mechVixen

so im running a 3600 on a gigabyte b550I aorus pro ax with 3200 cl16 ram, in ryzen master no matter what i do the peak speed never reaches 4.1ghz and usually hovers around 4.0 at peak load. my effective clock in hwinfo reaches 4192 but the discrete clock doesn't. i can get up to 4150 on both ccx's at 1.25v with clockTuner so i know i can reach 4.1 ghz with my silicon. is this normal and I'm not comprehending the info or is something up? cooler: alpenfohn black ridge with noctua a9x14hs (LNA)

so i have various low profile coolers for my ITX system including the Cryorig C7G, Alpenfohn Black Ridge, and of course the Noctua NH-L9A-AM4. my question is can I use the backplate from the L9A with either of the other coolers?

so i'm looking to cool a ryzen 3600 with 50-55mm of clearance (FormD T1 - Sliger SM560) so my best options seem to be the Cryorig C7 G or the Alpenföhn Black Ridge (both swapped to a noctua NF-A9x14). the motherboard will be a Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX and i will be using 31.5mm tall ram. im not looking to do any manual overclocking I will just let the CPU boost as the cooling allows since my heavy tasks are 4K gaming which is GPU bound. which of these two would be best for this? are there other coolers that i should consider as well?

the biggest thing that worries me is that the exhaust options are limited in the TU150 with the large tower coolers it allows so there's not a lot of forced exhaust to keep the gpu heat from cooking the CPU. the slim fans are there to supplement for bottom filter since that gap on a 2.5 slot card like the nitro+ is a bit much for letting it try to pull from the bottom vents on its own. my thinking is that a sandwich style case with good airflow would do a better job since i would trade overkill cpu cooling for better VRM/M.2/chipset cooling and having separate fresh airflow for the cpu and gpu.

Budget (including currency): (USD) $2500 Country: USA Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: general browsing and mostly low intensity 4k gaming Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): my current build is: i will not be overclocking besides turning up the GPU power limit and generally letting the system decide how much it wants to boost. my main question is, am I focusing too much on CPU cooling for this build and ignoring a more gpu thermal friendly even more compact case (such as the T1, SM560/580)? ive already optimized the build so its just a cooler swap to put it in a different SFF case but I dont have the ITX building experience to know if im using the wrong case in the first place and dooming my CPU to only breath GPU heat overthinking i and should just go with the one that i like the most aesthetically which case will give me the best GPU (and CPU) thermals with air cooling (noctua swapped C7G or Black Ridge) the price of these cases doesnt really matter to me (other than deciding between the price/performance between the two sliger cases). I'm open to other case suggestions but my requirements are: 3 slot GPU compatible, at least ~310mm GPU length clearance, and reasonable CPU cooler clearance for an SFF case.

so I'm picking up this motherboard and it has a second SYS_FAN header that uses an adapter to full size 4 pin and i was wondering if anyone knew if this was safe to run with a mobo powered fan splitter with two fans or if i should use the full size SYS_FAN 1 header instead?

Budget (including currency): $2500 US$ Country: USA Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: general browsing for the most part and low intensity games at 4k as well as a few higher graphical intensity games such as Hitman 2, Borderlands 3, and The Witcher 3. Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): im coming from an old build with a 4790k and 980ti in an oversized Define S looking to make something more compact that can handle 4k well enough with freesync on and can upgrade to a high end RDNA2 card and decent Zen 3 cpu down the road. my current lists for the ATX and ITX builds are as follows ATX: PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NKzNdm CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12A 60.09 CFM CPU Cooler Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 AORUS ULTRA ATX AM4 Motherboard Memory: G.Skill Trident Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL14 Memory Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive Storage: Western Digital Black 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB NITRO+ Video Card Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case Power Supply: be quiet! Straight Power 11 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan Case Fan: Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM 60.1 CFM 120 mm Fan Total: $0.00 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-07-27 23:37 EDT-0400 ITX: PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/VqCL3t CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12A 60.09 CFM CPU Cooler Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard Memory: G.Skill Trident Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL14 Memory Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive Storage: Western Digital Black 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB NITRO+ Video Card Case: Lian Li TU150 Mini ITX Desktop Case Power Supply: Corsair SF 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply Case Fan: Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM 60.1 CFM 120 mm Fan Case Fan: Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM 60.1 CFM 120 mm Fan Total: $0.00 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-07-27 23:38 EDT-0400

currently the best options are the P300A or sticking with the meshify C. if i go with the p300a I will likely use the universal vertical GPU adapter phanteks sells to improve the front to back exhaust in the gpu area (as long as it wont choke a just slightly bigger than 2 slot gpu cooler). any experience with that?

the p500a is larger than the Define S in ever way except depth.

the p300a is compelling, im wondering if it will fit taller GPU coolers like the Sapphire nitro+ 5700xt or future RDNA 2 versions my main concern is how the front fan mount overhang would effect the 140mm intakes in either performance or noise. the p400a is a good alternative but im not sure im willing to sacrifice the ability to put a future chromax cover on a NH-U12a or mount a next gen NH-U14. the p500a is just really big, its bigger than my define S in a few dimensions.

so my previous build is in a Define S and I've been looking to do my new build in something more compact and higher airflow, my current choice is the Meshify C due to size and CPU cooler clearance, what more current ATX cases would be a good alternative that can accommodate at least a 164mm (preferably up to 170mm) cpu cooler while providing the same or better airflow (with 2x NF-A14 in the front and 1x NF-A12x25 in the rear)?

so im doing a build in a Meshify C and im currently planning on running 2 NF-A14 Chromax fans (mounted as low as possible without touching the PSU shroud in the front and 1 in the top rear and one NF-S12A Chromax in the back. ill be running a NH-U12A on an X570 Aorus ULTRA mobo with a GPU in the top pcie slot. how can i optimize my airflow and fan configuration to provide the best cooling to my components? will the top exhaust help at all? feel free to swap the fans out for other noctua chromax fans or or add/remove fans (cooler will not change). EDIT: to add another question, should i bother buying splitter cables for the front two fans? should i run them individually or together?

I'm now pretty certain that im going for an x570 mobo so if the zen 3 launch is delayed ill just get a 3600 and get whatever the best gaming zen 3 chip is when it drops, that hundred or so bucks for a good backup cpu is well worth it and a fine holdover. my main concern was if i would be bottlenecking my system at 4k with less stable frame times and lower clocks.

depends on the launch timing. im trying to get this done by the end of the year but i can save the cpu and gpu for last since the mobo will be compatible.

Budget (including currency): $3000 (would prefer to be around $2500 if possible) Country: USA Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Hitman 2, Outer Wilds, Borderlands 3, Everspace, various low graphical intensity games. Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): will be running 4K at 100-120hz, my main issue right now is I'm stuck between two very similarly priced builds. PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/FjY96R CPU: Intel Core i5-10600K 4.1 GHz 6-Core Processor ($294.99 @ Newegg) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12A 60.09 CFM CPU Cooler ($99.90 @ Amazon) Motherboard: Gigabyte Z490 AORUS ULTRA ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($279.99 @ B&H) Memory: Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($73.98 @ Amazon) Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($177.75 @ Amazon) Storage: Western Digital Black 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($176.99 @ Amazon) Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB XC ULTRA GAMING Video Card ($1159.99) Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.98 @ Newegg) Power Supply: Fractal Design Ion+ 860 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($148.00) Case Fan: Noctua NF-S12A PWM chromax.black.swap 63.27 CFM 120 mm Fan ($22.90 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($26.90 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($26.90 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($26.90 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($26.90 @ Amazon) Total: $2642.07 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-07-07 23:36 EDT-0400 and PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kjY96R CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12A 60.09 CFM CPU Cooler ($99.90 @ Amazon) Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 AORUS ULTRA ATX AM4 Motherboard ($293.00) Memory: Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($73.98 @ Amazon) Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($177.75 @ Amazon) Storage: Western Digital Black 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($176.99 @ Amazon) Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB XC ULTRA GAMING Video Card ($1159.99) Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.98 @ Newegg) Power Supply: Fractal Design Ion+ 860 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($148.00) Case Fan: Noctua NF-S12A PWM chromax.black.swap 63.27 CFM 120 mm Fan ($22.90 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($26.90 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($26.90 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($26.90 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($26.90 @ Amazon) Custom: AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT ($249.00) Total: $2609.09 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-07-07 23:37 EDT-0400 either will be overclocked and im considering dropping down to the non-XT 3600 to save money for the ryzen 4000 CPUs, which would do better for my money for 4K gaming?

so I'm putting together a system build for when the Ryzen 7 3800xt drops and I have had a hard time finding any good information on the difference between the Noctua single tower 120mm coolers. my build currently looks like this (with the 3800x as a placeholder for pricing and power numbers) and the case supports up to 160mm tall coolers so im limited to pretty much just 120mm options for traditional tower coolers. I'm interested in the Noctua offerings as my NH-D15 has served me well and with the new chromax line I'm no longer limited to just Be Quiet! for a decent looking cooler. the two I'm focusing on right now are the NH-U12S Chromax and the NH-U12A, the main question is if the U12A is worth buying 2 NF-A12x15 Chromax fans over buying the U12S Chromax and a second NF-F12 Chromax fan to run it in push pull? I will be running the 3800xt stock as long as it can hit the 4.7ghz boost it claims, otherwise i will try to OC it to the 4.6-4.7Ghz range.

so I've finalized my build now. I'll be using the AIO as originally planned but ill have a Dark Rock Pro 4 available for a backup since it still fits while clearing the ram and I've added a rear fan for good measure but will tie it to VRM temps until i switch to air cooling. here's the build sheet PCPartPicker Part List CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor ($413.00 @ Amazon) CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.90 @ Amazon) CPU Cooler: Fractal Design Celsius+ S28 Dynamic X2 PWM 85.71 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($166.26 @ B&H) Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL14 Memory ($134.99 @ Newegg) Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($178.75 @ Amazon) Storage: Western Digital Black 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($176.99 @ Amazon) Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB GAMING X Video Card ($409.00 @ B&H) Case: Fractal Design Define 7 Compact ATX Mid Tower Case ($125.98 @ Newegg) Power Supply: Fractal Design Ion+ 760 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM chromax.black.swap 54.97 CFM 120 mm Fan ($22.90 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($24.90 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($24.90 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($24.90 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($24.90 @ Amazon) Total: $1817.37 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-24 23:25 EDT-0400

so since I posted this ive done some further research and it seems that my options are replace forward top fan with 120mm at the back and exhaust CPU cooler to the rear if i switch to the tower coolers case clearance is 169mm which might require different RAM for clearance or removal of front fan stick with AIO and live with some pump noise 3rd unconsidered option will my ram clear? (what would be a good low profile ram option for ryzen?) am I better off with the AIO? should i go for the Noctua or Be Quiet!?

I'm sure everything is compatible (other than maybe some ram/case clearance with the ram i picked for use with the AIO on the noctua) and I'm trying to not add another fan. the main question i need answering is can i make the air coolers work with my setup instead of having to deal with pump noise and what modifications would i need to make to accommodate that (or if i should just stick with the AIO).

its a compact case but not a small form factor. its just meant to be a good balance between full size hardware in the smallest enclosure that has the features I was looking for.

Budget (including currency): $2500-3000 Country: USA Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Hitman 2, Borderlands 3, Project Cars 2, Dirt Rally 2.0, various indie games and low graphics intensive JRPGs Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): running an LG CX 4K 120Hz tv as monitor but dont expect to do more than 60FPS (maybe 90) until GPUs with HDMI 2.1 come out. PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/8L7XrV CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor ($413.00 @ Amazon) CPU Cooler: Fractal Design Celsius+ S28 Dynamic X2 PWM 85.71 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($166.26 @ B&H) Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard ($472.60 @ Amazon) Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Neo 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($114.49 @ Amazon) Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($178.75 @ Amazon) Storage: Western Digital Black 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($176.99 @ Amazon) Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 5700 XT 8 GB GAMING X Video Card ($409.00 @ B&H) Case: Fractal Design Define 7 Compact ATX Mid Tower Case ($125.98 @ Newegg) Power Supply: Fractal Design Ion+ 760 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($24.90 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($24.90 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($24.90 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan ($24.90 @ Amazon) Total: $2156.67 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-24 16:28 EDT-0400 my main issue right now is picking a cooler and figuring out orientation and space allowances for such. I've been considering swapping out the Celsius+ S28 for a Noctua NH-D15 Chromax or Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 while maintaining my plan of having 2 140mm fans in the front and 2 140mm fans in the top. the AIO would be mounted to the front as its the only spot that a 280mm radiator would fit and the airflow path planned would work well with that without adding too much heat to the GPU. If i switch that out for an air cooler I need to take into account if i should have it exhausting heat towards the back (without adding a rear fan) or towards the top (and possibly moving the GPU to a lower PCIe slot to open airflow. this is only my second system I've built and my first time working in a compact case (coming from Define S) so Input is greatly appreciated.