New AMD Ryzen 3000 Overclocking Mounting Brackets Debut for Just $33

By Niels Broekhuijsen
published

A potential 7C gain without delidding? Sweet!

(Image credit: Caseking.de)

AMD's Ryzen 3000-series CPUs are based on a chiplet design, which means that there is one central I/O die with the CPU core dies placed next to it. Because of this, the heat doesn't come from the central spot on the heat spreader anymore, and for a long time there have been discussions on whether cooler placement and orientation matters. Some parties say it does matter, but others, such as Noctua, say it doesn't (at least on their coolers). Overclocker Der8auer, from Germany, does believe that cooler placement matters, particularly for AIOs that don't provide full coverage. With that in mind, he built a new set of mounting brackets that solve the problem.

The products he's built are the Ryzen 3000 OC Bracket AIO and the Ryzen 3000 OC Bracket Custom, which are built for all-in-one water coolers and custom water cooling loops, respectively. 

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Ryzen 3000 OC Bracket AIO (Image credit: Caseking.de)

The principle idea behind the brackets is that they allow you to adjust the placement of the liquid cooler's cold plate, as they're often round or too small to cover the entire CPU's heatspreader. By adjusting it, you'll be able to place the central part of the cold plate closer to the hot spot generated by the CPUs I/O and core dies. 

In his testing, Der8auer found that optimizing the placement can yield temperatures up to 7C lower than the standard placement. Of course, we would have to test this for ourselves to see if indeed it makes that big a difference. If it does, it's a pretty neat way to improve temperatures on Ryzen 3000 CPUs without delidding, which is quite difficult due to the dies lying below the height of the AM4 socket's mounting mechanism. 

(Image credit: Der8auer YouTube)

Der8auer tested the brackets on roughly 30 different AMD X570 motherboards with a handful of coolers and built up a compatibility list with the information. The overclocker has also compiled a list of exactly which deviations you should maintain in the X and Y axis to achieve optimal results, depending on which CPU you're using.

The Der8auer OC brackets are available in Germany from Caseking for just €30 per set ($33 USD). On their product pages (Ryzen 3000 OC Bracket AIO and the Ryzen 3000 OC Bracket Custom) you can also find the compatibility information per motherboard.

Niels Broekhuijsen
Niels Broekhuijsen

Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.

14 Comments Comment from the forums
  • hannibal
    From someone else I would consider this as a snake oil, but Der8auer has a tendency to be right when he says so. Interesting device in anyway and definitely a worth of investigation!
    Reply
  • alextheblue
    I use big air coolers like the aforementioned Noctuas, so I'm not going to buy one, but I would like to see them independently tested with an AIO. Always nice to know what works, so we're better able to make recommendations for those who do WC.
    Reply
  • Makaveli
    I would be interested in testing this but they only show the ASUS Prime X570-P on their list and I have the ASUS Prime X570-Pro though I can't see much difference between the boards by the socket.
    Reply
  • Kamen Rider Blade
    It makes sense given that the Micro Fin Channel array doesn't usually cover the whole Heat Spreader in most AiO's / Water Cooling blocks. When you overlay the the Micro Fin Channel array and compare it to where the CCD's are physically located on the Ryzen 3000 series chips, it makes sense.

    Shortest path for heat to travel and go straight out perpendicularly. And if the heat hits the flat side of the cooling block, it'll be the least optimum side for heat removale compared to the Micro Fin Channel array.
    Reply
  • techgeek
    I would like to see Tom's benchmark this along with others, I'll reserve my opinion for now. Also someone else mentioned the ASUS Prime X570 Pro, would like to know for sure if its compatible.
    Reply
  • hotaru251
    alextheblue said:
    but I would like to see them independently tested with an AIO
    same.
    I know in his video (comment) De8aur said he plans to make a video showing the difference in temps.

    Alas no compat with my MB.
    Reply
  • dalauder
    hannibal said:
    From someone else I would consider this as a snake oil, but Der8auer has a tendency to be right when he says so. Interesting device in anyway and definitely a worth of investigation!
    That's exactly what I was thinking. He's at least as reliable as info straight from AMD/Intel. (He's been to the Intel Overclocking Lab, right?)

    It's pretty crazy that there's pro-overclockers like him that are pretty much "tech celebrities". Is he the one that made the Intel de-lidding tool a couple years back?
    Reply
  • Kamen Rider Blade
    dalauder said:
    It's pretty crazy that there's pro-overclockers like him that are pretty much "tech celebrities". Is he the one that made the Intel de-lidding tool a couple years back?

    Yup, that's him.
    Reply
  • escksu
    hannibal said:
    From someone else I would consider this as a snake oil, but Der8auer has a tendency to be right when he says so. Interesting device in anyway and definitely a worth of investigation!

    Errr....why would be it a snake oil?? This is just a bracket to allow you to offset the waterblock.

    Although real gain may not be 7C but there will definite be some minor gains (depending on your block design and surface of the heat spreader too).

    For those big water blocks, I doubt there will much much of a difference. But for small blocks, it will be visible.
    Reply
  • dalauder
    escksu said:
    Errr....why would be it a snake oil?? This is just a bracket to allow you to offset the waterblock.
    Because tons of people sell tech items that are supposed to improve performance, such as fans for RAM. If it were from someone else, I'd have no reason to assume they knew better than AMD about applying heatsinks or dissipating heat, "but Der8auer has a tendency to be right when he says so."
    Reply