Cooling MSI B450I Gaming Plus AC Wraith Stealth compatibility

[Valantar]

I've recently inducted a friend of mine into the SFF community (yay!) - he wanted to build his first gaming PC, and it didn't take much to convince him that an SFF system was what he wanted (he's an anthropologist, so he travels quite a lot, and having a carry-on compatible PC would be a boon when he's away for months doing field work). Also worth noting is just how easy it is to kit out a relatively budget-friendly SFF build these days - he wanted to stay below 10 000 Norwegian Kroner including a monitor, and with some decent new-years deals, the PC landed at ~8500 (including 25% VAT) with an RX 570, an R5 2600, 16GB of DDR4-2933 and a 512GB SSD, in a Node 202. Might have gone a bit overkill on the CPU cores, but it's built for longevity, only requiring a GPU swap in a few years and possibly some minor OC'ing to stay useful. For budget reasons we stuck with the stock cooler and the included Integra PSU for the time being (no OCing planned ATM).

Anyhow, yesterday we met up to build the PC, and mostly it was a breeze (had to RTFM to figure out the GPU mount) except for one thing: clearance issues with the CPU cooler on this motherboard, specifically the plastic nubbin with the AMD logo on it. Either it would collide with the VRM heatsink, or it would collide with the RAM (which is heatsinkless, standard-profile G.Skill Aegis or something). The RAM collision was close, but still significant enough that we couldn't get the cooler mounted properly. We had to remove the cooler shroud to make it fit. Not an issue, really, but it feels a bit janky. Still, it made me wonder: does AMD's own Stealth cooler actually extend outside of its keep-out zone around the CPU, or has MSI played a bit fast and loose with the specs here? I guess this wouldn't be an issue with the taller Spire cooler, but it was still a bit surprising. In the end I'm just glad we didn't have to ditch a RAM stick or order a new cooler, but it struck me as pretty weird. If anyone knows, is it possible to rotate the fan on the cooler in 90-degree increments? We didn't have anything to measure with on hand, and I didn't have the right screw driver to remove it without the risk of stripping the screws, but the mount looks square-ish. I don't think he cares at all (it's not visible, after all, and shouldn't have any effect on cooling), but it still nags me. Guess I'm a perfectionist.

 

[boingk]

I'm pretty sure you can rotate it in 90' increments by unscrewing it from the heatsink then refitting. The self-tappers used need a bit of effort but they will come out! I ended up using a medium flat-blade screwdriver from my kit with a miniature pair of vice-grips to give proper grip and leverage.

Clearance to the B450I shouldn't be an issue if the 'AMD' bit is over the VRM I think, but I had to remove mine anyway due to case size issues. Check my thread for pictures if you want.

 

[Valantar]

I'm pretty sure you can rotate it in 90' increments by unscrewing it from the heatsink then refitting. The self-tappers used need a bit of effort but they will come out! I ended up using a medium flat-blade screwdriver from my kit with a miniature pair of vice-grips to give proper grip and leverage.

Clearance to the B450I shouldn't be an issue if the 'AMD' bit is over the VRM I think, but I had to remove mine anyway due to case size issues. Check my thread for pictures if you want.

The intereference with the VRM heatsink is actually quite a lot worse than with the RAM, lifting the cooler a good few mm off the CPU on the near side. On the RAM side I considered brute-forcing it on (decided not to - working RAM is more important than aesthetics!), but on the VRM side that wouldn't be possible at all.

The only guides/videos I've found covering this are for the Wraith Spire, and usually the 1st-gen version, which seems to use larger screws than the teeny-tiny ones on this one. Still, I suppose a good PH1 screw driver ought to get them loose without damage if I'm careful.


As a follow-up, should he ever want a better/quieter cooler or some OC headroom, what's the best AM4-compatible CPU cooler that fits in the Node 202? NH-L9a-AM4? L9a with a 25mm fan? Cryorig C7 (CU)?

 

[ZeppeZ]

I have the B450i and a Noctua l9a-am4.
This cooler is positioned «wrong» after looking the guide from NFC install guide of the l9i, but the l9a wont fit any other way.

So maybe you should check out the l9i for Intel and buy the adapter instead, if that gets the heatsink in the right position.
The AMD heatsink is rectangular and not square like the Intel, which makes it possible that it may fit the right way.
As in wrong, the heatsink fins are pushing hor air towards the left/right to the ram and vrm heatsink and not top/bottom if that makes sense.

 

[Legion]

You'll find coolers made for AMD specific boards only have 2 orientation positions (unlike intel's 4 positions) this is ofc down to the rectangular shaped design of the AM4 sockets mounting holes.

As ZeppeZ says, you can circumvent this using an NH-L9i and an AMD mounting kit
https://noctua.at/en/nm-am4-mounting-kit

It's also possible to use this kit (with minor drilling here and there) to mount other coolers that do not come as AM4 compatible.

 

[Valantar]

I have the B450i and a Noctua l9a-am4.
This cooler is positioned «wrong» after looking the guide from NFC install guide of the l9i, but the l9a wont fit any other way.

So maybe you should check out the l9i for Intel and buy the adapter instead, if that gets the heatsink in the right position.
The AMD heatsink is rectangular and not square like the Intel, which makes it possible that it may fit the right way.
As in wrong, the heatsink fins are pushing hor air towards the left/right to the ram and vrm heatsink and not top/bottom if that makes sense.

You'll find coolers made for AMD specific boards only have 2 orientation positions (unlike intel's 4 positions) this is ofc down to the rectangular shaped design of the AM4 sockets mounting holes.

As ZeppeZ says, you can circumvent this using an NH-L9i and an AMD mounting kit
https://noctua.at/en/nm-am4-mounting-kit

It's also possible to use this kit (with minor drilling here and there) to mount other coolers that do not come as AM4 compatible.

I don't think either of you fully understand what I'm asking. The compatibility question is specifically for the Wraith Stealth, not other coolers, and I'm not asking about rotating the entire cooler, just the top fan shroud assembly. The follow-up question about better coolers has nothing to do with the former, and is purely to prepare if he ever wants a better cooler. I suppose it's nice to know that the L9i+ mounting kit is more flexible than the L9a, but at this point it's rather irrelevant.

 

[Legion]

I don't think either of you fully understand what I'm asking. The compatibility question is specifically for the Wraith Stealth, not other coolers, and I'm not asking about rotating the entire cooler, just the top fan shroud assembly. The follow-up question about better coolers has nothing to do with the former, and is purely to prepare if he ever wants a better cooler. I suppose it's nice to know that the L9i+ mounting kit is more flexible than the L9a, but at this point it's rather irrelevant.

That's pretty arrogant pal, I'll remind myself to steer away from any of your threads in future!

 

[princess_daphie]

I have the same motherboard and cooler and had to remove the shroud in order to fit it in the Geeek A30 case as it has a strict maximum height of 50mm for the cpu cooler. removing the shroud is a simple matter of unscrewing the 2 little screws under the AMD logo piece thing that extends past the ring and then unclipping it. it shaves off a couple mm of clearance and once I've done that it doesn't interfere with my RAM.

 

[Valantar]

That's pretty arrogant pal, I'll remind myself to steer away from any of your threads in future!

I'm sorry if I came off as arrogant, I just couldn't see how your posts were actually applicable to the questions I was asking - it felt like you either misunderstood my questions or were trying to suggest something else altogether (without actually saying so). I was simply trying to clarify what my main question was, as your responses didn't actually address that, and seemed to assume I had a Noctua cooler.

 

[ZeppeZ]

You can turn the fan around 180 degrees increments I think or the shroud around aswell so that the «tab» with the AMD text is turned up or down, so that it doesnt hit the vrm/ram modules.

If your question is about AMD or MSI have done something «wrong» with the fitment, I dunno. Just tryin to help you fit your friends cooler.

 

[lilgreggy32]

I have the B450i and a Noctua l9a-am4.
This cooler is positioned «wrong» after looking the guide from NFC install guide of the l9i, but the l9a wont fit any other way.

So maybe you should check out the l9i for Intel and buy the adapter instead, if that gets the heatsink in the right position.
The AMD heatsink is rectangular and not square like the Intel, which makes it possible that it may fit the right way.
As in wrong, the heatsink fins are pushing hor air towards the left/right to the ram and vrm heatsink and not top/bottom if that makes sense.

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I'm looking at buying the the B450i and using the l9a-am4. If I am reading your post correctly, are you saying that they aren't ideally compatible? Did you run into any issues?

 

[Stevo_]

The Wraith Stealth fit on my MSI 450i but there is only about 2mm vertical clearance from heat sink fin bottom to top of VRM coils, the shroud touched the RAM heat spreaders and VRM heatsink but did not prevent insallation though I had to remove the shroud to reduce max height(and the spacers on the screw holes at the bottom of the fan frame, just fits in the case). Very tight but the shroud is ornamental and easily removed, not sure why it's even there other than to provide a non-spinning AMD logo. It has turned out to be a pretty good cooler and very quiet until around 1100-1200 RPM.

 

[SFF EOL]

That's pretty arrogant pal, I'll remind myself to steer away from any of your threads in future!

I think it second language issues, he isn't being as rude as we can take it- just direct to aid comprehension. I have travelled quite a bit in Europe and you get used to it in the end- but at first it does come over as abrubt and often openly rude.

 

[Valantar]

I think it second language issues, he isn't being as rude as we can take it- just direct to aid comprehension. I have travelled quite a bit in Europe and you get used to it in the end- but at first it does come over as abrubt and often openly rude.

More of a cultural issue than a language issue specifically, but I still think you're probably right about that - at least I share the same impression that Europeans (or at least us Norwegians) generally have a much more blunt and to-the-point way of talking than most Americans. I understand that it can read as rude from the outside, even if that to me is quite baffling - hence my response above trying to explain what happened. Looking at the initial post now I get that my wording could have been a bit more considerate, though.

 

[SFF EOL]

My wife is Polish and that nearly didn't happen because she was so seemingly blunt, she still falls into it occasionally. It is the same old problem, face to face you pick-up more that they are sounding abrupt, but aren't really aware that is how they are presenting. On the phone/internet, that gets lost. And I myself have reacted angrily in the past to what I perceived as rudeness so I'm not claiming any higher moral ground.