CPU Cooler Fit & Included Accessories
CPU Cooler Fit
To test the amount of space surrounding the CPU socket, we mounted a Noctua NH-D15 cooler to the CPU socket. Both a overly large CPU air coolers, sporting a dual fan construction and two huge vertical cooling towers.
Noctua NH-D15
With the NH-D15 oriented to blow air towards the board's rear panel, the cooler does not come into direct contact with any of the memory modules or heat sinks surrounding the CPU socket, though its heat pipes are close in proximity to the heat sinks on both sides of the socket. A graphics card is usable in the primary PCIe x16 slots as long as it does not have large components on the rear side of the PCB or backplate. The secondary PCIe x16 slot would need to be used if the card has large components on the rear side of the PCB, however.
The side views illustrate that the memory slot layout is designed to be usable with even the largest CPU coolers, as long as the cooler is designed to adhere to the Intel design spec. The fit between the front fan and the front memory modules could be tight, depending on the cooler's fan seating height.
Noctua SecureFirm2 mounting system
Noctua's SecureFirm2 mounting system is a good method to quickly determine how well the CPU socket laid out to accommodate a larger cooler. The mount easily fits within the constraints of the upper and lower memory modules, in between the heat sinks to the left and right of the CPU socket, as well as the chokes located just under the VRM heat sink.
Included Accessories
As expected with an ASUS ROG board, the Rampage V Extreme is packaged with everything needed to get the board up and running as well as some nice to haves to make the board experience all the sweeter.
ASUS is well known for the level of detail and thoroughness provided in their user guides with that included with the Rampage V Extreme board being no exception. All board functionality, as well as the UEFI features and bundled software, are detailed out in the manual. ASUS also includes an install disk containing all necessary hardware drivers and application software for board functioning. Additionally, a ROG-branded metallic case badge, SATA cable labels, and a ROG-branded door hanger are packaged in with the board.
ASUS includes a chromed rear panel shield with the ports labeled via white colored text and graphics. The coloration of the rear panel shield fit in nicely with board, but the chrome effect may make the text hard to read under certain lighting.
ASUS included a total of 10 6Gb/s rated SATA cables for use with the integrated port. The black colored cables have white colored ends with integrated port locks with a mix of straight and 90 degree port connectors.
For multi-GPU use, GIGABYTE includes two-way, three-way, and four-way NVIDIA SLI cables, as well as a two-way AMD CrossFire cable, for using the board with multiple graphics cards.
For use with the on-board front panel and USB 2.0 headers, ASUS included their Q-Connector header plugs. You simply plug the front panel and USB 2.0 plugs into the Q-Connector, then plug the Q-Connector into the appropriate board header. It makes the installation of the front panel and USB plugs much easier.
For use with the integrated WIFI adapter, ASUS includes a tri-plug antennae with gold-plated screw-in connectors. The antennae can be used in a flat or upright orientation with its flat surface optimized for broadcast and reception of 802.11ac type signals.
ASUS includes three temperature diodes for temperature monitoring via the integrated board headers. Fan connected to the bound fan headers can be programmed via the UEFI to operate based on the connected temperature diodes as well.
For use with an LN2-type setup, ASUS bundled in their X-Socket 2 kit containing an a replacement rear bracket and an Allen key. You use the Allen key to remove the existing socket hardware (both the top hold-down cage and the backplate) and fix the X-Socket 2 backplate in place. This gives a user with an LN2 pot more room and control over cooler interface with the CPU surface.
You appear to have “Courtesy
You appear to have “Courtesy of Gigabyte” dotted around on this article; perhaps you mean “Courtesy of Asus”
You know its Morry that has
You know its Morry that has written this right? We all love him and his work, but he is quite like that grandparent we all have that sometimes puts their shoe in the oven and the milk in the washer.
Thanks for the heads up, its
Thanks for the heads up, its fixed now…
Morry! You magnificent
Morry! You magnificent bastard, I read your article! ~ Derivative quote taken from “Patton” starring Geo. C Scott. 😉
Looks like a good board.
Looks like a good board. Especially now that EK posted a picture of a full coverage monoblock for the Rampage V. Might look into it for an upgrade from an X79 Sabertooth.
Anyone by any chance have an idea why the 2nd card in a crossfire setup would stop being detected in windows after installing Gskill 3333MHz ram?
it *might* be a PCIe voltage
it *might* be a PCIe voltage issue. Try bumping up your chipset related voltages a bit and see if that helps. What speed are you attempting to run the memory at? Could also be that that board cannot maintain stability at spec'd memory speeds with the new DIMMs
It was a client’s PC so I
It was a client’s PC so I don’t have it available anymore. The ram in question had an XMP profile of 3333MHz 1.35V CL16-16-16-36. Wouldn’t always boot at 3333MHz. 3200MHz would work so it was set to that. But I hadn’t thought to check the PCI-E voltage. If I come across the board again I’ll definitely look into that.
The guy was dead set on returning the PC anyways and brought it to me to see if I could get it going. I think the board was just set on making a fool of me.
Better that board than any of
Better that board than any of us! 🙂
Weird, you list “weakness” as
Weird, you list “weakness” as lacking a clear CMOS jumper, but it has a clear CMOS button on the back panel. See your own photo:
https://pcper.com/image/view/51285?return=node%2F62100
Lower left corner just above the ROG connect/USB BIOS Flashback button. It is labeled CLR CMOS
clear CMOS button and clear
clear CMOS button and clear CMOS jumper are different. Jumper can be used to clear all BIOS settings in conjuction with removing the CMOS battery reliably. CMOS button is not as reliable at doing this in practice. The jumper just gives a bit more control over the operation…
I have this board and the
I have this board and the clear CMOS button does exactly as the clear CMOS jumper does on all the other boards I own. It clears the CMOS and resets to default values.
A jumper is nothing more than two pins that when jumpered shorts a circuit, this is what clears the CMOS, it shorts the power to ground.
If you like you can put a DVM on it and test it yourself. They are indeed on in the same.
I have this board and the
I have this board and the clear CMOS button does exactly as the clear CMOS jumper does on all the other boards I own. It clears the CMOS and resets to default values.
A jumper is nothing more than two pins that when jumpered shorts a circuit, this is what clears the CMOS, it shorts the power to ground.
If you like you can put a DVM on it and test it yourself. They are indeed on in the same.
Noctua NH-D15 cooler seems to
Noctua NH-D15 cooler seems to be very close to the graphics card PCB. What non-conductive material would you use inbetween? Or, in your experience, does it even matter?
If you’re concerned when
If you're concerned when using a cooler like that, you could use one of the following (most of which I have used in my many liquid cooled and force-refrigeration-cooled systems):
– duct-tape
– neoprene pad (thin with adhesive on one side)
– conformal coating -> have to be careful with this, not to get any on conductive surfaces as it will insulate them very well
– backplate for the video card
Thank you so much for the
Thank you so much for the reply
I’ll definitely go with the Neoprene pad and GPU backplate solutions
I always wanted a 140mm kinda Noctua CPU cooler because I simply don’t trust even the 1 in a million chance that there’d be a leakage from CPU water cooling, and that that would be my CPU water cooler purchase
Will be this mobo compatible
Will be this mobo compatible with the next 2016-2017 HMC as replacement for DDR memories ? THKS
unknown, but unlikely based
unknown, but unlikely based on previous Intel release cycles…
I own this mobo an its been
I own this mobo an its been nothing but a nightmare for me. It resets on its own. Locks up. BSOD I have changed power supplies done everything I can think of best advise stay away.
please dont tell ppl to stay
please dont tell ppl to stay away from a board that i have and totally love, you just had a bad board which can happen with any board out there, so no dont stay away from thus board as a novice ocer this board is a beauty.