[SOLVED] CPU heatsink pushing against the RAM

Riken664

Prominent
Apr 9, 2021
14
1
515
Hey, I'll go straight to the point. I've been assembling my very first PC from scratch and everything went great, but after mounting Dark rock pro I've noticed that it pushes against my first RAM stick. At first I assumed it's not an issue since the angle is very slight, but on a second thought, I'd appreciate someone more knowledgeable in this topic taking a look and letting me know if there's any potential for some future damage if the configuration stays this way.

7Y5BoZm_d.webp


P.s I've fully assembled the pc and everything runs correctly, including all of the ram sticks. Temperatures seem to be good as well.
 
Solution
I do not like it.
It is not the touching, but the bend of the ram in the socket is bothersome.
But, since all seems to work, you are probably ok.

How did this happen?
Possibly the motherboard specs are a bit off and the cpu is too close to the ram.
Review the mounting instructions. If, for example the mounting bars are using the wrong holes, you could be a fraction off.
Does the hold down bar have any wiggle room so the cooler can be shifted a bit?
Looks like even 1mm would fix things.

If I were going to fix things, I would simply bend the lowest cooling fin up a bit for better clearance.
Looks like the fins are soft aluminum and should bend easily.
If you use long nose pliers, you probably would not even need to remount.

Phaaze88

Titan
Ambassador
I don't think you want that touching at all.
A few members got on my butt about the fan directly touching the ram because vibrations from the fan can go through the ram and damage the socket over time.
Though, in this case, it's the heatsink, but the heatsink is still connected to the fan, so... IDK.

I didn't mean to scare you.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Riken664
I don't think you want that touching at all.
A few members got on my butt about the fan directly touching the ram because vibrations from the fan can go through the ram and damage the socket over time.
Though, in this case, it's the heatsink, but the heatsink is still connected to the fan, so... IDK.
I would agree here. If it was touching the fan like that, I'd be a little more concerned.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Riken664

Riken664

Prominent
Apr 9, 2021
14
1
515
All of your replies are much appreciated. I think I'm gonna stick with it for the time being, unless I find a good deal for a cpu cooler replacement.
 

Riken664

Prominent
Apr 9, 2021
14
1
515
Not gonna lie, I'm kind of dreading taking anything apart at the moment, after several hours of putting it together. Removing the stick would mean removing the heatsink first and reapplying fresh thermal paste afterwards if I'm not mistaken? Also, wouldn't having the stick without the heatsink create some potential for shorting it? It would still be very close to the heatsink(CPU) but I guess there's no current there so it's fine Right? When it comes to temperatures I believe there shouldn't be a problem as well, especially since I think my colling is pretty decent(P500a DRGB chassis).
 
I do not like it.
It is not the touching, but the bend of the ram in the socket is bothersome.
But, since all seems to work, you are probably ok.

How did this happen?
Possibly the motherboard specs are a bit off and the cpu is too close to the ram.
Review the mounting instructions. If, for example the mounting bars are using the wrong holes, you could be a fraction off.
Does the hold down bar have any wiggle room so the cooler can be shifted a bit?
Looks like even 1mm would fix things.

If I were going to fix things, I would simply bend the lowest cooling fin up a bit for better clearance.
Looks like the fins are soft aluminum and should bend easily.
If you use long nose pliers, you probably would not even need to remount.
 
Solution

Riken664

Prominent
Apr 9, 2021
14
1
515
I do not like it.
It is not the touching, but the bend of the ram in the socket is bothersome.
But, since all seems to work, you are probably ok.

How did this happen?
Possibly the motherboard specs are a bit off and the cpu is too close to the ram.
Review the mounting instructions. If, for example the mounting bars are using the wrong holes, you could be a fraction off.
Does the hold down bar have any wiggle room so the cooler can be shifted a bit?
Looks like even 1mm would fix things.

If I were going to fix things, I would simply bend the lowest cooling fin up a bit for better clearance.
Looks like the fins are soft aluminum and should bend easily.
If you use long nose pliers, you probably would not even need to remount.

I took my time with instructions and mounting process and verified it just now. it seems I've done everything correctly, just a very unfortunate combo of mobo, cooler and ram I guess, like you said, seems like even 1 mm would fix it up.

I've tried wriggling it but it's very solid and snug in there, no way I can move it to the side even by a little bit unfortunately.

I didn't think about bending the finn, one little bend surely wouldn't meaningfully impact the performance, and yes, they are easily bend even by hand, felt that when I was mounting it, I'll give that idea a thought, thank you.
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
I'd pull the heatsink back off, use a knife or other hard flat object that's easily manipulated and slide it across that bottom 1 or 2 fins to get an even bend, like spreading butter. With the fan set as it is and the ram blocking any meaningful potential airflow across those bottom fin arrays, they are for all intents and purposes only actively cooled by the center fan draw from the sides, not active airflow cooled by the front fan, so bending the leading edge will have Zero affect on temps or cooler capacity.

While others might be fine but iffy with pressure on the socket, as applied by ram angle, and some are fine but iffy with possible fan vibrations, the most important factor is heat. The bottom of a tower gets the hottest. As heat rises up the pipes, it's dissipated bt the successive amounts of fins, the bottom fin gets the highest concentration directly from the cpu. It sees the highest wattage output, first. And if touching, that heat gets transfered to the metallic heat shield in reverse. Effectively cooking that ram stick.

Even 1mm of space is ample to prevent not only vibrations and socket stress, but also direct touch heat pipe transfer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Riken664

Riken664

Prominent
Apr 9, 2021
14
1
515
So I tried bending the bottom fins and they bent no problem, however, at the spots where they connect with the tubes they won't budge, rendering the entire operation pointless. But I noticed something worse, I'm pretty sure that it's not even the fins that are the problem, but the heat pipes themselves, in which case I see no other option than to look for a new cooler? Im attaching few photos for context. It's weird since they should but compatible but seem to not be? I have also verified if the mounting was correct once again and tried wriggling it back but to no avail.



View: http://imgur.com/a/6rMTeUl
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
That looks a whole heap better. If you look at the 1st stick and 3rd stick, they are both the same, perpendicular, it's only the 2nd stick that's leaning slightly towards the cooler.

If the ram is touching the heatpipes now, you could get some clearance by denting the knobby section of the ram heatsink, or as said earlier put a small piece of card-stock or heat resistant chunk of thin something between them like a fiber carburetor gasket etc.

But the fins are plenty cleared now and the ram is straight.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Riken664

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
Yeah...I mean, BeQuiet does even show a picture of of the D.R.P with G.Skill TridentZ RAM in the 1 & 4 slots.... kinda false advertising....
ImageServer.php
Not really. Look very closely at the gap between the ram and those bottom 3 fins. There's a much larger gap there sideways than with Op's setup that got nothing to do with height.

So it's possible Op's motherboard has put the ram slots closer to the cpu socket than is wise, there should be ample room.

Tweaktown review.

Oh, btw. The Patriot Viper in the picture is 45mm tall. G.Skill TridentZ is 44mm tall, so even more clearance. 👍
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Riken664

Riken664

Prominent
Apr 9, 2021
14
1
515
I actually managed to get a little bit of clerance by partially unscrewing the mounting bars, pulling them back, and screwing them in. It barely made a difference, but the ram stick is now clearly not bent and the heatpipe just barely grazes the stick. Idle temperature of the CPU is 28°C so it's literally 4 degrees cooler than before, meaning there's no real difference after bending the fins, like Karadjgne said. I'm gonna keep a close eye on the CPU and the first RAM stick in the near future, but for now, I thank you all for helpful suggestions.
Thread can be closed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SamirD