ASRock 870 Extreme3: Owners question

Hello all.
This is geared towards people who own or know a lot about the ASRock 870 Extreme3 mobo.

My question is, I need a new CPU cooler for my AMD 955 chip as the stock fan is driving me nuts.

My concern is I am trying to find a nice cooler, but I am worried that some coolers will cover part of the DIMM bank. My DIMMS are fully populated with some G.Skill RAM, with slightly tall heatsinks on the RAM.

With that in mind, I wanted to make sure whatever cooler I buy does not cover part of the DIMM banks which could result in the CPU heatsink touching the memory heatsinks on the memory.

Can anyone confirm or suggest a good cooler that takes into consideration my concerns?

Thanks.

SEk

I run that same motherboard but I have ram with low profile heatsinks, which I always go for because of the very problem you ask about. Unless you ask your question with regard to some specific CPU coolers the question is too general to really give an answer. Some coolers may present a problem with clearance to the ram and others may not. I would suggest you propose some possible cooler choices and you may get some response.

The other clearance issue which you may or may not have thought of is in regard to the space between the top of the cooler and the side panel. If you case is less than 8" wide you will probably not be able to use the 120 mm fan-based tower style air coolers.

...

trents said:

I run that same motherboard but I have ram with low profile heatsinks, which I always go for because of the very problem you ask about. Unless you ask your question with regard to some specific CPU coolers the question is too general to really give an answer. Some coolers may present a problem with clearance to the ram and others may not. I would suggest you propose some possible cooler choices and you may get some response.

The other clearance issue which you may or may not have thought of is in regard to the space between the top of the cooler and the side panel. If you case is less than 8" wide you will probably not be able to use the 120 mm fan-based tower style air coolers.

Click to expand...

Ya, if I could take it back, I would go with low heatsinks on the memory. ::sigh::

Totally open to heatsink suggestions. Budget would be $30-80. Does not have to be super incredible cooling, but something other than the stock fan, that cools and is quiet.

QuietIce said:

You've also given us no budget to work in.

Assuming unlimited funds I'd pick the TRUE as the least space-hungry tower cooler - and it's an excellent performer. If needed you can put the fan on the back side of the sink, between the CPU and rear fan, which should avoid the RAM slots completely.

Though there are minor variances between boards most AMD boards conform to a set template, so the distance between the socket and RAM slots is pretty consistent for all AMD ATX boards.

Click to expand...

Good to know.
Is that TRUE cooler this one:

http://www.thermalright.com/new_a_page/product_page/cpu/tb120/product_cpu_cooler_tb120.html

I like the idea of mounting it in the back (the fan that is) if I need to.

Thanks for the help!

...

QuietIce said:

...
If you want something a little less pricey (and a little less cooling) the Cooler Master Hyper 212+ is a good unit and is 1/2" thinner than the TRUE, which would give you about 1/4" less overhang on the RAM.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

Click to expand...

One option with this cooler is to rotate it 90° from where (I presume) most people mount it:



That sidesteps the RAM clearance issue. There are probably other coolers that can be mounted that way as well.

If you go with this one, watch the price on amazon. It fluctuates daily as low as $26 and usually includes free shipping. (Not today unfortunately.)