Noctua's Offset Mounting Bars Can Lower AM5 CPU Temps

Noctua
(Image credit: Noctua)

AMD's latest Ryzen 7000-series processors based on the Zen 4 microarchitecture have been heavily criticized for their high temperatures. The use of expensive high-performance coolers is a radical way to ensure proper cooling, but Noctua now offers a bit cheaper way to reduce CPU temperature by up to 3°C: offsetting CPU mounting by 7mm using special bars.

The core complex dies (CCDs) of AMD's Ryzen 7000-series processors — the hottest components of the CPU — do not reside in the center of the unit, but are skewed toward the socket's south side. Adjusting the heatsink's location over the CCDs and maximizing contact pressure there significantly boosts thermal performance, Noctua found.

While results may fluctuate due to factors such as heat flux densities, tolerances of the CPU and radiator, and thermal paste application, the offset mounting can still result in considerable core temperature reductions of 1–3°C on high-end AM5 processors, Noctua said. These improvements can help to effectively cool the CPU, achieve higher boost clock frequencies, or lower fan speeds and noise levels. Lowering temperatures and increasing boost frequencies makes a lot of sense as Ryzen 7000-series processors are ranked among the best CPUs for gaming and are used for gaming under high loads.

"We have experimented with offset mountings ever since AMD introduced its first chiplet processors that had the hotspot shifted toward the south side of the socket, but on AM4, we only saw relatively small improvements in the range of 0.5°C–1°C", says Roland Mossig, chief executive of Noctua CEO. "With the new AM5 platform and its different heat-spreader design, we managed to achieve typical improvements in the range of 1°C–3°C, so we think that this will be a very interesting performance upgrade for Ryzen 7000 users!"

(Image credit: Noctua)

Noctua offers a variety of offset mounting kits for AM4 and AM5 coolers depending on their mounting pitch (83mm vs. 78mm) and architecture (single tower vs dual tower). The company plans to offer four mounting kits: NM-AMB12, NM-AMB13, NM-AMB14, and NM-AMB15. 

(Image credit: Noctua)

Noctua's offset mounting bars can be purchased either through Noctua's official website or Amazon. They cost €3.90 when bought directly and €4.90 when obtained from Amazon, which essentially means that Noctua only charges for shipping. Starting in Q4, these mounting bars will be bundled with Noctua coolers.

The NM-AMB12, NM-AMB14, and NM-AMB15 bars are compatible with contemporary cooler models and are immediately available for purchase. The NM-AMB13 bars for older models will be available in a couple of weeks.

Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

  • TechieTwo
    I'm not sure who "all the people" are that are bitching about AMD's CPUs running hot as they are totally reasonable temps for modern performance oriented CPUs. Intel CPUs ran hotter than AMD CPUs for years and few people complained. I recall seeing an egg cooked on an Intel I386 many moons ago.
    Reply
  • TechieTwo said:
    I'm not sure who "all the people" are that are bitching about AMD's CPUs running hot as they are totally reasonable temps for modern performance oriented CPUs. Intel CPUs ran hotter than AMD CPUs for years and few people complained. I recall seeing an egg cooked on an Intel I386 many moons ago.

    Exactly. This is my first AMD build since 2001... and believe me... after running Intel for the last 20 years these AMD processors don't get hot at all.

    In a 68F ambient room my idle temps are a bit high (45-50C) on my 7950x3D... but temps while gaming and doing productivity are quite normal... 60-70C. A max 30 min all core burn test peaked at 89C with the D15 cooler. It went to 89C after 1 min and stayed there for 29 mins.

    Temps are fine... but this is pretty interesting and I just ordered the offset bracket. For $5 why not?
    Reply
  • Kamen Rider Blade
    TravisPNW said:
    Temps are fine... but this is pretty interesting and I just ordered the offset bracket. For $5 why not?
    Since you're going to have to re-mount anyways, you might also want to try the new hotness in Thermal Paste.

    The Corsair XTM70
    https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/zgp2hl/a_huge_comeback_corsairs_xtm70_thermal_paste/https://en.overclocking.com/review-corsair-xtm70-thermal-paste/
    Every review I've seen states that it's one of the top performing Thermal Pastes and has only recently came to market.
    Reply
  • Kamen Rider Blade said:
    Since you're going to have to re-mount anyways, you might also want to try the new hotness in Thermal Paste.

    The Corsair XTM70

    Every review I've seen states that it's one of the top performing Thermal Pastes and has only recently came to market.

    Done. I used MX-4 on the build but for $8 I'll try it... $13 total for the paste and the bracket. ETA Thursday... will update this thread with my thoughts after installation.

    Perfectly happy with temps as is... the D15 is a beast cooler... but for $13 why not? :)
    Reply
  • deesider
    TravisPNW said:
    Exactly. This is my first AMD build since 2001... and believe me... after running Intel for the last 20 years these AMD processors don't get hot at all.

    In a 68F ambient room my idle temps are a bit high (45-50C) on my 7950x3D... but temps while gaming and doing productivity are quite normal... 60-70C. A max 30 min all core burn test peaked at 89C with the D15 cooler. It went to 89C after 1 min and stayed there for 29 mins.

    Temps are fine... but this is pretty interesting and I just ordered the offset bracket. For $5 why not?
    I needed to undervolt my 12900K to get it down to 89C with a D15 :D
    Reply
  • hotaru.hino
    TravisPNW said:
    In a 68F ambient room my idle temps are a bit high (45-50C) on my 7950x3D... but temps while gaming and doing productivity are quite normal... 60-70C. A max 30 min all core burn test peaked at 89C with the D15 cooler. It went to 89C after 1 min and stayed there for 29 mins.
    You're also using an X3D version, which is has a lower default operating voltage, a lower TDP profile, and a lower Tj Max spec.

    TechieTwo said:
    I'm not sure who "all the people" are that are bitching about AMD's CPUs running hot as they are totally reasonable temps for modern performance oriented CPUs. Intel CPUs ran hotter than AMD CPUs for years and few people complained. I recall seeing an egg cooked on an Intel I386 many moons ago.
    My issue is the CPUs are using a lot of power for very little gain. Even dropping the power profile to 105W TDP barely drops performance (https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/09/ryzen-7600x-and-7950x-review-zen-4-starts-off-expensive-but-impressive/)

    However I would argue temperature is irrelevant here, because it depends on the cooling performance. But using less power means the same cooler doesn't have to work as hard.
    Reply
  • deesider said:
    I needed to undervolt my 12900K to get it down to 89C with a D15 :D
    Hahah... you're reminding me of my recent 7700k and 10900k builds. The 7700k was great after the delid... I lost 15C across the board. :ROFLMAO:


    hotaru.hino said:
    You're also using an X3D version, which is has a lower default operating voltage, a lower TDP profile, and a lower Tj Max spec.

    My issue is the CPUs are using a lot of power for very little gain.

    Yep... and that's just one of the reasons I went with the x3D variant. Why burn all the added power and have the higher thermals with a 7950x or a 13900k? AMD should really be using this as part of their marketing strategy.
    Reply
  • 10tacle
    deesider said:
    I needed to undervolt my 12900K to get it down to 89C with a D15

    Surely you know that is way out of spec norm with that cooler. You have a serious contact and/or paste issue with your heatsink on the processor. I also have a D15 with my overclocked 11700K (5.0GHz on all 8 cores) sitting in a high volume air cooled case, and right now in summer indoor ambient temps of 79C, it doesn't get more than 72-75C on the warmest cores. That's with the assigned PWM motherboard fan curve setting of 75C at 80% fan speed (90% at 80C, 100% at 85C). You should be in high 70s/low 80s under load with that cooler if overclocked to 5.0GHz all cores, let alone stock. And I'm basing that on Tom's own review of the 12700K with a Corsair H115i AIO cooler which is comparable to the D15 in performance.
    Reply
  • 10tacle said:
    Surely you know that is way out of spec norm with that cooler.

    Yeah the D15 is really an amazing cooler. I heard all about the Peerless Assassin but I went with Noctua based on their reputation and service.

    I am looking forward to reseating the cooler with this new bracket and new paste... will also give me another look at how well my "pea sized drop" in the middle of the CPU turned out. This will be the 2nd time after I swapped out a dead processor and board as part of the implosion drama back in April.

    Paste covered the entire IHS and looked good without being overboard... so expecting the same this time.
    Reply
  • 10tacle
    TravisPNW said:
    I am looking forward to reseating the cooler with this new bracket and new paste... will also give me another look at how well my "pea sized drop" in the middle of the CPU turned out.

    And that reminds me that another thing about overclocking makes a difference: what paste do you use? I use Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut which is among the top performers. For reference it performs about 3C cooler than the popular Arctic Silver 5. I applied it to my RTX 3080 Ti as well.
    Reply