RAM Clearance on Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2

fwiffo · Post by **fwiffo** » Sat May 08, 2010 12:45 pm

I'm working on building a new system, and I'm currently drawn toward the Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 in combination with Lynnfield i5 750 or i7 860 (still debating my budget). My biggest concern is the proximity of the RAM slots to the CPU. Has anyone used this board (or similar) with a 120mm tower cooler like the Cooler Master Hyper 212+? Are all four RAM slots still usable? I want to dump in lots of RAM and it would be a bummer if rendered one of them useless by a wrong choice of heat sink.

The other parts I'm currently considering for this box:
Case: Antec Mini P180
GPU: One of the passive cooled Radeon HD 5750 cards
PSU: Nexus Value 430

I'm not over-clocking and I don't have extreme power or cooling needs; the only reason I'm interested in a big tower cooler is acoustics. The 212 seems good, comes with everything, and the price is right. I'd feel like a real chump dropping $50+ for a cooler in a system like this.

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Sat May 08, 2010 5:03 pm

one thing that will help is to get ram that doesn't have heat sinks that rise above the top edge of the stick.

the mugen2 cpu cooler probably has more bang for the buck, as long as it fits in your case, and you can put up with the install hassles.

psyopper · Post by **psyopper** » Sat May 08, 2010 6:57 pm

The Mugen2 install isn't that difficult, it's just the reverse of norm - you don't attach the heatsink to the mother board, you attach the mother board to the heatsink.

With the Mugen2 on an H55M-UD2 you have enough vertical clearance for standard ram with no vertical heatsinks. Flush mounted heat spreaders will do fine though. That processor specs DDR3 which specs 1.5v or less so properly purchased and managed RAM shouldn't be a problem.

fwiffo · Post by **fwiffo** » Sat May 08, 2010 8:58 pm

LOL, I thought the 212+ was already embarrassingly large. That Mugen2 thing is as big as my car. Even if it is more bang for the buck, but it's still more bucks and I just don't need anywhere near that much bang. And I've got trepidation about the weight in a tower case.

I've seen a few pictures now of the 212+ installed (in other motherboards), and it looks like I'm OK. I'm looking at the G.Skill Eco series which is low-power, low-heat, low-profile and actually quite reasonably priced.

Thanks for the feedback.

fwiffo · Post by **fwiffo** » Sat May 15, 2010 5:49 pm

Just as a follow-up, for others with this motherboard, it did end up fitting without difficulty.

Did have to install the RAM before attaching the fan to the heat-sink, but that's no biggie. The fan can actually be slid up or down the cooler somewhat, so if you have DIMMs with taller heat-sinks you might still be OK. This is with the version of the 212+ with the plastic brackets for the fan - I don't know if the one with the wire brackets is similarly adjustable.

Installation of this heat-sink was cake. The bracket is both clever and very secure. Will report back later on how it does once I get an OS installed.

=assassin= · Post by **=assassin=** » Sat May 22, 2010 8:39 am

Quite handy that you've posted that piccy, I've been researching what to get myself, and had considered that board at one point, but then dismissed it as I thought it wouldn't have much room for a larger heatsink, and all 4 banks of RAM, but this now shows that it's possible - I've added both the cooler and board on my "to buy" list for a planned upgrade in July/August.

Not quite sure whether to go with a 750 or 860 myself tbh.

Is it easy to install the actual CPU on these i7 motherboards btw? I had read about it being a little more tricky, and easier to damage the pins with them being on the motherboard, which kind of worried me a bit. I like to have something super easy to install!

fwiffo · Post by **fwiffo** » Sat May 22, 2010 8:54 am

Between the increased number of pins, and the flappy metal cover thing, they're tricker than they used to be back in the day. I didn't feel as comfortable as I did with the old ZIF sockets with the pins on the processor package. But it's obviously keyed, and if you've installed a processor and you're paying attention before it's really not hard.

Really, I get a lot more frustrated with molex power connectors and USB header connectors and crap like that. Some of them seem like they take 40 metrict tons of force to seat propertly or remove, and sometimes they just fall apart.

=assassin= · Post by **=assassin=** » Mon May 24, 2010 3:46 pm

Cheers for the response