890FXA-UD5 problem with a Arctic Freezer Pro CPU cooler

[Gavster]

I have just started into the build of a new PC using the 890FXA-UD5 motherboard, but have found (to my annoyance) that the CPU cooler I have won't fit on the board because the DIMM slots are too close to the CPU.

The CPU cooler that I thought would be ideal for this board is the Arctic cooler Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2, which can sit over the CPU facing towards or away from the "GIGABYTE" 890FX heatsink. My first thoughts for this choice of Artic cooler was to use it to channel warm air through the vents at the top of my case by facing the fan away from the 890FX heatsink, which I think is the most thermally efficent setup. However, this cooler will fit if only there are only 2 sticks of DDR3 in the DIMM slots, but with 4 sticks it is a no-go.

The reason for the misfit is a mystery   There is lots of space between the "Ultra Durable" MOSFET heatsink and the CPU, but none on the DIMM side. When the Artic cooler is installed, it overhangs the first DIMM slot by about one or two milimeters, making it impossible to install a 4th stick of DDR3 in that slot, regardless of whether DDR3 has cooling fins.

Well, I have made my mistake, and had my rant, but has anyone had any experiece with what they think is the best cooler fan for this board? I should say that my top priority is a quiet fan setup, so I am not looking for either a water cooled or passive cooling solution. If you could also say which way around you have placed your fan, and why you think this is the best setup, all the better.

I have seen one solution using a Kingwin XT-1264 cooler. Ththis layout makes seems to make sense because the direction of the fan suggest that warm air will be blow out the back of the case, but I looked around and I can't find one here in the UK. Let me know if you have any better ideas!

[Dark Mantis]

There are numerous great colers around and the one I like best is Xigmatek's Thor's Hammer and you can choose which fan to put on it. see here:
http://www.candccentral.co.uk/CPU-Heatsinks-And-Fans.html
Are you sure that you cant mount the fan on the other side of your hetasink so that it fits?

[absic]

Hi,

I am surprised that you say the cooler won't fit especially as I am using the Noctua NH-D14, which I believe is one of the largest Air Coolers on the market  on my GA-790XTA-UD4. (I know it is not the same Mobo but the layout and basic designs of the boards are the same)

OK, I had to remove the cooling fins from the RAM and the 120 cm fan sits over the first 2 dimm slots ( I have all 4 slots filled) but, it fits. Because of the size and design of the NH-D14 I have had to set it up to expel the warm air through the rear of the chassis but I don't see this as any sort of issue and the temps on my 1090T barely creep above 30°C

[Gavster]

Alas, putting the fan on the other side makes no difference. The problem with the Artic Cooler relative to this board is three fold:
  1.  it can only be mounted two ways, but never facing toward or away from the DIMMS, only parallel;
  2.  the fins are low down, close to the CPU, so the there is no "ceiling room" above the DIMMS, in fact there is a 4mm shortfall;
  3.  the cooler is is 10.4 cm (4.0 inches) wide, which means the fins pertrude over the 4th DIMM slot by one or two millimeters.

There seems to be a similar "limited clearance" problem with the Nocurna, as this picture illustrates, but it looks like it might work if I take off the fins off the DDR3 as you suggest, and although this is not a problem, I would really prefer not to do that as I like the look of my DDR3 fins as they are.

I think the proximity of the CPU to the DIMM slots  is a design flaw with the 890FXA-UD5. It would be better if there was a row of capacitors between the CPU and the DIMMS in the same way there is a row of them between the CPU and "Ultra Durable" MOSFET heatsink.

What a pain! I will have to clean the CPU of gunge and start again. I guess that serves me right for not thinking ahead....

[phayes]

I nearly got caught out by this when I was buying my 890GPA-UD3H + other bits recently. Luckily I saw this  http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1236/3/ review first and dropped the cooler from my 'basket' (and I didn't really need it anyway).

[Dark Mantis]

Is it not possible just to cut off a few fins from the offending part of the cooler. They are only thin and would cut easilly.

[Gavster]

 I love the idea of a kludge fix, but I just don't have the tools. I have a junior hacksaw, but it would still be like trying to cut the wings off a butterfly with a blunt knife. I think this one just has to go down to experience. I will see if I can get another cooler on the way home...

[Dark Mantis]

I think with the thickness of the fins in general a decent pair of scissors would do the job.

[absic]

As an indication of how the Noctua NH-D14 fits and also how it covers all of the memory slots I took this quick pic for you.



As you can see it blows the air through the cooler from front to back and there is very limited space around it!

[Dark Mantis]

Sh!t that's some mean cooler absic. By the way the second picture didn't load properly

[absic]

You can see why it dropped temps by so much over a stock cooler. See this thread for full info on temp drops: http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,1784.0.html

Only trouble I've had is that I had to remove the fins from the top of my Dominator RAM, disable all of the AMD Cool n Quiet and energy saving features and also, the Noctua fans don't like to use the motherboard fan headers. Other than that I can't fault it. It is actually the quietest component on my rig and the 2 fans on the 4850X2 make much more noise. In fact, I had to remove the aluminium shroud from the card as it was the only way to actually lower the volume!

Still, a little bit of mild modding never hurts! 

[Dark Mantis]

My sentiment exactly

I reckon it should be alright for about a 25Ghz OC @ 30degrees.

[absic]

Actually 4.2 Ghz at 32° - 38°C but still impressive.
As I don't actually overclock it is a little like overkill, using it in my rig, but my normal running temps are about 23° - 28°C which I am more than happy with. 

[Dark Mantis]

As you say, impressive figures. I still haven't given up on getting you water cooled yet

[absic]

You supply all of the kit and I'll switch!