Question SOLVED: Upgrading my rig. Is this a good set up? Thanks.

[Poncke]

Finally switching from Intel to AMD.
Is there anything worrisome in this set up? I am mainly concerned about any potential space issues with the cooler and the RAM

Cheers.

Component	Selection
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 4.5 GHz 16-Core Processor
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-U12S 55 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard	Asus ROG STRIX X670E-E GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory
Storage	Western Digital Red 1 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage	Western Digital Red 3 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage	Western Digital Red 3 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage	Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Video Card	NVIDIA Founders Edition GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB Video Card
Case	Fractal Design Define S ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply	EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G3 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

 

[Lafong]

Only thing that jumps out at me is the 3 different WD hard drives.

1 TB, 3 TB, and 3 TB.

Easily understood if they are being carried over from an earlier build.

Not so easy to understand if they are being purchased new for this PC.

What is the specific purpose of these 3 hard drives.

 

[Poncke]

Ah yeah. Carry over from current build. I had only 1tb at first but then upgraded storage in my NAS and put the two 3tb that came from the nas into my pc

 

[35below0]

Uhm.. Is that Noctua cooler correct? It doesn't seem to fit the socket?

G.Skill lists the height of the RAM module as: 44mm (1.73in)
https://www.gskill.com/faq/1502180912/DRAM-Memory

 

[Poncke]

Uhm.. Is that Noctua cooler correct? It doesn't seem to fit the socket?

G.Skill lists the height of the RAM module as: 44mm (1.73in)
https://www.gskill.com/faq/1502180912/DRAM-Memory

https://pcpartpicker.com/ says the cooler is compatible. And the Noctua website says they are compatible as well https://ncc.noctua.at/motherboards/model/ROG-Strix-X670E-E-Gaming-WiFi-motherboard-5625
Apparently an AM5 mounting-kit is included since 01/2019

 

[35below0]

https://pcpartpicker.com/ says the cooler is compatible. And the Noctua website says they are compatible as well https://ncc.noctua.at/motherboards/model/ROG-Strix-X670E-E-Gaming-WiFi-motherboard-5625
Apparently an AM5 mounting-kit is included since 01/2019

Alright. Just checking. I did a quick check and the AM5 wasn't listed among supported sockets. Maybe i landed on an outdated page.

Now, looking at the cooler specs: https://noctua.at/en/nh-u12s/specification
One picture says clearance is 41mm, another 39mm. Your G.Skills are 44m high. So you have a problem.

If the NH-U12S can be rotated 90 degrees, then you might not have a problem with clearance. But if it can't, or if it's a square cooler then it looks like you need stubbier ram sticks.

Looking at NH-U12S specs/pics, the exact clearance is not obvious to me but it *seems* your ram is too tall to fit.

 

[Poncke]

Ah shoot, I was afraid of that. Thanks. So I need a cooler with a clearance of 45mm or higher or stubbier memory. Back to the drawing board. Funny, their website says they have 100% RAM clearance. I might just fire them an email.

 

[35below0]

Out of curiosity, i looked at a Noctua i bought, the NH-D15. The measurements for that one state 32mm clearance in dual fan mode. It says nothing about clearance in the alternate rotation though.
It can be installed in such a way so that it does not tower over ram so much but instead extends towards the GPU and covers the M.2 slot. (and possibly clashes with the GPU).
Either way, it's pretty huge so i checked carefully whether i will have problems fitting it and everything around it.

Looking at these photos, it's obvious there's more than the stated 32mm clearance, but not quote 66mm either.
This is why i'm a little bit confused. There shouldn't be any vagueness when it comes to cooler size. But there is no indicated clearance for the orientation i picked.

Your NH-U12S specs say that you cannot fit 44mm tall RAM.
Mine say i can fit only 32mm tall sticks and i happened to buy 31.5mm RAM. Yet i see considerably more than 0.5mm between the cooler body and RAM...
(and yes i know the fan is not installed, but in this orientation it would not change much)

https://imgur.com/UqdFihk

View: https://i.imgur.com/UqdFihk.jpg

https://imgur.com/HSH3zcj

View: https://i.imgur.com/HSH3zcj.jpg


https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15/specification

 

[35below0]

Ah shoot, I was afraid of that. Thanks. So I need a cooler with a clearance of 45mm or higher or stubbier memory. Back to the drawing board.

That's a good ram pick, so it's worth checking for a cooler that would allow you to keep it.

I wish i could say with 100% certainty whether your Noctua pick CAN or CANNOT fit, but i am not sure.

 

[Poncke]

That's a good ram pick, so it's worth checking for a cooler that would allow you to keep it.

I wish i could say with 100% certainty whether your Noctua pick CAN or CANNOT fit, but i am not sure.

Thanks, yeah I edited my comment after your replied, Funny, their website says they have 100% RAM clearance. I might just fire them an email. And I agree on the RAM, I like G.skill

 

[Lucky_SLS]

Which are the new parts and which ones are old?

Looking at the part list, CPU, mobo , RAM and maybe the cooler looks to be new while the rest of the components looks to be carry over from your previous build.

Few questions and suggestions:

If you are going for a Ryzen 9 CPU, get the Noctua AM5 offset mount.

Noctua NM-AMB15​

question regarding the rams and mobo:

Do you really require an X670E chipset? A mobo with pcie 5.0 ssd support like the Gigabyte Aorus elite, Asrock Riptide or Asus Strix has the sata ports for your HDD and basic front panel connections and IO. You might be overspending on the mobo for features you might not use.

Why the Trisent Z5 neo? The flare X5 would be cheaper and would offer better ram compatibility.

 

[35below0]

Thanks, yeah I edited my comment after your replied, Funny, their website says they have 100% RAM clearance. I might just fire them an email. And I agree on the RAM, I like G.skill

You can look for a shorter G.Skill, or a Noctua with more clearance.

I saw a DeepCool AK620 in another thread. That cooler could work with your original choice of RAM (47mm). Other models in the AK series could also work. Have a look.

 

[Poncke]

Which are the new parts and which ones are old?

Looking at the part list, CPU, mobo , RAM and maybe the cooler looks to be new while the rest of the components looks to be carry over from your previous build.

Few questions and suggestions:

If you are going for a Ryzen 9 CPU, get the Noctua AM5 offset mount.

Noctua NM-AMB15​

question regarding the rams and mobo:

Do you really require an X670E chipset? A mobo with pcie 5.0 ssd support like the Gigabyte Aorus elite, Asrock Riptide or Asus Strix has the sata ports for your HDD and basic front panel connections and IO. You might be overspending on the mobo for features you might not use.

Why the Trisent Z5 neo? The flare X5 would be cheaper and would offer better ram compatibility.

Hi, yeah, the CPU, Cooler, MB and RAM will be new replacing the older parts the rest stays put. I dont know why I made the choices I made, I built my first rig, and now I want to upgrade it, but I want to make it future proof. My current rig is 8 years old. Still works fine, but want the fastest stuff now again to go another 8 years.

As for the AM5 mount, it comes with the U12S cooler, according to the website.
https://ncc.noctua.at/motherboards/model/ROG-Strix-X670E-E-Gaming-WiFi-motherboard-5625
Apparently an AM5 mounting-kit is included since 01/2019

As for the RAM, I dont know why I chose that RAM, all I know is that my current DDR4 won't be compatible, so I chose new DDR5 RAM. If Flare X5 is a better choice, Ill go with that. I assume you mean Flare right, instead of Flex?

Thanks

 

[Lafong]

Not positive, but I think the primary (only?) difference between Trident and Flare is that the former has RGB. Maybe you demand RGB?

 

[Poncke]

So this all seems to work together then. Also saves me 17 euro.

Component	Selection
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 4.5 GHz 16-Core Processor
CPU Cooler	Deepcool AK620 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard	Asus ROG STRIX X670E-E GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard
Memory	G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory

 

[Poncke]

Not positive, but I think the primary (only?) difference between Trident and Flare is that the former has RGB. Maybe you demand RGB?

Hi, no not at all. It is a closed non transparant case. Cheers.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

So this all seems to work together then. Also saves me 17 euro.

Component	Selection
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 4.5 GHz 16-Core Processor
CPU Cooler	Deepcool AK620 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard	Asus ROG STRIX X670E-E GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard
Memory	G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory

The noctual mount i listed is the offset mount. it mounts the cooler 7 mm i think below the center to better position the cooler over a ryzen 9 cpu's hotspot.

If you are going with the AK620, go for the thermal grizzly am5 offset mounts.

https://www.thermal-grizzly.com/en/adapter-offset-mounting-kit/s-tg-ad-am5-mk

And yes, i meant flare X5 for the low profile ram height and better cooler compatibility.

The B650 mobo would still be future proof for normal users with the primary pcie x16 slot in 5.0 mode and 1 M.2 ssd in 5.0 mode.
All the mobo models come with a front panel 3.2 gen 2 type C connector for 20gbps type C connection.

Like i said, you need the X670E only if you need multiple pcie 5.0 add in cards or SSDs at the same time.

 

[Poncke]

I actually think I need a new case as well then, to connect the USB C - because my current case only has USB-A
Edit: after reading up on this, USB-C front connectors on my case front panel is not really a necessity.

I like to have the extra slots, because I might add an M.2 tick in the future.

Final question, for the RAM would 6400 be better than 6000 ?
Edit: after checking, 6000 seems the max and plenty for what I need

Thanks, you have been very helpful.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

Oh you would have the additional M.2 and x16 slots. but they would be pcie 4.0. Only the primary would be pcie 5.0 with those B650 and B650E models i listed above.

Its not really max, but you would have diminishing returns after 6000mhz. it would not be worth the price premium. But that could change with the next gen ryzen chips. The ryzen 1000, 2000 and maybe even the 3000 chips were optimised for 3200mhz first and only during the later stages of 3000 series and 5000 series they went to the sweet spot of 3600.

If you dont see that much of a price difference, it should not matter with a 6000/30 or 6400/32 kit.

 

[Poncke]

Thanks to every one here helping me sort out my rig upgrade. Placing orders now

 

[Lucky_SLS]

I just noticed that the flare X5 is a 6000mhz CL36 kit. Plz look for CL30 kit.

 

[Poncke]

I just noticed that the flare X5 is a 6000mhz CL36 kit. Plz look for CL30 kit.

I just checked my shopping cart and it shows so I am good, thanks for pointing this out.

32GB G.Skill Flare X5 schwarz DDR5-6000 DIMM CL30 Dual Kit

 

[Poncke]

Hello, just to share the reply from Noctua. Basically their cooler doesn't sit above the RAM slots because its smaller.

The NH-U12S offers 100% RAM clearance and will be compatible with your RAM modules.

The blue, red, and green rectangles on the image show the socket zones. This is a zone around the socket where no other components can be placed on the motherboard. In other words, the picture shows that the cooler is compatible with almost all motherboards due to its small size.

The socket zone does not directly affect the RAM compatibility, however.

I'm sorry that this picture was a bit misleading.