Will Corsair A70 fit Asrock extreme4 gen3?

[cobra1981]

Just got an i5 2500k, Asrock extrem4 gen3 and G.Skill Ripjaws.

This is the exact memory I purchased:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231443

Does anyone know if the A70 HSF will fit?

 

[MadScientist]

Yes and no. It looks like from the MB pics on Asrock's site that your MB and mine have the same distance from the first ram slot to the CPU socket. The fan on the A70 covers the first ram slot on my MB. You can only fit ram that has a low profile heat spreader or none in that slot. If you only purchased one set of the Ripjaws you can use the last 2 slots.

The fans on the A70 are attached to plastic shrouds that clip on to the heat sink. They cover the top and bottom of the heat sink. You may be able to lift the fan up slightly until the bottom of the shroud hits the bottom of the heat sink, but it may not be enough to clear the Ripjaw's heat spreader.

This is a Gigabyte MB from the A70 review at Hardocp. The placement of the A70 on my MB looks almost identical.

If you are looking for a cheap heat sink, Coolermaster has just come out with a new revision to their Hyper 212+ called the Hyper 212 EVO. They have eliminated the base partitions between the heat pipes and packed them together making it easier to apply TIM. The 212s are not as wide as the A70 so they will not block the first ram slot. Unfortunately they kept the same crappy mounting system. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

Reviews:
http://www.pureoverclock.com/article1368.html
http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/cooling/heatsinksfans/13336-cm-hyper-212-evo-cpu-cooler-review

 

[njdevilsfan87]

I have that issue on p67 sabertooth. There are two options if you have an a70 and need to use the first two ram slots.

1) Pull configuration only of the a70 only if you have tall heat spreaders. It works almost as well as a push/pull configuration.
2) Get RAM with either low-profile heat spreaders, or no heat spreaders at all. I have 4x4gb Ripjaws, and those fit barely, and I really mean just barely, under the overhanging fan of the a70.

 

[cobra1981]

This might be a dumb question but....Will using the 2 dim slots farthest away have any performance impact? I only have 2 sticks of ram.

 

[Mem]

This might be a dumb question but....Will using the 2 dim slots farthest away have any performance impact? I only have 2 sticks of ram.

Nope not an issue.

 

[cobra1981]

Nope not an issue.

Cool. A70 it is then.

 

[toyota]

Nope not an issue.

what? you can just use any two slots you want? I do not believe that is correct. you have to use certain slots to get dual channel and they are not usually side by side. and some motherboards like mine require that the first and third slot be used if only using 2 sticks.

MadScientist, the 212 plus does interfere with memory that has tall heatsinks in first memory slot on P67 boards from what I have seen. luckily you can just raise the fan a bit to clear the ram though.

 

[Spike]

Just a heads up but you can push the fans up the sink itself on the A70 by a few cm. Doing this I was able to populate all 4 slots with ripjaws (standard version, no "x") and they fit, but barely, on my P67 extreme 4.

Based on the asrock picks the P67 extreme 4 and Z68 extreme 4 look the exact same as far as ram slots goes.

 

[Mem]

what? you can just use any two slots you want? I do not believe that is correct. you have to use certain slots to get dual channel and they are not usually side by side. and some motherboards like mine require that the first and third slot be used if only using 2 sticks.

MadScientist, the 212 plus does interfere with memory that has tall heatsinks in first memory slot on P67 boards from what I have seen. luckily you can just raise the fan a bit to clear the ram though.

I meant he can use two slots as long as they are installed like the manual says,ie A1 and B1 slot which is first and third or A2 and B2 which is second and forth slot,its on page 20 of manual,hope that is clear .

1. If you want to install two memory modules, for optimal compatibility
and reliability, it is recommended to install them in the slots: DDR3_
A1 and DDR3_B1, or DDR3_A2 and DDR3_B2.
2. If only one memory module or three memory modules are installed
in the DDR3 DIMM slots on this motherboard, it is unable to activate
the Dual Channel Memory Technology.
3. If a pair of memory modules is NOT installed in the same Dual
Channel, for example, installing a pair of memory modules in
DDR3_A1 and DDR3_A2, it is unable to activate the Dual Channel
Memory Technology .
4. It is not allowed to install a DDR or DDR2 memory module into
DDR3 slot; otherwise, this motherboard and DIMM may be dam-
aged.
5. Some DDR3 1GB double-sided DIMMs with 16 chips may not work
on this motherboard. It is not recommended to install them on this
motherboard.

 

[MadScientist]

what? you can just use any two slots you want? I do not believe that is correct. you have to use certain slots to get dual channel and they are not usually side by side. and some motherboards like mine require that the first and third slot be used if only using 2 sticks.

MadScientist, the 212 plus does interfere with memory that has tall heatsinks in first memory slot on P67 boards from what I have seen. luckily you can just raise the fan a bit to clear the ram though.

The OP was asking specifically about his Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen 3 MB. Before switching to a Corsair A70, I had a CM Hyper 212+ HSF on my Asrock Z68 Extreme 4 that has the exact same layout as the OP's MB. I did not interfere with the first ram slot.

Thanks Mem for correcting me. On the OP's MB, according to his manual, he should be using slots 2 and 4 for dual channel.