Noctua has announced that its new offset mounting bars for installing Noctua CPU coolers on AMD AM5 processors are now available via Noctua’s website, as well as Amazon, albeit with a service charge of EUR 3.90 (website form) or EUR/USD 4.90 (Amazon) that “helps to cover parts of the shipping and handling costs.” At least four different sets are available, and according to Noctua, the mounting bars, which are also compatible with AM4, can reduce CPU temperatures by up to 3 degrees Celsius. The NM-AMB12, NM-AMB14, and NM-AMB15 bars for current cooler models are already in stock, while the NM-AMB13 for legacy models will be ready to order within 1 to 2 weeks. Noctua is also updating all of its multi-socket CPU cooler models to include the new offset mounting bars, the first of which should start to become available by Q4.
“We have experimented with offset mountings ever since AMD introduced its first chiplet processors that had the hotspot shifted towards the south side of the socket, but on AM4, we only saw relatively small improvements in the range of 0.5-1°C”, says Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). “With the new AM5 platform and its different heat-spreader design, we managed to achieve typical improvements in the range of 1-3°C, so we think that this will be a very interesting performance upgrade for Ryzen 7000 users!”
Noctua Offset Mounting Bars Models
- NM-AMB12: for coolers with 83mm mounting pitch that require mounting points north and south of the socket (e.g. NH-D15(S), NH-D14, NH-D9L, NH-C14S, NH-L9x65)
- NM-AMB13: for coolers with 83mm mounting pitch that require mounting points east and west of the socket (e.g. NH-U12P series, NH-U9B series)
- NM-AMB14: for coolers with 78mm mounting pitch that require mounting points north and south of the socket (e.g. NH-D12L, NH-L12S)
- NM-AMB15: for coolers with 78mm mounting pitch that require mounting points east and west of the socket (e.g. NH-U14S, NH-U12A, NH-U12S, NH-U9S)
From a Noctua press release:
AMD’s latest Ryzen processors have their Core Complex Die(s) not at the centre, but slightly towards the south side of the CPU. By shifting the heatsink right above the hotspot created by the CCD(s) and applying optimal contact pressure where it matters the most, thermal performance can often be improved significantly.
While the results can vary due to different heat flux densities, tolerances of both the CPU and heatsink as well as other factors such as thermal paste application, the offset mounting can yield significant improvements with typical reductions in core temperatures ranging between 1 and 3°C on high-end AM5 processors. These gains can be used to let the CPU run cooler, to achieve higher boost clock frequencies or to reduce fan speeds and noise levels.
While primarily designed for AM5, the offset mounting bars can also be used on AM4, where they may yield slight improvements on Ryzen 5000 and 3000 series processors. However, the improvements when using the offset mounting position on these CPUs tend to be much smaller, typically <1°C instead of the 1-3°C gains that can be achieved on AM5.