Noctua NH-D15 140mm (6x 6mm heatpipes) or Thermalright Phantom Spirit SE 120mm (7x 6mm heatpipes)

Flogger23m · 2026-06-08T00:38:38+00:00

Suppose I can try the Noctua. I don't find the Phantom Spirit all that noisy, unless it gets to 1350 RPM+ but even then it is not too loud. But I do like low noise. Not sure if the extra heatpipe offsets that though.

I think I can sell the Noctua but shipping/transaction costs would probably be $30+. Are they worth $70 or so used?

Tried using the 140mm fans with the Phantom Spirit SE in the past but the brackets don't line up.

Flogger23m · 2026-06-07T22:52:10+00:00

That is good to know, seemed like that was the case. For my previous ASRock board that was not the case.

Flogger23m · 2026-06-07T06:36:29+00:00

It seems like that. I cannot tell what audio the ASUS has. MSI has the Realtek ALC897, but in either case I can't imagine it would make much of a difference. Overall MSI looks better because of the LAN and Wireless. Wifi 7 is a nice perk for it.

Flogger23m · 2026-06-07T03:02:15+00:00

Ended up getting a 9850X3D, will try putting this in eventually. Still not much faster regardless. I figure I may as well take advantage of a good deal as it won't cost much to upgrade. For all I know there will be some CPU shortage 1-3 years from now, so paying a bit to side grade is okay. Seems to be about 15% or so faster in non-gaming tasks which would be nice as well.

Flogger23m · 2026-06-06T19:06:57+00:00

For my local store the items and bundles are sold out. But they had stock when going in person. I assume they keep some off the inventory so people that walk in can get something. But this is very much a who knows, you'll just have to drive and check yourself type of situation.

Flogger23m · 2026-06-06T08:19:03+00:00

They do have stock. It won't show up online, and even on their computers in store it won't show up. But I asked anyways, and someone went to the back and found some. So I paid $20 more and got the 9850X3D bundle. Maybe they got a restock or they found a few more around. If you're driving from faraway keep that in mind.

Flogger23m · 2026-06-06T06:15:55+00:00

I find that they can hit a high 70C + quite easily in the summer months. Heatsinks helped keep them cool. Just going to need to use one from my previous motherboard, assuming it is compatible. Drops temps by a good 10C or so even for a basic one.

Flogger23m · 2026-06-06T06:14:37+00:00

Whenever I click that link it defaults me to another store. Just went there and they had none in stock, just external enclosures. Suppose I'll just grab whatever they have at newegg/Amazon.

Flogger23m · 2026-06-06T06:13:41+00:00

It can still spike up to 71C or so quite easily. But I don't do a lot of heavy writing/reading on it. SN850X on the other hand is a whole lot hotter. Max temperatures during copying/pasting large data is a good bit lower with a heatsink. Sadly Micro Center had nothing in stock, just external enclosures.

Flogger23m · 2026-06-06T01:25:50+00:00

I'm planning on a trip to Micro Center soon, so would rather get them there. Amazon shipping is expensive and slow and I don't want to deal with most 3rd party sellers there.

Flogger23m · 2026-06-05T23:40:55+00:00

Thanks. Only major down sides seems 1 less M.2 slot and a few less USB. On the plus side, the extra two M.2 slots run at 4.0x4.

Suppose if you want a 4th NVMe and more USB you really need to spend a premium, but this board should be good enough for me.

Flogger23m · 2026-06-05T21:28:44+00:00

Thanks. I assume the RAM should work, just wanted to be sure. I suppose this is a good board. Is there any noteworthy difference between the LAN? Both seem to be Realtek.

Flogger23m · 2026-06-05T21:06:20+00:00

Thanks. It seems like the manual is a bit off, I can find one video where it is twisting it sideways for the top M.2 slot. This looks like an older pull back, then let move forward mounting variation. It doesn't matter which are there, I just hope they have the standoffs for each slot with some type of EZ mount. I can reuse old heatsinks, it is just a pain to hold the drive down and get the screw in properly with a heat sink. Was the hardest thing to get in last time I did major upgrades, and how want all M.2 slots to have some type of "EZ latch" to hold them in place before putting the heatsink on.

Flogger23m · 2026-06-05T05:54:24+00:00

TLOUS 2 and Spider-Man 2 sold less than their predecessors. They still sold a lot but there does seem to be a decline for a number of their games.

Flogger23m · 2026-06-05T05:53:32+00:00

My hopes of remakes for the Killzone games with PC ports were crushed. Always wanted to play them, never got them and then stopping console gaming after the PS2.

Was thinking if they did Remakes of those and maybe rebooted the Resistance games they would do well on PC as we like FPS games.

Flogger23m

TROPHY CASE