says there's 39mm of ram clearance if I'm reading the measurement correctly. Technically less clearance on the side with a fan but correct me if I'm wrong the fan height can be adjusted apparently.

 

[tunaceylan20]

HyperX Fury 16 Go (2 x 8 Go) DDR4 2666 MHz CL16, it doesn't look too tall according to the pictures

 

[Furzumz]

HyperX Fury 16 Go (2 x 8 Go) DDR4 2666 MHz CL16, it doesn't look too tall according to the pictures

I can find a hyperx fury 16 2x8 kit but nothing with "Go" in the name

Does this look like what you have?

If so it says its 1.34 inches (34mm) tall. The bottom of the cooler seems to offer 39mm clearance if I'm reading their measurements correctly

So if it is just a case of the cooler overhanging the ram slots and if that is your ram it looks your ram might fit. You might have to adjust a fan slightly higher.

I say might because I dunno if there's some other weird measurements I'm unaware of like a ram slot adding a small height boost when its installed.

I do notice the heat pipes on the dark rock pro 3 are a bit further off to the side as well. It's difficult to tell from pictures alone but its possible the closest RAM slot to the cooler might have lower clearance or be blocked from said heat pipe, but the rest I presume is just the heatsink and / or fan overhanging the ram slots.

If the heat pipe does block the first ram slot you can move the ram to the second set of slots as that motherboard has 4 ram slots

But again, this is if the website is stating the limited slot usage is due to limited ram height. Their wording is vague so it comes down to a guess at this point.

My guess? The first ram slot will be unusable while the other 3 will be usable with the heatsink / fan overhanging the remaining 2 or 3 slots in which case it will probably clear the ram.

I'm sorry I can't give a more sure answer, their website's vagueness makes it difficult to say for sure.

Alternatively you can try finding a different motherboard that the website says for sure clears the ram slots.

 

[tunaceylan20]

I can find a hyperx fury 16 2x8 kit but nothing with "Go" in the name

Does this look like what you have?

If so it says its 1.34 inches (34mm) tall. The bottom of the cooler seems to offer 39mm clearance if I'm reading their measurements correctly

So if it is just a case of the cooler overhanging the ram slots and if that is your ram it looks your ram might fit. You might have to adjust a fan slightly higher.

I say might because I dunno if there's some other weird measurements I'm unaware of like a ram slot adding a small height boost when its installed.

I do notice the heat pipes on the dark rock pro 3 are a bit further off to the side as well. It's difficult to tell from pictures alone but its possible the closest RAM slot to the cooler might have lower clearance or be blocked from said heat pipe, but the rest I presume is just the heatsink and / or fan overhanging the ram slots.

If the heat pipe does block the first ram slot you can move the ram to the second set of slots as that motherboard has 4 ram slots

But again, this is if the website is stating the limited slot usage is due to limited ram height. Their wording is vague so it comes down to a guess at this point.

My guess? The first ram slot will be unusable while the other 3 will be usable with the heatsink / fan overhanging the remaining 2 or 3 slots in which case it will probably clear the ram.

I'm sorry I can't give a more sure answer, their website's vagueness makes it difficult to say for sure.

Alternatively you can try finding a different motherboard that the website says for sure clears the ram slots.

Yes this was the RAM I was talking about, I think i'll still buy the RAM, I don't think it will cause a big issue with my cooler.

 

[Archaic59]

Yes this was the RAM I was talking about, I think i'll still buy the RAM, I don't think it will cause a big issue with my cooler.

Just FYI, Corsair Vengeance LPX memory is low profile and perfect in most cases where there's a question of cooler clearance compatibility.

 

[tunaceylan20]

I can find a hyperx fury 16 2x8 kit but nothing with "Go" in the name

Does this look like what you have?

If so it says its 1.34 inches (34mm) tall. The bottom of the cooler seems to offer 39mm clearance if I'm reading their measurements correctly

So if it is just a case of the cooler overhanging the ram slots and if that is your ram it looks your ram might fit. You might have to adjust a fan slightly higher.

I say might because I dunno if there's some other weird measurements I'm unaware of like a ram slot adding a small height boost when its installed.

I do notice the heat pipes on the dark rock pro 3 are a bit further off to the side as well. It's difficult to tell from pictures alone but its possible the closest RAM slot to the cooler might have lower clearance or be blocked from said heat pipe, but the rest I presume is just the heatsink and / or fan overhanging the ram slots.

If the heat pipe does block the first ram slot you can move the ram to the second set of slots as that motherboard has 4 ram slots

But again, this is if the website is stating the limited slot usage is due to limited ram height. Their wording is vague so it comes down to a guess at this point.

My guess? The first ram slot will be unusable while the other 3 will be usable with the heatsink / fan overhanging the remaining 2 or 3 slots in which case it will probably clear the ram.

I'm sorry I can't give a more sure answer, their website's vagueness makes it difficult to say for sure.

Alternatively you can try finding a different motherboard that the website says for sure clears the ram slots.

I found another motherboard (MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Plus) but it has the same issue with RAM according to the Bequiet compatibility check, looks like Bequiet has a problem with LGA1151 socket MSI motherboards..

 

[tunaceylan20]

I can find a hyperx fury 16 2x8 kit but nothing with "Go" in the name

Does this look like what you have?

If so it says its 1.34 inches (34mm) tall. The bottom of the cooler seems to offer 39mm clearance if I'm reading their measurements correctly

So if it is just a case of the cooler overhanging the ram slots and if that is your ram it looks your ram might fit. You might have to adjust a fan slightly higher.

I say might because I dunno if there's some other weird measurements I'm unaware of like a ram slot adding a small height boost when its installed.

I do notice the heat pipes on the dark rock pro 3 are a bit further off to the side as well. It's difficult to tell from pictures alone but its possible the closest RAM slot to the cooler might have lower clearance or be blocked from said heat pipe, but the rest I presume is just the heatsink and / or fan overhanging the ram slots.

If the heat pipe does block the first ram slot you can move the ram to the second set of slots as that motherboard has 4 ram slots

But again, this is if the website is stating the limited slot usage is due to limited ram height. Their wording is vague so it comes down to a guess at this point.

My guess? The first ram slot will be unusable while the other 3 will be usable with the heatsink / fan overhanging the remaining 2 or 3 slots in which case it will probably clear the ram.

I'm sorry I can't give a more sure answer, their website's vagueness makes it difficult to say for sure.

Alternatively you can try finding a different motherboard that the website says for sure clears the ram slots.

So after some research, whether it's a MSI, Asrock, or Gigabyte motherboard, it's always saying RAM slots will be limited. I don't know what to do since I can't really spend more money than 400 dollars

 

[Furzumz]

So after some research, whether it's a MSI, Asrock, or Gigabyte motherboard, it's always saying RAM slots will be limited. I don't know what to do since I can't really spend more money than 400 dollars

Their wording is vague so I could be wrong but limited ram slot usage doesn't necessarily mean its going to block the ram slots outright, just that it may overhang them like so

I'm heavily assuming the heat pipes might cause lower clearance issues for the very first ram slot but the other 2 or maybe 3 slots will be overhung by the cooler but probably won't be a problem as the ram's height is small enough to not hit the bottom of the cooler after looking at their clearance specs and the size of the ram you wanted.

Personally, I think it will work given all the measurements. But I can't make any surefire guarantees. But I'm assuming it'll work.

You could try it out and see how it goes and if it doesn't work out you could use the stock cooler for the time being, sell the dark rock pro 3 on ebay and nab a cooler with better clearance height. If you need to save some money you could try grabbing a used one as well.

 

[tunaceylan20]

Just FYI, Corsair Vengeance LPX memory is low profile and perfect in most cases where there's a question of cooler clearance compatibility.

Yeah I think I'll buy 16gb Corsair Vengeance instead, I already have 2x4gb Vengeance on my current rig, and they worked fine for the last years. Thank you.

 

[tunaceylan20]

Their wording is vague so I could be wrong but limited ram slot usage doesn't necessarily mean its going to block the ram slots outright, just that it may overhang them like so

I'm heavily assuming the heat pipes might cause lower clearance issues for the very first ram slot but the other 2 or maybe 3 slots will be overhung by the cooler but probably won't be a problem as the ram's height is small enough to not hit the bottom of the cooler after looking at their clearance specs and the size of the ram you wanted.

Personally, I think it will work given all the measurements. But I can't make any surefire guarantees. But I'm assuming it'll work.

You could try it out and see how it goes and if it doesn't work out you could use the stock cooler for the time being, sell the dark rock pro 3 on ebay and nab a cooler with better clearance height. If you need to save some money you could try grabbing a used one as well.

I'm pretty sure they will be no issues too, it's worth it to try, and if it doesn't work i'll ask a friend for a cooler, i'll keep you in touch after I bought and installed everything, thank you for your help.

 

[geofelt]

Ram compatibility will be the same issue for all motherboards so far as cooling fan clearance goes.
Of more importance is the height available in your case.
With suffficient height available, the front fan can be mounted up a few mm to clear tall neat spreaders.
What is the make/model of your case?
The DRP PRO3 needs 163mm.

 

[tunaceylan20]

Ram compatibility will be the same issue for all motherboards so far as cooling fan clearance goes.
Of more importance is the height available in your case.
With suffficient height available, the front fan can be mounted up a few mm to clear tall neat spreaders.
What is the make/model of your case?
The DRP PRO3 needs 163mm.

I already own a DRP PRO3, my case is a Bequiet Silent Base 800.

 

[geofelt]

You are good.
Your case has 170mm headroom which will fit any cooler.

 

[tunaceylan20]

You are good.
Your case has 170mm headroom which will fit any cooler.

Thank you for helping me, have a nice day.

 

[Zerk2012]

I found another motherboard (MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Plus) but it has the same issue with RAM according to the Bequiet compatibility check, looks like Bequiet has a problem with LGA1151 socket MSI motherboards..

all boards are going to say the same thing even the AMD boards.

 

[tunaceylan20]

all boards are going to say the same thing even the AMD boards.

So the issue is from the cooler itself I guess ?

 

[Zerk2012]

So the issue is from the cooler itself I guess ?

Not really a issue just from the size of the cooler. If you buy the memory that fits under the cooler then their no problems at all.

 

[tunaceylan20]

Hi guys, today I realized that even with my current rig my cooler takes a lot of space and it's hard to put some RAM in it, so as I said before I got 2x4Gb Corsair Vengeance memory and it almosy doesn't fit on my MSI Z97 motherboard with that huge cooler even though it said it was compatible on the Bequiet site. I doubt that my new RAM will fit on my new motherboard since it was saying that RAM slots will be limited.

Here are some pics :

(Yes I need to clean my PC)