[SOLVED] Do I need RGB ram

[Nook.Fly]

I'm wondering if I need RGB ram because I'm going to be using the Noctua NH-D15 and I don't know if the Noctua NH-D15 will cover my RAM. I will be using both fans on the Noctua NH-D15 and the RAM I was looking at is the G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32 GB. If you know please reply. Thanks!

 

[R_1]

No one needs RGB. its an option at best.
RGB is a fashion accessory and has nothing at all to do with performance.
in the same way that the flames painted on the car do not make it faster.

 

[geofelt]

You are paying extra for winky blinky bling.
Not my thing.
My reading says that those modules are 41mm tall and will not fit with the front fan installed.
Low profile ram is about 32mm high.
Here are the specs for the NH-D15:
https://noctua.at/en/products/cpu-cooler-retail/nh-d15/specification
The high compatibility version, the NH-D15s will fit up to 64mm ram heat spreaders.
Cooling is essentially the same.
https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15s/specification

 

[Nook.Fly]

No one needs RGB. its an option at best.
RGB is a fashion accessory and has nothing at all to do with performance.
in the same way that the flames painted on the car do not make it faster.

I get that but what I'm wondering is am I going to see the RGB behind the Noctua NH-D15 and/or will it

You are paying extra for winky blinky bling.
Not my thing.
My reading says that those modules are 41mm tall and will not fit with the front fan installed.
Low profile ram is about 32mm high.
Here are the specs for the NH-D15:
https://noctua.at/en/products/cpu-cooler-retail/nh-d15/specification
The high compatibility version, the NH-D15s will fit up to 64mm ram heat spreaders.
Cooling is essentially the same.
https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15s/specification

So I need a new a different RAM from G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32 GB? If so do you know of any low profile RAM?

 

[Karadjgne]

The D15 front fan will cover the first and second slot with just the heatsink and cover all 4 slots with the front fan. IF the case has enough clearance, you can raise the front fan to clear many sticks, but not all.

With a D15, rgb ram is not useless, it's still ram, just the RGB part will be useless for the most part.

Gskill snipers, Corsair lpx

 

[Nook.Fly]

The D15 front fan will cover the first and second slot with just the heatsink and cover all 4 slots with the front fan. IF the case has enough clearance, you can raise the front fan to clear many sticks, but not all.

With a D15, rgb ram is not useless, it's still ram, just the RGB part will be useless for the most part.

Gskill snipers, Corsair lpx

What do you think of the CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 8GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2400 (PC4 19200) Desktop Memory Model CMK8GX4M1A2400C16 Ram I heard it’s low profile so it will fit under the fan

 

[Nook.Fly]

I found
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/corsai...-desktop-memory-black/5822461.p?skuId=5822461

it’s low profile so it should fit under the cooler

 

[geofelt]

Every ram kit with RGB lighting I can find seems to be 41mm high.
I imagine to make room for the lighting effects.

Do you already have a NH-D15?
If so, look for low profile kits.
Corsair lpx is popular.
G.skil aegis

If you do not have the D15, look for the D15s which costs the same and has full clearance.
I might add that the D15 needs 165mm height vs. the 160 needed for the D15s.
And... if your graphics card in the first pcie slot has a big backplate, that might impact the D15 also.

 

[Nook.Fly]

I found
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/corsair-vengeance-lpx-series-32gb-2pk-16gb-3-0ghz-ddr4-desktop-memory-black/5822461.p?skuId=5822461

Every ram kit with RGB lighting I can find seems to be 41mm high.
I imagine to make room for the lighting effects.

Do you already have a NH-D15?
If so, look for low profile kits.
Corsair lpx is popular.
G.skil aegis

If you do not have the D15, look for the D15s which costs the same and has full clearance.
I might add that the D15 needs 165mm height vs. the 160 needed for the D15s.
And... if your graphics card in the first pcie slot has a big backplate, that might impact the D15 also.

Ok I was looking at the
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/corsai...-desktop-memory-black/5822461.p?skuId=5822461

and I wasn’t thinking I wasnt gonna change from the d15 to the d15s unless needed

so I should get the d15s instead of the d15
If so would I be able to see rgb ram behind the cpu cooler

 

[geofelt]

Here is a review of the NH-D15s.
You can easily see that the full glory of tall heat spreaders is visible:
https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/7301/noctua-nh-d15s-style-cpu-cooler-review/index.html
Do not be put off by the single fan, performance is virtually identical.

 

[Nook.Fly]

Here is a review of the NH-D15s.
You can easily see that the full glory of tall heat spreaders is visible:
https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/7301/noctua-nh-d15s-style-cpu-cooler-review/index.html
Do not be put off by the single fan, performance is virtually identical.

I don’t know if the heat speeder blocks the RAM still hard for me to measure right now. If it does then I’m going to still go with the NH-D15 but if it doesn’t then I will go with the NH-D15S

 

[geofelt]

I don’t know if the heat speeder blocks the RAM still hard for me to measure right now. If it does then I’m going to still go with the NH-D15 but if it doesn’t then I will go with the NH-D15S

It is not the cooler itself on the D15 that blocks tall ram, it is the fan moounted in the front.
You have a couple of options:

1. You can run without the front fan at all.
2. You can mount the front fan in the rear , pulling air through the cooler.
3. You can move the front fan up higher if the height available in the case permits. That would add about 10mm to the height required, making it need 175mm. What is the make/model of your case?
4. You can replace the front fan with a smaller 120mm fan that would allow clearance.

You seem to have some reticence to using the D15s.
Why?? I do not understand that,

 

[Karadjgne]

D15 and D15S are same heatsink for the most part. Except the D15S has been offset away from the Ram and away from the Pcie slot because it interferes with the backplate on some cards.

The difference between the two designs is 3°C at maximum fan speed under a 100% cpu load. At 60% cpu load, temps are identical.

Why the hesitation? The D15S is better, you can see your ram, can even add another fan if that 3°C at maximum bothers you.

 

[MadsModsat]

I know you have already established how much the RAM are covered by the NH-D15, but I thought I'd share a picture of my actual setup with a NH-D15 on a standard ATX MB and Corsair Vengeance LPX RAM with a height of 31mm.

As you can probably tell, it is completely impossible to actually see the RAM because of the cooler. (There's plenty of room for taller RAM though, if you have the room to move up the front fan a little bit. The fins are cut away quite far up the front cooler fin stack, so they won't get in the way).

So if you end up using an NH-D15, I'd say RGB RAM would be a waste of money, unless you find a cheaper RGBkit with same specs as a non-RGB kit of same performance.

 

[Karadjgne]

I know you have already established how much the RAM are covered by the NH-D15, but I thought I'd share a picture of my actual setup with a NH-D15 on a standard ATX MB and Corsair Vengeance LPX RAM with a height of 31mm.

As you can probably tell, it is completely impossible to actually see the RAM because of the cooler. (There's plenty of room for taller RAM though, if you have the room to move up the front fan a little bit. The fins are cut away quite far up the front cooler fin stack, so they won't get in the way).

So if you end up using an NH-D15, I'd say RGB RAM would be a waste of money, unless you find a cheaper RGBkit with same specs as a non-RGB kit of same performance.

Wait? There's a motherboard under there somewhere?

 

[MadsModsat]

Wait? There's a motherboard under there somewhere?

Haha, yeah, standard ATX in a full tower Corsair Obsidian 750D
-hard to beleive

 

[Karadjgne]

Never could understand the choice of full tower, my Fractal R5 mid is massive on the inside, I've room enough to build 2x pc's in it. Fully half the case is nothing but empty space, especially with modern gpus all but making huge atx/e-atx mobo's obsolete. New pc isn't much bigger than a shoebox.

 

[MadsModsat]

Never could understand the choice of full tower, my Fractal R5 mid is massive on the inside, I've room enough to build 2x pc's in it. Fully half the case is nothing but empty space, especially with modern gpus all but making huge atx/e-atx mobo's obsolete. New pc isn't much bigger than a shoebox.

I actually agree with you, but to be honest I only found out a couple of days ago it is considered a full tower - I actually thought it was a midi-tower, which is the size I've always preferred.

But considering it is classed as a full tower, it is actually not that big, although not exactly small.**

But I like the fact that I didn't have to measure anything when I decided recently to go from AiO cooling to air, I knew there was room for the NH-D15.

**I used to put a lof of effort into cbale management and looks, and I have previously had cumstom made cables... -but my case is covered where it is located now, so I didn't spend much time make things look good. But it works for me

 

[Karadjgne]

Hah, I hear ya. Next time try mITX in SFF, it's nothing BUT cable management whether you can see it or not, whether you want to or not. 😅

 

[Nook.Fly]

It is not the cooler itself on the D15 that blocks tall ram, it is the fan moounted in the front.
You have a couple of options:

1. You can run without the front fan at all.
2. You can mount the front fan in the rear , pulling air through the cooler.
3. You can move the front fan up higher if the height available in the case permits. That would add about 10mm to the height required, making it need 175mm. What is the make/model of your case?
4. You can replace the front fan with a smaller 120mm fan that would allow clearance.

You seem to have some reticence to using the D15s.
Why?? I do not understand that,

I’m fine with the d15s I am just new to this kinda stuff so I don’t know for sure but I’m going to take your word for it that it is a good CPU cooler

the case is a nzxt h510 elite
And which option would you choose

 

[geofelt]

Your case is a very nice one, well suited to air cooling.
The supplied fans will provide sufficient airflow to cool anything inside.
Unless I missed it, what cpu and graphics card will you use?
The NH-D15 has been around for quite a few years and has acquired a good reputation for quiet and cooling.
You are probably relying on that reputation.
I use the NH-D15s in a smaller M-ATX case and I can assure you it cools very well, is easy to install, and is very quiet. It is fully the equivalent of the NH-D15 with better compatibility.
If you want to see your ram led lights, you will be able to see them.
NH-D15s would be my choice, but do your own analysis.

 

[Nook.Fly]

Your case is a very nice one, well suited to air cooling.
The supplied fans will provide sufficient airflow to cool anything inside.
Unless I missed it, what cpu and graphics card will you use?
The NH-D15 has been around for quite a few years and has acquired a good reputation for quiet and cooling.
You are probably relying on that reputation.
I use the NH-D15s in a smaller M-ATX case and I can assure you it cools very well, is easy to install, and is very quiet. It is fully the equivalent of the NH-D15 with better compatibility.
If you want to see your ram led lights, you will be able to see them.
NH-D15s would be my choice, but do your own analysis.

ok btw I'm just going to give you my list
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xcJgcq

obviously I still don't know for ram but for now, I have the very tall G skill trident Z neo in the list (subject to change)

 

[geofelt]

So far, I do not see the NH-D15s version in chromax black.
Obviously aesthetics is important to you.

Also, ryzen 3600 comes with an adequate cooler. You might try that first.
Your cpu cooling needs are not all that great.

 

[Nook.Fly]

So far, I do not see the NH-D15s version in chromax black.
Obviously aesthetics is important to you.

Also, ryzen 3600 comes with an adequate cooler. You might try that first.
Your cpu cooling needs are not all that great.

I was contemplating upgrading to a ryzen 3700x since the beginning but I thought I could save the money, should I upgrade to ryzen 7 3700x

 

[geofelt]

We are, I think getting a bit off the topic of this post and into build questions.
But, since this is your post, I guess that is ok.
Some thought s on the build:

A decent rule of thumb for a gamer is to budget about 2x the cost of the processor for the graphics card.
From that metric, I think the 3700X is about right.
What kinds of games do you play?
If you play multiplayer games with many participants, the 16 threads of the 3700X is good.
For most other types such as sims, mmo and strategy games, single thread performance is more important.
Today, I would look at the newly announced i5-10600K With 12 threads and a high clock rate.
Certainly no more than the 16 thread i9-10700K.
For fast action games, perhaps a stronger graphics card.

ON your storage setup, I would favor a 1 or 2tb m.2 pcie drive.
Omit the HDD, you can always add bulk storage later.

PSU is excellent.

16gb is fine for just gaming. If you will be multitasking while gaming, then 32gb is more appropriate.

Your case comes with good rgb fans, no extras are needed or useful.