Question(s) regarding the Noctua NH-D15 cpu cooler

[Qu9ke]

I have a couple questions regarding the NH-D15.

1. Given the sheer size of this beast, will it get in the way of my ram on the mobo? I'm thinking about getting the ASRock AB350M Pro4 micro atx mobo. Pcpartpicker says my mobo and this cooler are compatible, but I don't know how much I can trust that.

Edit: I didn't think to just look at the measurements of my ram to see if I have clearance. Derp. I'll see if I can find the specs for them now. For what it's worth, these are what I plan on getting. https://pcpartpicker.com/product/sq...-x-8gb-ddr4-2400-memory-tdged416g2400hc14dc01

2. Will I need a separately available mounting adapter for this cooler to fit on the mobo properly? Pcpartpicker says that that is a possibility.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[DrMrLordX]

If you get the AM4 SE D15 then you will have the AM4 mounting hardware right there in the box. As far as RAM compatibility goes, there are two ways of dealing with it. Well three actually:

1). Get 32mm height RAM, like Corsair Vengeance LPX or just generic small heatspreader/no heatspreader RAM. No muss, no fuss.

2). Get whatever height RAM you want and run the two fans mounted in the center and the side opposite the RAM.

3). Get . . . I think it's 42mm height RAM or smaller and, when mounting one of the fans on the RAM side of the HSF, adjust its height upwards which the fan clips allow, setting the fan just over the top of the DIMMs. Works just fine with the stock fans. If you mount square/"box" 140mm fans, you need to get the NF-A14 fan clips from Noctua, and there's no guarantee that your RAM will fit underneath one of those beasts as the clips for those types of 140mm fans provide a bit less flexibility. In fact I think the square fans may even prevent the use of standard 32mm height RAM.

My strategy was to use Corsair Vengeance LPX and two NF-A14 fans (3000 rpm industrial; very loud, very strong). I have a stock NH-D15 fan (I got the D15S which only comes with one fan, got the AM4 kit shipped from Noctua) over the RAM, and the NF-A14s mounted in the middle and on the end. It works. Since my RAM height is only 32mm, I have the stock fan positioned in its optimal centered position. No need to raise it to accommodate heatspreaders.

 

[Rifter]

I have had both Gskill ripjaws and the new Gskill FlareX Ram on my mobo with my D15 and they fit no problem, could even go with higher heatsinks on the ram. I did option 2 mentioned above though and have the fans in the middle on on the rear of the heatsink none on the same side as the ram.

 

[dlerious]

Can't you rotate the NH-D15 so that it's moving air up/down or left/right?

 

[DrMrLordX]

You can rotate it 90 degrees, though that can actually be worse. It's wide enough that it can still block RAM slots, and you can also block the first PCIe slot with that configuration, depending on how you rotate it.