Noctua NH-C14 Installation

[FlutterGuy]

Hi,

I bought a Noctua NH-C14 recently for my i5-3570k in response to how lackluster the stock Intel heatsink is. I installed it, following the instructions to the letter, but the computer wouldn't boot properly afterwards. No signal would be sent to the monitor, mouse or keyboard, and the LAN socket lights were off. In addition, the memory warning light ('MemOK' on an Asus P8Z77-v mobo) was on, indicating a memory error. (For a fuller description of a virtually identical issue, see this thread)

After reinstalling the stock heatsink, everything was back to normal. Has anybody else experienced this problem, or have any idea what might have caused this error?

Thanks,

John

 

[drums101]

maybe you bumped the ram while installing the new heatsink and they popped out of the socket a little? or is the cooler soo big that it touches the ram? (this shouldnt be an issue but there is a possibility) I would try reinstalling the new cooler and make sure that it clears the ram and that everything is seated ok....there is no way a cooler can cause issues like this unless it is causing something to ground out...you had to have bumped something.

 

[FlutterGuy]

My first thought was that maybe I'd knocked one of the RAM chips out; the first thing I tried was reseating the RAM. I then tried installing different RAM chips, and refitting the heatsink while taking extreme care to not bump the RAM. None of these actions made any difference.

I did notice a slight excess of TIM on the new heatsink after I took it out. It had build up around the outline of where the processor was. Could this have caused a short circuit?

 

[evilqueens]

My first thought was that maybe I'd knocked one of the RAM chips out; the first thing I tried was reseating the RAM. I then tried installing different RAM chips, and refitting the heatsink while taking extreme care to not bump the RAM. None of these actions made any difference.

I did notice a slight excess of TIM on the new heatsink after I took it out. It had build up around the outline of where the processor was. Could this have caused a short circuit?

Thermal paste is usually non-conductive - I don't think its a shorting issue. Especially since everything worked when you connected the stock heatsink back on.

It's possible something got bumped, but if you say you didn't, then there has to be another reason. Did you make sure that the fans are connected properly to the right CPU fan headers? If you are using LNA or ULNA adapters, sometimes, not enough starting current is provided to the fans and they won't operate - which may be why you're getting the weird issues you are having.

EDIT: I read that other thread - I trust that you've connected the 8-pin supplemental power for the CPU
On a side note, I hope this issue is a random occurrence and not something fundamentally wrong with Noctua coolers as I just bought a D14 and I'm going to install it soon!

 

[drums101]

I dont think this is an issue with the heatsink it doesnt make sense that the cooler can cause this....I think something just got bumped and its a random occurance...to the OP try reinstalling the heatsink again and see if the problem comes back

 

[FlutterGuy]

I dont think this is an issue with the heatsink it doesnt make sense that the cooler can cause this....I think something just got bumped and its a random occurance...to the OP try reinstalling the heatsink again and see if the problem comes back

I've reinstalled it, tightening it as much as possible, being modest with the TIM and being careful not to knock anything out of place. It now works fine.

On a side note, it's giving me an idle CPU temperature of 20 °C. And that's with only one of the fans, and without the side panel fans. This cooler is really impressive, once you get it installed!

 

[drums101]

whats your ambient temp? 20c is like 68f so unless your room is really cold that reading is off.....which is not surprising bc of the way temp probes read the temps of the die the readings are most accurate around 40-50c and less accurate when it gets lower than that and much higher than that...but yes that cooler is supposedly one of the best air coolers you can buy so it will perform great for you

 

[FlutterGuy]

whats your ambient temp? 20c is like 68f so unless your room is really cold that reading is off.....which is not surprising bc of the way temp probes read the temps of the die the readings are most accurate around 40-50c and less accurate when it gets lower than that and much higher than that...but yes that cooler is supposedly one of the best air coolers you can buy so it will perform great for you

With the case fully set up it's averaging around 24C, ambient is probably about 15C. The really impressive thing is it's in the mid-30s now, running BF3 at full spec (along with a GTX670). That's really impressive, since it was hitting 70 with the stock cooler.

 

[drums101]

yea those are some impressive temps for sure...gives you alot of headroom for a healthy oc lol

 

[evilqueens]

With the case fully set up it's averaging around 24C, ambient is probably about 15C. The really impressive thing is it's in the mid-30s now, running BF3 at full spec (along with a GTX670). That's really impressive, since it was hitting 70 with the stock cooler.

Yikes! That's a chilly room, ambient of 15ºC?! Well, good on you - your silicon chips will be humming happiliy as they perform their operations

 

[FlutterGuy]

Yikes! That's a chilly room, ambient of 15ºC?! Well, good on you - your silicon chips will be humming happiliy as they perform their operations

I'd rather have the ambient even lower, but my flatmates insist on having the heating on.



For the record, I suspect the reason that the heatsink didn't work correctly is that the backplate wasn't quite fastened securely. One of the hex-tipped screws (you'll understand what I mean if you've used a SecuFirm kit) wasn't aligned right, meaning that the heatsink wasn't able to make good contact with the CPU. While I'm not quite convinced that this would cause the observed errors, it's the only possible thing I can think of that was done wrong, I checked everything else meticulously.

So to anyone who finds this thread and is having the same problem, make sure the backplate is fastened properly.

 

[mikolrayne]

Haha, you're one lucky guy.
My ambience is 32°C all year round. Even with my air conditioner turned on, it's 25°C.

Well, glad you solved your issue!
Happy overclocking!