CPU Cooler vs RAM vs MoBo
Yesterday I started my 3rd (Personal) PC build, an AM4 build, and ran into a problem I'd not had before with my LGA 1156 and AM3+ builds before.
The Cooler Master Hyper T4 CPU cooler doesn't give enough clearance on my Gigabyte Aorus GA-AX370 K7 MoBo with what I consider a not-outrageously-tall CORSAIR Vengeance LED 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 3200 Model CMU16GX4M2C3200C16B...
I needed the / (an) aftermarket cooler because the Ryzen 1700X doesn't come with a stock cooler.
This dimensional real-estate problem seems a bit crazy. Granted, this is my first aftermarket CPU Cooler I've tried to install on a personal build, but there were no warnings from Cooler Master, or from Gigabyte, to look out for such things. Was this something I was just supposed to know about? Do the three manufactures even provide enough information to accurately predict compatibility before ordering the parts?? spoiler, no... almost none at all
Who's problem is it?
Obviously it's now my problem.. but who started it? Was it Cooler Master, the CPU Cooler manufacture, or maybe Gigabyte, the Motherboard manufacture. What about Corsair and that not-outrageously-tall tall RAM?
My best answer is that while not a single of the three manufactures can really be singled out for a problem like this, it's really up to the builder to do the proper homework to check for proper compatibility. But this is where I would put all three manufactures at fault for not providing the information needed to avoiding this compatibility problem.
They could at least provide dimensional specifications (of which I found little to none directly from any of the three to help directly with this issue).
First
Motherboard Manufactures need to provide the clearance specs (in mm please) between the center of the CPU and the nearest RAM slot
Second
RAM Manufactures NEED to provide the dimensional specifications of the chips they're selling!! is that really that hard?
Third
After market cooler manufactures need to be sure to provide all the needed dimensions to determine clearance.. and a warning for such a thing would be GREAT.
The only information of the three listed above that I was able to find from the manufactures was Cooler Master lists the total product height a radiator height for the Hyper T4... which you can use both to figure a rough difference for vertical clearance. But without RAM height, this is somewhat irrelevant . Also, since Cooler Master does provide the width of the CPU cooler, you can also determine how far the horizontal encroachment is. Which is also somewhat irrelevant if you don't have the spec from the Motherboard manufacturer...
The CMU16GX4M2C3200C16B is about 50mm tall from the MoBo BTW (not provided by Corsair).. While the Hyper T4 seems to be about 37mm of vertical clearance and about 7-10mm too much horizontal encroachment of RAM slot 2 on the K7 MoBo.. ~15mm or so for slot 4 (which is to the left of slot 2 in the picture)..
So what now?
Lesson learned. The chances of all Motherboard, RAM, and CPU Cooler manufacturers coming together to even just provide the needed information for PC Builder to figure this out on his/her own before ordering is unlikely.
ANSWER:
Only buy RAM and CPU coolers combos you KNOW will work with your board. OR even easier, get a nice liquid cool unit!
NOTE:...look out for PC case incompatibilities with some liquid cool units
I ended up returning the Cooler and ordered a Corsair Hydro Series H100i V2 Extreme Performance Water / Liquid CPU Cooler. 240mm (CW-9060025-WW).
Which is compatible with the Fractal Design Meshify C FD-CA-MESH-C-BKO-TG ATX Mid Tower Computer Case I got AND I have the AM4 bracket on order from Corsair
I'd also chose to send back the CMU16GX4M2C3200C16B RAM for G.SKILL Flare X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 3200 AMD X370 Model F4-3200C14D-16GFX.
We'll see how this turns out. Check out my current parts list if you'd like: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/NeoIcarus/saved/y2VdCJ
Oh yeah, and this is my first Steemit post, with no real intro or anything. Maybe next time..
You can find me
https://steemit.com/@chrisdemis
https://twitter.com/chrisdemis
Crypto Tips
Bitcoin:
1DemisCPd1vdjKgWX7v99iNAmmNLXmhYap
Ethereum:
0x8325b1620C1E71a85342c4D5886b5B1eBa4aA2E6
I believe the aftermarket cooler you are using is a lot bigger than the AMD Spectre coolers right? (I'm just going off looks here). But yeah, you have a great point. With so much variation in ram... Some being small and sleek and some having massive heatsinks, so many different CPU sockets and sizes, and so many different purpose coolers.... We definitely need some more info!
Yes, the Cooler Master Hyper T4 is much bigger:
While AMD Stock coolers are pretty tiny in comparison:
That's really frustrating... I've heard the AMD coolers are amazing for their size and the fact they are air cooled, but I haven't actually seen any stats. It's not like you can test CPU coolers before you buy them... You sorta just have to hope they will fit
Congratulations @chrisdemis! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCongratulations @chrisdemis! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP