F5F Stay Refreshed Hardware Desktop Got a problem when first putting up my new house?

Got a problem when first putting up my new house?

Got a problem when first putting up my new house?

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ParadoxOnLSD
Member
108
06-12-2026, 02:01 AM
#1
Got a new gaming rig with an MSI X870E motherboard and a Noctua NH-D15 tower cooler. When I put the graphics card into the PCIe 5.0 slot, it's pressing against the back of my cooler. That doesn't sound right to me. My guess is that you might have the cooler screwed in backwards. But since it's pretty square, maybe I don't need to worry about spinning it around? (I saw some advice about swapping coolers so they fit between RAM sticks) Thanks for any tips!
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ParadoxOnLSD
06-12-2026, 02:01 AM #1

Got a new gaming rig with an MSI X870E motherboard and a Noctua NH-D15 tower cooler. When I put the graphics card into the PCIe 5.0 slot, it's pressing against the back of my cooler. That doesn't sound right to me. My guess is that you might have the cooler screwed in backwards. But since it's pretty square, maybe I don't need to worry about spinning it around? (I saw some advice about swapping coolers so they fit between RAM sticks) Thanks for any tips!

J
JosueGamer26
Member
124
06-26-2026, 01:02 AM
#2
It's not great; if you bought the G2 or the S model, those things are moved to one side so they don't touch your GPU directly. If you check the specs for the S model, it shows clearly that one side is further away than the other. But it doesn't matter too much. If you're worried about vibrations coming from both sides, you could put a thin layer of foam cushioning between them. Maybe your motherboard came with some material already there—you can cut some up and tape it to the sides of either device.
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JosueGamer26
06-26-2026, 01:02 AM #2

It's not great; if you bought the G2 or the S model, those things are moved to one side so they don't touch your GPU directly. If you check the specs for the S model, it shows clearly that one side is further away than the other. But it doesn't matter too much. If you're worried about vibrations coming from both sides, you could put a thin layer of foam cushioning between them. Maybe your motherboard came with some material already there—you can cut some up and tape it to the sides of either device.

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sacapatates
Posting Freak
843
06-26-2026, 02:34 AM
#3
If they aren't pushing hard against each other, you're likely doing okay.
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sacapatates
06-26-2026, 02:34 AM #3

If they aren't pushing hard against each other, you're likely doing okay.

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Olliesimpo
Member
65
06-26-2026, 07:00 AM
#4
I had the same problem before. To fix it, I put a thin paper shim between them. Actually, I don't think you would get an issue even if they touch directly with metal to metal contact. Noctua has a list of motherboards and coolers on their website. There is also a non-standard mounting choice: https://ncc.noctua.at/coolers/NH-D15-2/m.../all?q=MSI X870E
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Olliesimpo
06-26-2026, 07:00 AM #4

I had the same problem before. To fix it, I put a thin paper shim between them. Actually, I don't think you would get an issue even if they touch directly with metal to metal contact. Noctua has a list of motherboards and coolers on their website. There is also a non-standard mounting choice: https://ncc.noctua.at/coolers/NH-D15-2/m.../all?q=MSI X870E

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Whalelover2006
Junior Member
11
06-30-2026, 11:30 PM
#5
The CPU mount had two spots. I moved it a little bit to another spot. That opened up some room between the cooler and the graphics card.
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Whalelover2006
06-30-2026, 11:30 PM #5

The CPU mount had two spots. I moved it a little bit to another spot. That opened up some room between the cooler and the graphics card.