Asus bad Z690 heatsink design means poor cooler compatibility

[raven77uk]

The height of the VRM heatsink on the below motherboards is too high and the majority of Noctua and similar coolers will not fit. This is bad design by Asus.

For example the ROG Strix Z690-A Gaming WiFi D4 is what I was going to buy but it will not work with my Noctua, See link below for how many noctua coolers are not compatible, poor Asus design.

https://ncc.noctua.at/motherboards/model/ASUS-ROG-Strix-Z690-A-Gaming-WiFi-D4-5375

ASUS ROG Strix B660-I Gaming
Mechanically incompatible due to height of the VRM heatsink
ASUS ROG Strix Z690-A Gaming WiFi D4
Mechanically incompatible due to height of the VRM heatsink
ASUS ROG Strix Z690-E Gaming WiFi
Mechanically incompatible due to height of the VRM heatsink
ASUS ROG Strix Z690-F Gaming WiFi
Mechanically incompatible due to height of the VRM heatsink
ASUS ROG Strix Z690-I Gaming WiFi D4
Mechanically incompatible due to height of the VRM heatsink

https://ncc.noctua.at/coolers/NH-U12A-chromax.black-83/motherboards/ASUS/LGA%201700

[raven77uk]

badger@speed-of-heat wrote:
Yes, same, i resolved by turning the cooler sideways by 90 degrees .. you may need to adjust your airflow accordingly

Lol well that's taking in air directly above the GPU, terrible for cooling.

[badger1]

raven77uk wrote:
Lol well that's taking in air directly above the GPU, terrible for cooling.

my CPU Cooler score dropped just 14 points with my 3090, its not ideal... but...

[Krewmen]

It can be removed with screws

[eezeypeezey]

Issue with Arctic Freezer II coolers as well - https://support.arctic.de/lf2-lga1700

[Krewmen]

Les_Garten wrote:
I've been building PC's since 1985, ain't never seen that in any specifications. Why the Hero clears and the others don't is a mystery. You'll just have to get it and figure it out after you get it.

I do PC building since 1997. Well if it is that long that manufactures don't add this simple information, I tink that this is subject to change - just keep something wrong because it has been always this way was never a good idea.

So Asus - are you listening?

Anyway, I actually needed the VRM cooler height since case is pretty tight so I needed to order the ASUS ROG STRIX Z690-A GAMING WIFI D4 and the ASUS TUF Gaming Z690 on ebay asus-eshop.
ASUS ROG STRIX Z690-A GAMING WIFI D4 height 3 cm
ASUS TUF Gaming Z690 D4 height 4 cm
So this return could have been easily avoided…

Anyway, ugly plastic shroud on the ROG. Even if I would have loved to keep it due to better OC capabilities than the TUF.

[raven77uk]

Krewmen wrote:
I do PC building since 1997. Well if it is that long that manufactures don't add this simple information, I tink that this is subject to change - just keep something wrong because it has been always this way was never a good idea.

So Asus - are you listening?

Anyway, I actually needed the VRM cooler height since case is pretty tight so I needed to order the ASUS ROG STRIX Z690-A GAMING WIFI D4 and the ASUS TUF Gaming Z690 on ebay asus-eshop.
ASUS ROG STRIX Z690-A GAMING WIFI D4 height 3 cm
ASUS TUF Gaming Z690 D4 height 4 cm
So this return could have been easily avoided…

Anyway, ugly plastic shroud on the ROG. Even if I would have loved to keep it due to better OC capabilities than the TUF.

Thanks for the pics. Annoying plastic, I will be snapping it off when I get the A gaming.

[badger1]

raven77uk wrote:
Thanks for the pics. Annoying plastic, I will be snapping it off when I get the A gaming.

can it be safely removed ?

[BigJohnny]

raven77uk wrote:
Nothing to do with noctua, this is all on Asus.

Its on new hardware. Every socket that comes out requires new cooling solutions regardless of who makes it.
Often different MOBO manufacturers and even different models from the same manufacturer have different board layouts and its up to the purchaser to figure it out. Growing pains for early adopters. Been there and done that dozens of times. Im on X299 that present its own challenges then they changed that up from the R6E to the R6EO and again with the R6EE.

[Bokai]

So does anyone have a suggestion on compatible air coolers for the Z690-I together with a 12900k. I am not planning on overclocking.

Edit: I am thinking of going with the Noctua NH-U9S, I think it might suffice.