Cutting up my Noctua Heatsink

[h4rm0ny]

Well, should I?

I'v got the Noctua Nh_D14. You've a better chance of hearing a ninja in a hurricane than this thing. And it keeps my six-core Phenom II cool as a penguin's todger. It's great. But whoever made it didn't believe anyone would ever need more than two sticks of memory. Wasn't too bad with my last motherboard as I could just about squeeze the sticks into the right-most sockets (actually it was really annoying, but anyway...).

I've just got a lovely new Sabretooth motherboard and it has its memory slots in a A1, A2, B1, B2 order rather than the A1,B1, A2, B2 order that my previous board does. Meaning that you have to start putting the memory in the 2nd from left, then go to 4th, then 1st and 3rd. Digging out some older RAM, I've got something that just (JUST) fits into the 2nd slot. But even that is scraping against the cooler's metal blades.

So here's the idea. I reckon if I cut off the bottom two sheets of metal on the right-side of the Noctua, maybe the bottom three, the memory will fit under there.

Before I take such a drastic step, does anyone have any suggestions why I shouldn't do this and if I do do it, does anyone have any suggestions what to use to do the cutting?

H.

 

[Conumdrum]

I don't see why not. Loosing a bit of fin area when your temps are wayyy under control.

Sounds logical to me!

 

[BobbyBubblehead]

I agree mod away

think youll need some wood in a vice to gently clamp the sink. a good line to follow and a half decent hack saw.
just take it light and steady one fin at a time as flat and level as you can.

or if you know someone whos a dremmel ninja its possible with a cutting disk maybe.

clean it up with a file after... be fine

just make shure you dont hit the pipes, crush it or leave any derbis to stray into your machine later.

happy modding

 

[h4rm0ny]

Cool. Thanks folks. Don't have a dremmel so it's going to have to be a small hack saw and a lot of care. 12GB here I come!

 

[Bobnova]

Absolutely positively do not damage the heatpipes. That'll total the heatsink right quick.
Taking some fins off however won't make a noticeable difference in temps at all, so have at!

 

[Crapxxas119]

Get a dremel. Get like the dremel 200 series or 300. The 300 is worth it in the long run and the 200 is just missing a variable speed control. The 300 has 10 selections of speed and the 200 has 2 selection speeds. The 300 also comes with a few extra "tools". I have the 200 and i wish i got the 300 but it still ended up being the most useful toy ever. Once you see how many things you can do with it, youll love it!

 

[Jmtyra]

Well, should I?

Only if you're going to post some pictures of the process!

 

[Sourtop]

Why not invest in some Corsair low profile memory instead of permanently damaging your heat sink?

 

[Ilden]

Why not invest in some Corsair low profile memory instead of permanently damaging your heat sink?

Because the HS is worth less than the ram? Seriously, heatsinks are disposable.

 

[MattNo5ss]

Because the HS is worth less than the ram? Seriously, heatsinks are disposable.

Not with RAM so low in price nowadays. The D14 is ~$85 and 2x4GB DDR3-1600 8-8-8-24 is only ~$50.

 

[Ilden]

I can't find any Corsair 2x4GB DDR3-1600 Cas 8 (8-8-8-24) that is low profile.

 

[johan851]

Why not invest in some Corsair low profile memory instead of permanently damaging your heat sink?

Permanently modding, maybe, but I wouldn't call this permanent *damage*. It's not going to have a major effect on performance.

 

[Dougshell]

honestly i dont see using a hack saw being a very good way to go about this. The amount of pressure and torque you are going to have to put on the fins to get the saw to cut through them might damage it. Any pc modder worth his weight in snot should have a dremel even if it is a cheap one. With the high speed blade you should be able to make very precise cuts into your fins. Remember bending or putting strain on the fins could damage your hitpipes... once that happens your done.