Question Noctua NH-U12A not suitable for GIGABYTE Z790 Master?? Big problem - help!

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Aug 29, 2023
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NO G skill is the smaller stuff check my previous post with the sizes !!

i cannot find the sizing chart on the corsair ram but from builds ive seen on youtube its quite high ..

BUT i know the Gskill stuff and the Noctua cooler because i have both of them and it fits no issues !!

the fan may sit up like a 1or 2mm higher but its not going to sit as high as the current ram !!

your current ram is 49mm high from website spec sheet the Gskill z5 is 44mm per website spec sheet i measured 46mm but it was a rough measurement ..
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Can you please upload a picture of your cooler/ram - so I know I'm losing $33 with a quiet heart?
I'm really really afraid to switch and find out that I just wasted money and time
 
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So this thread is all over the place.

First and most important I think the cooler is mounted backwards. If you look the fan on the side not over the memory barely overlaps the mounting screws where the side you have currently over your memory extends much farther.

My guess it if you reverse it the fan will overlap the first memory slot but not the second like it currently does.

The new problem is does it now not fit because it can not clear the IO shield on the back. This is where you need to either try it or better you look up the motherboard compatibility in the cooler manual before you buy it. There are some motherboards it is very hard to get a air cooler to fit.

So if that doesn't work I would look at the shortest memory you can find. Things like gskil ripjaws5 are 33 mm which would allow you to lower the fan a bit. Still if you current memory is 39 going to 33 only reduces it 6mm and I suspect you need much more than that looking at the photo. 6mm is only 1/4 inch and it looks like you need double that.

If you can not reverse the cooler then you are likely going to have to live with this or you are going to need to find a cooler that is compatible with your motherboard
 

ilukey77

Reputable
Jan 30, 2021
778
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5,290
size.png
Can you please upload a picture of your cooler/ram - so I know I'm losing $33 with a quiet heart?
I'm really really afraid to switch and find out that I just wasted money and time
like i said and the post above spin the cooler around so the straight heat pipes are facing the ram iam sure after looking at the cooler and the fans that it was set back from the ram ..

so spin the cooler 360 add the fans and i think you will have no issues with your ram touching on the fans ..
try that first !!

Ive gone back to a AIO on my main build in the signature below ive got a b760 itx mobo that i could try to explain but i dont have a cpu yet for it so the measurements etc will be slightly off but give me little and ill try to show you what i mean if you dont understand !!
 
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ilukey77

Reputable
Jan 30, 2021
778
325
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7LGuN9M.jpg
tMPU3ZO.jpg

okay this how you have your Noctua mounted now Note how the fan is sitting over the ram ..ram to tall and you get the fan issue
yMXgfNL.jpg

qpApm0C.jpg
nBr2Umy.jpg

now notice with these 3 pictures and the cooler the other way around it clears the ram and sits slightly over the vrm heat sink this is what you want !!

It cant be exact because i have no ram ddr5 without pullin it out of my main to show you and i cant screw the cooler down because i have no cpu in the socket or a 13th gen cpu to build it yet
but you should get the idea !!

being you have the taller ram it will most likely block the front of the fan ever so slightly but it will not effect cooling and both fans will sit at there proper height without any issues from the higher ram !!
 
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DSzymborski

Curmudgeon Pursuivant
Moderator
Frectal Torrent is a case whose whole principle is air cooling
To do an aio on this case is to miss the point of the case itself - and almost 100 percent to damage the cooling of the gpu
The king of the case is the 4090 gpu - this case with the "stock" fans cools the video card very nicely and you will be surprised that it also cools the processor in a stunning way when the processor is on a fan cooling
Everything I wrote here is based on dozens of YouTube videos, for example: from 15:56
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBxo2_lwKps

That is an extremely odd interpretation of this video. Where's the link for an AIO causing "almost 100 percent to damage the cooling of the GPU" in this particular case?

There's nothing novel about this case other than it being very, very good. There's no feature that hinders the use of an AIO on the CPU, if one chooses to use one. An AIO on the CPU changes nothing about the intakes/exhaust configuration.
 
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Aug 29, 2023
18
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10
That is an extremely odd interpretation of this video. Where's the link for an AIO causing "almost 100 percent to damage the cooling of the GPU" in this particular case?

There's nothing novel about this case other than it being very, very good. There's no feature that hinders the use of an AIO on the CPU, if one chooses to use one. An AIO on the CPU changes nothing about the intakes/exhaust configuration.
There are 2 - 180 millimeter fans that bring in air from the front
And there are 3 fans that bring air from below straight to the GPU
If you put AIO fans - in front or below you will see results on the video card temps 100%.

And you know how I know the GPU will pay a price in this case? Because I saw dozens of videos of this case on YouTube before I decided to buy it and I saw that the GPU pays a price in the case of an AIO
The processor benefits - the GPU does not

Anyway, I'm not an advocate for this case and I don't want to go in that direction - I have a problem to solve here
 
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Aug 29, 2023
18
0
10
7LGuN9M.jpg
tMPU3ZO.jpg

okay this how you have your Noctua mounted now Note how the fan is sitting over the ram ..ram to tall and you get the fan issue
yMXgfNL.jpg

qpApm0C.jpg
nBr2Umy.jpg

now notice with these 3 pictures and the cooler the other way around it clears the ram and sits slightly over the vrm heat sink this is what you want !!

It cant be exact because i have no ram ddr5 without pullin it out of my main to show you and i cant screw the cooler down because i have no cpu in the socket or a 13th gen cpu to build it yet
but you should get the idea !!

being you have the taller ram it will most likely block the front of the fan ever so slightly but it will not effect cooling and both fans will sit at there proper height without any issues from the higher ram !!
I will show every word you wrote to the guy who builds my pc -I will meet him in two hours
You suggested the same idea that "bill001g" suggested right?
 
Aug 29, 2023
18
0
10
So this thread is all over the place.

First and most important I think the cooler is mounted backwards. If you look the fan on the side not over the memory barely overlaps the mounting screws where the side you have currently over your memory extends much farther.

My guess it if you reverse it the fan will overlap the first memory slot but not the second like it currently does.

The new problem is does it now not fit because it can not clear the IO shield on the back. This is where you need to either try it or better you look up the motherboard compatibility in the cooler manual before you buy it. There are some motherboards it is very hard to get a air cooler to fit.

So if that doesn't work I would look at the shortest memory you can find. Things like gskil ripjaws5 are 33 mm which would allow you to lower the fan a bit. Still if you current memory is 39 going to 33 only reduces it 6mm and I suspect you need much more than that looking at the photo. 6mm is only 1/4 inch and it looks like you need double that.

If you can not reverse the cooler then you are likely going to have to live with this or you are going to need to find a cooler that is compatible with your motherboard
I'll show what you wrote to the guy building my computer in a few hours
Let's hope for the best
 

Phaaze88

Titan
Ambassador


Oh wow, the cooler's heatsink probably IS on backwards. In the 2 samples above, the Owl emblem is towards the back, not the front, and ram clearance is superb.
 
Aug 29, 2023
18
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show this guy the pictures i posted its pretty simple!!
The way your cooler is mounted now is the wrong way around !!
1. So I replaced the guy who built my pc with another guy - who seems more professional and more serious
He rotates the entire cooling body 180 degrees
This solved the fan that rises above the memory, but now the left fan rises a little on the part of the motherboard - and the fan rises several millimeters
I guess it's the best it can be in the current situation, correct me if I'm wrong.

2. The right fan (Closest to the memories) directs air in and the left fan (Close to the back of the case) directs air out - that's how he told me it needed to be fixed and that's what he told me he did - is it true?

3. Another thing is that the pc builder just wiped off the old paste with something that looked like a sponge, he didn't use any alcohol or anything else. Cleaned only with a sponge slowly maybe 5-10 minutes and then when it was clean to our eyes he put the new paste
(I forgot to ask him to use alcohol unfortunately)

Info that may be important to note: the old paste sat on the processor for exactly 40 hours and the pc was not turned on, meaning there was no element of heat that the paste had to deal with at all.

My question: is it legit? Are there no microscopic remnants of the old paste that will screw up the cooling? Now is my time to know because I can go back to him - show him what you wrote - and fix it
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Aug 29, 2023
18
0
10
So this thread is all over the place.

First and most important I think the cooler is mounted backwards. If you look the fan on the side not over the memory barely overlaps the mounting screws where the side you have currently over your memory extends much farther.

My guess it if you reverse it the fan will overlap the first memory slot but not the second like it currently does.

The new problem is does it now not fit because it can not clear the IO shield on the back. This is where you need to either try it or better you look up the motherboard compatibility in the cooler manual before you buy it. There are some motherboards it is very hard to get a air cooler to fit.

So if that doesn't work I would look at the shortest memory you can find. Things like gskil ripjaws5 are 33 mm which would allow you to lower the fan a bit. Still if you current memory is 39 going to 33 only reduces it 6mm and I suspect you need much more than that looking at the photo. 6mm is only 1/4 inch and it looks like you need double that.

If you can not reverse the cooler then you are likely going to have to live with this or you are going to need to find a cooler that is compatible with your motherboard
Check out my last comment above - I'd love your take and anyone else's
 
"2. The right fan (Closest to the memories) directs air in and the left fan (Close to the back of the case) directs air out - that's how he told me it needed to be fixed and that's what he told me he did - is it true?"

That's typically the correct orientation; moving air from the front of the case toward the rear. Both fans on the CPU cooler blowing the same way...to the rear.

"like a sponge, he didn't use any alcohol or anything else. Cleaned only with a sponge slowly maybe 5-10 minutes".............not sure what he did, but the sponge presumably had alcohol or some solvent on it. Don't know why it would take 5 or 10 minutes, but I would NOT be alarmed unless you develop further heat related issues.

"My question: is it legit? Are there no microscopic remnants of the old paste that will screw up the cooling?


What matters is your temps now that the new repairman has done his thing. Yes, there are microscopic remnants. Always will be. Will they "screw up the cooling"?? Extremely unlikely unless something else is going on.

You are the judge. Experiment and find your temperatures. If OK, continue as you were. If not, report back.
 
Yup this is why you must look in the list of compatible motherboards for coolers before you buy them. This is both for air and water cooling. Some motherboards are more difficult that others.
It will not be the optimum to have the fan too high but you have little choice without buying new stuff.

As long as you get good coverage on the paste I doubt it really matters if you get every spec off.

Pretty much now load up something like cinebench and see what numbers you get. You will have to dig around to try to find a number that will tell you if it is good. Maybe on of the benchmark sites used that cooler. If you are anywhere close it means the paste is fine...you are going to get just a bit less I suspect without full use of both fans but it likely is only a tiny amount.

In the longer run you will likely want to limit the pl2 power to 200. I think the default is 253 but that will exceed most air coolers.
This is one of those you need to mess around with the values until you get a setting where the cpu does not constantly throttle at 100 degrees. Some people just leave it thermal throttle because intel basically said it is within spec to do it. I tend to trade off a bit of peak performance for peace of mind