(URGENT HELP NEEDED) New CPU cooler for AM4

[YuNii]

(Not perfect english sorry, I’m German)

 

Hello LTT Forums,

 

The AIO from my prebuilt PC died and I need urgent replacement. I’m not that hardware savvy and I need that PC for contract work ASAP. I ordered a Noctua NH-U12S redux with NF-P12 redux-1700 PWM 120 mm, but the connector is apparently wrong. My AIO fan was connected with a 3-Pin connector and the noctua I bought is 4 pin.

 

Any recommendations for coolers I should buy? Price and sound are pretty unimportant, I just need enough performance to cool a Ryzen 7 5800x in a NZXT case (I keep the side panel open for better airflow though, the case sucks in that) I got from LTT videos that noctua seems like a good choice but the names etc seem very confusing to me. Also, any fan is fine as long as it’s performant enough. It needs to include a tower cooler though.

 

i can provide any missing information, thanks in advance!!!

[LapsedMemory]

What's your motherboard?  3pin and 4 pin fans are not necessarily incompatible.  You are probably perfectly fine with the noctua

 

For clarification, the 4th pin is the PWM signal to adjust fan speed.  More often than not you can plug a 4pin into a 3pin fan connector and it just runs at full speed.  Motherboard manual will tell you for sure where to plug it in, as there is usually a different place to plug in an AIO than a passive cooling fan.

 

List your mobo model, we can look up the manual and just check which plug it's supposed to go in and if there's an incompatibility.

[YuNii]

8 minutes ago, LapsedMemory said:

What's your motherboard?  3pin and 4 pin fans are not necessarily incompatible.  You are probably perfectly fine with the noctua

 

For clarification, the 4th pin is the PWM signal to adjust fan speed.  More often than not you can plug a 4pin into a 3pin fan connector and it just runs at full speed.  Motherboard manual will tell you for sure where to plug it in, as there is usually a different place to plug in an AIO than a passive cooling fan.

 

List your mobo model, we can look up the manual and just check which plug it's supposed to go in and if there's an incompatibility.

Sorry, I can tell you that I’m ~2.5 hours when I’m back home, I posted this while not home. But I can say it’s ASUS if that helps for now? (Probably not)

 

I tried plugging in the noctua into the same bunch of cables behind my backpanel, where my AIO’s fan was plugged into, but the fan’s 4-pin connector seemed too thin for the big 3pin connector of my motherboard / fan hub.

 

Edit: I just realised I posted this in “exotic cooling” I’m really sorry if I asked the wrong part of the forum!!

[LapsedMemory]

Just now, YuNii said:

Sorry, I can tell you that I’m ~2.5 hours when I’m back home, I posted this while not home. But I can say it’s ASUS if that helps for now? (Probably not)

 

I tried plugging in the noctua into the same bunch of cables behind my backpanel, where my AIO’s fan was plugged into, but the fan’s 4-pin connector seemed too thin for the big 3pin connector of my motherboard / fan hub.

Usually on newer mobos there's a plug for AIO and a plug for CPU_FAN.  Look for any connectors on the mobo that are labeled CPU_FAN and see if the connector fits in that.  It should be right on top of the motherboard within a few centimeters of the CPU socket.  

[YuNii]

17 minutes ago, LapsedMemory said:

Usually on newer mobos there's a plug for AIO and a plug for CPU_FAN.  Look for any connectors on the mobo that are labeled CPU_FAN and see if the connector fits in that.  It should be right on top of the motherboard within a few centimeters of the CPU socket.  

Thank you for the help already!!! My boyfriend went and figured out what my motherboard is while blowing a big fan at my motherboard so it (hopefully) doesn’t heat up too fast. According to hwinfo64 my motherboard is a “MSI B450-A PRO MAX (MS-7B86)” sorry guess I misremembered the brand. 

[LapsedMemory]

19 minutes ago, YuNii said:

Thank you for the help already!!! My boyfriend went and figured out what my motherboard is while blowing a big fan at my motherboard so it (hopefully) doesn’t heat up too fast. According to hwinfo64 my motherboard is a “MSI B450-A PRO MAX (MS-7B86)” sorry guess I misremembered the brand. 

Your Noctua will work just fine.  

 

In your case, there's a 4-pin header up near your ram that is labeled CPU_FAN1.  Plug the Noctua into there.

[YuNii]

Just now, LapsedMemory said:

Your Noctua will work just fine.  

 

In your case, there's a 4-pin header up near your ram that is labeled CPU_FAN1.  Plug the Noctua into there.

And then just mount the tower with fresh thermal paste I guess? Thanks so much for your help, I'll update you once I tried it when I'm back home!!! (about 2 to 2.5 hours maybe)

[LapsedMemory]

4 minutes ago, YuNii said:

And then just mount the tower with fresh thermal paste I guess? Thanks so much for your help, I'll update you once I tried it when I'm back home!!! (about 2 to 2.5 hours maybe)

Correct.  Just make sure that when it's all done, the fan is either blowing towards the rear of the case or towards the top.  You should be able to just flip the fan around if you get it backwards.

[YuNii]

3 hours ago, LapsedMemory said:

Correct.  Just make sure that when it's all done, the fan is either blowing towards the rear of the case or towards the top.  You should be able to just flip the fan around if you get it backwards.

I’m working on mounting the tower but I’m having a lot of problems with the backplate. 

[fonzz1e]

10 hours ago, YuNii said:

I’m working on mounting the tower but I’m having a lot of problems with the backplate. 

installation starts at 3:10

 

[YuNii]

2 hours ago, fonzz1e said:

installation starts at 3:10

 

thanks for the help! turns out I am missing the default AM4 backplate. I'm taking the PC + cooler to a local pc repair place and will let them handle it. Thanks everyone for the massive help though!!!!!