- Nov 9, 2015
- 20
- 0
- 4,510
On my i7 6700K build, to save money was trying to utilise an old case, but as learnt about various components and matching and maximising performance of them all realised this was a false economy, that would have meant none of the maximum performances would've be available due to limited cooling and was wanting a quiet pc, but the older case had no sound damping aspects. I have posted to the thread on case choices, as came a cross another poster with a similar choice.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2858298/fractal-design-quiet-base-600.html
I had originally ordered a BeQuiet Shadow Rock slim air cooler, thinking it was lot better than the stock fans and many of the most popular entry level air coolers, but on checking out performance with overclocking discovered that the slim model was designed for base usage without any overclocking. Managed to get a return accepted, along with 2 smaller fans that at 80mm wouldn't fit modern cases. I decided using one of the latest cases, a Fractal Design R5.
Next is to get an optimum cooler, air or water. I like the ultimate quietness of air cooling without any water pump noises along with louder fans on some models. Aldo have read about leaks and a leak on expensive components could be s disaster and cant afford to replace pc. The disadvantage of big air coolers are the weight and size, although with a decent fitting bracket should be ok.
After checking performance levels of all the models, have moved away from what I was going to go for. Instead of the Shadow rock slim, that is good for general computing, but totally failed when overclocking and struggled to meet stock settings on 6700K, according to several reports, I was going to go for the higher performance BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro3, that did meet stock settings, but on test bench results on full overclocking, this failed as temperatures went too high, although in normal usage it probably is fine. But one model that’s outstanding is Noctua NH-D15 which performed well under the toughest of tests. In fact the performance is so good it exceeds all the entry level and matches or slightly exceeds even most of the popular mid-range water coolers. The only cooling that beats it is the most extreme top range super overclocking water cooling options. I am going to overclock but not to the extra range, a comfortable regular working range.
Noctua NH-D15 http://noctua.at/en/products/cpu-cooler-retail/nh-d15.html#.Vk3FceKYAvk There is also a new single fan version NH-D15S This new version using one fan, has performance when overclocked showing only 0.94 degC higher than the dual fan setup on NH-D15
http://noctua.at/en/nh-d15s.html#.Vk3JhuKYAvk only this does not seem too widely available, also if get the double fan version, can install it with just one fan and use the second fan for an extra high performance low noise case cooling fan.
I have decided to go for G Skill Triendt Z high performance fast Ram either in 2 or 4 slots depending on if I go for 16Gb or 32GB, so shall use either 2 or 4 DIMM slots on the mainboard, an Asus Z170A as this board has all the specs I wanted and the extra cost of the Deluxe didn’t add features required and didn’t need a gaming prioritised board and in nay case it has plenty of gaming options too, seems a good mid range board an d fully Skylake compatible.
My concerns were if the board can accommodate the weight of the Noctua NH-D15, but with careful and secure fitting into the Fractal Design case, I think it should be fine. The consequences of a damaged board due to weight would be a new board, although if handled carefully weight distribution and fitting should be fine, but a water cooling leak could ruin all components. And many tests show this air cooler equals many mid range water coolers, but is also quieter well as no water leakage risks.
Because of fusing the TridentZ, which I am well pleased with the choice, am awaiting delivery, and the same would apply for Ripjaw IV or Vs, or Dominator Platinum, the clearance for the side fan of the air cooler over the ram is well known to be an issue. Options include raising height of fan from mainboard. The following video at around 6:15 shows adapted with outer fan raised for higher profile ram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtYMX73XsDw it also mentions weight, but appears to be well secured to the board. Raising the outer fan is facilitated by utilising the clip fan fitting. The height of cooling unit with fan 165mm http://noctua.at/en/products/cpu-cooler-retail/nh-d15.html#.Vk3FceKYAvk so if a wide computer case is used, could accommodate the extra height. For Fractal Design R5 case maximum height from mainboard that can be accommodated is 180mm http://www.fractal-design.com/media/f17f104d-ad97-437b-b8a0-f48dd425d988 , so room to add up to an extra 15mm over ram DIMMs.
Other alternatives include only installing the middle fan, but that has a performance reduction from using one instead of two fans, however it appears to be not a very large reduction, following test indicates 2 degC with i5 running at near 4.5GHz http://en.watercooled.ch/noctua-nh-d15-review/ although when overclocking it is preferable to get maximum cooling, so use two fans if possible, although it still appears to meet according to that benchmark test, heat reduction on one fan even. Also the case I'm using comes with 2 pre-installed fans, but I'm considering getting an extra front fan and possibly install 1 roof fan to add to the 1xfront and 1xrear included fans. This would increase input airflow but also output near to the CPU mainboard, so may more than make up for only installing one fan attached to the cooler, the most important central one. Also using the Fractal Design case, installing a second front fan and removing the middle drive bay unit could allow a direct airflow from the front intake fan in line with the cooler anyway, as well as the standard outlet fan behind the mainboard and cooler. This airflow setup could probably be done on many cases by removing the central drive cage and installing a second input fan in that location.
I was wondering whether it's possible to of course install the provided 140mm fan, but instead of using the included second 140mm fan above the Ram DIMMs, to utilise that fan by installing it as a quality fan as intake or output depending on orientation in as extra cooling in the case, then instead getting a smaller fan, say 120mm, if would fit or less if necessary, that is small enough to give clearance to high profile ram. Another high quality quiet fan could be used or an LED one that is as good as possible in low noise to keep the build a slow noise, could add colour if using a window side panel. That way the high quality Noctua fan would still be utilised, but meaning a second cooling fan to the profile would still be set up for airflow across the cooler.
There is a 12mm height difference between the top of Trident Z Ram and the front fan edge. If raise fans, using clip on cooler by 14mm this allows 2mm clearance above the ram fins and takes the height of the top edge of attached fan to the cooler from 165mm to 179mm, so 1mm within panel specifications for Fractal Design R5 case. If combine changing the outer fan to a smaller front fan with raising the height using the clip fitting, this means get larger clearances above ram and from case. The smaller fan could be ordered from Noctua to match design and colour, and maintain same low noise high performance, possibly with a slightly lower bench mark although it may be very close as the only difference would be being 120mm fan at front instead of 140mm and of course keeping the central 140mm fan. Noctua additional fans, if could be fitted include 92mm at 2000rpm http://noctua.at/en/products/fan/nf-a9-pwm.html#.Vk3ygOKYAvk or 2200rpm http://noctua.at/en/products/fan/nf-a9x14-pwm.html#.Vk3z7uKYAvk
Although these are much faster may need to consider balance with 1500rpm central fan, then again as the central fan is bigger volume of air may be similar. If want to go for identical airflow could use 120mm fans for middle and outer such as Noctua http://www.dvtests.com/noctua-nh-d15-test-and-review/ and http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cooling/69073-noctua-nh-d15/?page=3
In terms of using 2 different size sof fans it appears that BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro 3 does just that with a 1x120mm and a 1x135mm fan an dboth running at up to 1700rpm http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cooling/69073-noctua-nh-d15/?page=2 but bench test reviews show a significantly higher performance of the NH-D15, although the dark Rock pro 3 is actually also very good, but the advantage of the Noctua comes to the fore when tested on mid to higher overclocking where this difference can make all the difference.
There may be the option to add a third fan of 120mm or 140mm, which from searching appears to indicate only a very small improvement, normally not making it worth it, however that small improvement may compensate for using the 120 instead of 140mm at the front. And the spare front fan could then instead be fitted on the back with extra fan ordered for the front, or if not used in a three fan configuration could be used as an extra fan anywhere else on the case for extra cooling and airflow.
Other alternatives could be replacing one or both of the high quality low noise 1500rpm max fans included with the air cooler, whilst re-using them in another part of the case, with alternative low noise ones such as BeQuiet Shadow or Silent wings 2, or some may like adding colour with Led fans, although these may not be a slow noise could fit a colour theme. Also wondering if cooling properties could be boosted further by adding fans that had faster fan speeds, for example the BeQuiet 92mm fans are at 1800rpm http://www.bequiet.com/en/casefans/323
, with 120mm fans at 1500rpm http://www.bequiet.com/en/casefans/322
Also the faster speed may be compensating for being smaller, but 92mm could be ideal to give plenty of clearance over the ram. So on the outer fan, instead of using the 140mm fan could use 120mm or 92mm over the Ram DIMMS or just use a faster 140mm centre fan, that is in addition to having several case fans.
From looking at this cooler differences between air and liquid cooling seem diminished. Advantages of a top quality air cooler like this include very low noise and also having a cooling effect on nearby components, including the Ram, as well as the CPU, plus no risk of water leaks. This air cooler seems to provide all the necessary properties combined with correctly installed other components and good case airflow, to be able to use the latest Intel i5s and i7s processors up to mid to high overclocking, with only extreme overclocking setups requiring specialised high end water cooling.
Started out asking the question what to go for high performance air cooler or mid range water cooler, after going into these details am about to go ahead and order the Noctua and modify the outer fan to fit with the G.Skill Tridents, in a Fractal Design window case.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2858298/fractal-design-quiet-base-600.html
I had originally ordered a BeQuiet Shadow Rock slim air cooler, thinking it was lot better than the stock fans and many of the most popular entry level air coolers, but on checking out performance with overclocking discovered that the slim model was designed for base usage without any overclocking. Managed to get a return accepted, along with 2 smaller fans that at 80mm wouldn't fit modern cases. I decided using one of the latest cases, a Fractal Design R5.
Next is to get an optimum cooler, air or water. I like the ultimate quietness of air cooling without any water pump noises along with louder fans on some models. Aldo have read about leaks and a leak on expensive components could be s disaster and cant afford to replace pc. The disadvantage of big air coolers are the weight and size, although with a decent fitting bracket should be ok.
After checking performance levels of all the models, have moved away from what I was going to go for. Instead of the Shadow rock slim, that is good for general computing, but totally failed when overclocking and struggled to meet stock settings on 6700K, according to several reports, I was going to go for the higher performance BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro3, that did meet stock settings, but on test bench results on full overclocking, this failed as temperatures went too high, although in normal usage it probably is fine. But one model that’s outstanding is Noctua NH-D15 which performed well under the toughest of tests. In fact the performance is so good it exceeds all the entry level and matches or slightly exceeds even most of the popular mid-range water coolers. The only cooling that beats it is the most extreme top range super overclocking water cooling options. I am going to overclock but not to the extra range, a comfortable regular working range.
Noctua NH-D15 http://noctua.at/en/products/cpu-cooler-retail/nh-d15.html#.Vk3FceKYAvk There is also a new single fan version NH-D15S This new version using one fan, has performance when overclocked showing only 0.94 degC higher than the dual fan setup on NH-D15
http://noctua.at/en/nh-d15s.html#.Vk3JhuKYAvk only this does not seem too widely available, also if get the double fan version, can install it with just one fan and use the second fan for an extra high performance low noise case cooling fan.
I have decided to go for G Skill Triendt Z high performance fast Ram either in 2 or 4 slots depending on if I go for 16Gb or 32GB, so shall use either 2 or 4 DIMM slots on the mainboard, an Asus Z170A as this board has all the specs I wanted and the extra cost of the Deluxe didn’t add features required and didn’t need a gaming prioritised board and in nay case it has plenty of gaming options too, seems a good mid range board an d fully Skylake compatible.
My concerns were if the board can accommodate the weight of the Noctua NH-D15, but with careful and secure fitting into the Fractal Design case, I think it should be fine. The consequences of a damaged board due to weight would be a new board, although if handled carefully weight distribution and fitting should be fine, but a water cooling leak could ruin all components. And many tests show this air cooler equals many mid range water coolers, but is also quieter well as no water leakage risks.
Because of fusing the TridentZ, which I am well pleased with the choice, am awaiting delivery, and the same would apply for Ripjaw IV or Vs, or Dominator Platinum, the clearance for the side fan of the air cooler over the ram is well known to be an issue. Options include raising height of fan from mainboard. The following video at around 6:15 shows adapted with outer fan raised for higher profile ram https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtYMX73XsDw it also mentions weight, but appears to be well secured to the board. Raising the outer fan is facilitated by utilising the clip fan fitting. The height of cooling unit with fan 165mm http://noctua.at/en/products/cpu-cooler-retail/nh-d15.html#.Vk3FceKYAvk so if a wide computer case is used, could accommodate the extra height. For Fractal Design R5 case maximum height from mainboard that can be accommodated is 180mm http://www.fractal-design.com/media/f17f104d-ad97-437b-b8a0-f48dd425d988 , so room to add up to an extra 15mm over ram DIMMs.
Other alternatives include only installing the middle fan, but that has a performance reduction from using one instead of two fans, however it appears to be not a very large reduction, following test indicates 2 degC with i5 running at near 4.5GHz http://en.watercooled.ch/noctua-nh-d15-review/ although when overclocking it is preferable to get maximum cooling, so use two fans if possible, although it still appears to meet according to that benchmark test, heat reduction on one fan even. Also the case I'm using comes with 2 pre-installed fans, but I'm considering getting an extra front fan and possibly install 1 roof fan to add to the 1xfront and 1xrear included fans. This would increase input airflow but also output near to the CPU mainboard, so may more than make up for only installing one fan attached to the cooler, the most important central one. Also using the Fractal Design case, installing a second front fan and removing the middle drive bay unit could allow a direct airflow from the front intake fan in line with the cooler anyway, as well as the standard outlet fan behind the mainboard and cooler. This airflow setup could probably be done on many cases by removing the central drive cage and installing a second input fan in that location.
I was wondering whether it's possible to of course install the provided 140mm fan, but instead of using the included second 140mm fan above the Ram DIMMs, to utilise that fan by installing it as a quality fan as intake or output depending on orientation in as extra cooling in the case, then instead getting a smaller fan, say 120mm, if would fit or less if necessary, that is small enough to give clearance to high profile ram. Another high quality quiet fan could be used or an LED one that is as good as possible in low noise to keep the build a slow noise, could add colour if using a window side panel. That way the high quality Noctua fan would still be utilised, but meaning a second cooling fan to the profile would still be set up for airflow across the cooler.
There is a 12mm height difference between the top of Trident Z Ram and the front fan edge. If raise fans, using clip on cooler by 14mm this allows 2mm clearance above the ram fins and takes the height of the top edge of attached fan to the cooler from 165mm to 179mm, so 1mm within panel specifications for Fractal Design R5 case. If combine changing the outer fan to a smaller front fan with raising the height using the clip fitting, this means get larger clearances above ram and from case. The smaller fan could be ordered from Noctua to match design and colour, and maintain same low noise high performance, possibly with a slightly lower bench mark although it may be very close as the only difference would be being 120mm fan at front instead of 140mm and of course keeping the central 140mm fan. Noctua additional fans, if could be fitted include 92mm at 2000rpm http://noctua.at/en/products/fan/nf-a9-pwm.html#.Vk3ygOKYAvk or 2200rpm http://noctua.at/en/products/fan/nf-a9x14-pwm.html#.Vk3z7uKYAvk
Although these are much faster may need to consider balance with 1500rpm central fan, then again as the central fan is bigger volume of air may be similar. If want to go for identical airflow could use 120mm fans for middle and outer such as Noctua http://www.dvtests.com/noctua-nh-d15-test-and-review/ and http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cooling/69073-noctua-nh-d15/?page=3
In terms of using 2 different size sof fans it appears that BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro 3 does just that with a 1x120mm and a 1x135mm fan an dboth running at up to 1700rpm http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cooling/69073-noctua-nh-d15/?page=2 but bench test reviews show a significantly higher performance of the NH-D15, although the dark Rock pro 3 is actually also very good, but the advantage of the Noctua comes to the fore when tested on mid to higher overclocking where this difference can make all the difference.
There may be the option to add a third fan of 120mm or 140mm, which from searching appears to indicate only a very small improvement, normally not making it worth it, however that small improvement may compensate for using the 120 instead of 140mm at the front. And the spare front fan could then instead be fitted on the back with extra fan ordered for the front, or if not used in a three fan configuration could be used as an extra fan anywhere else on the case for extra cooling and airflow.
Other alternatives could be replacing one or both of the high quality low noise 1500rpm max fans included with the air cooler, whilst re-using them in another part of the case, with alternative low noise ones such as BeQuiet Shadow or Silent wings 2, or some may like adding colour with Led fans, although these may not be a slow noise could fit a colour theme. Also wondering if cooling properties could be boosted further by adding fans that had faster fan speeds, for example the BeQuiet 92mm fans are at 1800rpm http://www.bequiet.com/en/casefans/323
, with 120mm fans at 1500rpm http://www.bequiet.com/en/casefans/322
Also the faster speed may be compensating for being smaller, but 92mm could be ideal to give plenty of clearance over the ram. So on the outer fan, instead of using the 140mm fan could use 120mm or 92mm over the Ram DIMMS or just use a faster 140mm centre fan, that is in addition to having several case fans.
From looking at this cooler differences between air and liquid cooling seem diminished. Advantages of a top quality air cooler like this include very low noise and also having a cooling effect on nearby components, including the Ram, as well as the CPU, plus no risk of water leaks. This air cooler seems to provide all the necessary properties combined with correctly installed other components and good case airflow, to be able to use the latest Intel i5s and i7s processors up to mid to high overclocking, with only extreme overclocking setups requiring specialised high end water cooling.
Started out asking the question what to go for high performance air cooler or mid range water cooler, after going into these details am about to go ahead and order the Noctua and modify the outer fan to fit with the G.Skill Tridents, in a Fractal Design window case.
I am in the same situation as you was. I have the fractal design r5, i7 6700k and the asus z170 mobo. The problem is that i cant choose the cpu cooler. I have HyperX Savage 2666 mhz cl13 2x8 gb ram, and they are 1.35 volt. They are 34,5 mm tall and noctua say that it only support 32 mm tall ram with a dual fan setup. I got the hyperx savage 30% off so i dont want to return them to get low profile ram. I want low profile ram because i want a noctua nh d15. I see that you have a noctua nh d15 and trident z ram that are not low profile ram, how did you do it? Did you move the fan up a bit or did you do it in another way? I cant wait to build my pc, but i cant decide what cooler :/
Do you think moving the fan up makes the cpu to heat more because the fan is not where it should be or do you think it has minimal to none difference? Are you using the two 140mm fans on the D15 or are you using one 120mm and one 140mm? And by the way, can you tell me your'e specs and how you're fan setup is? I am intrested 
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