Help with motherboard with Scythe Ninja Rev.B

falcon · Post by **falcon** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 6:58 am

Hi everyone

I have a P150 case and I'm planning to buy a E4300 with two Nexus 12 cm running at 5V or 7V (one to replace the antec tricool and one for the heatsink). Maybe I overclock at a maximum of 333x9=3 Ghz, although I am a bit worried with the heat (3 GHz means about 20W more of power than at stock speed) or noise.

Althought this is my first post, I have read a lot of posts about the Antec solo or P150 case and I think that the best heatsink for my case is the Ninja Rev. B. However many users have reported problems when installing this heatsink in conroe motherboards. I have read many posts of users reporting problems (Ninja is touching with capacitors near the cpu) when installing the Ninja in the Asus P5B, Asus P5B Deluxe, Asus P5W DH Deluxe, Gigabyte DS3 and/or Gigabyte DS4. I also know that Scythe claims that Ninja is fully compatible with all of these boards (in fact they have some pictures in the website to prove that) but for me if there are, for example, a single P5B Deluxe motherboard in the world in which the Ninja can not be sucessfully installed, then the Ninja is not fully compatible with P5B Deluxe. I do not want to depend of my luck (tolerance in motherboard built) or to use a dremel.

To sum up, I am searching for a conroe motherboard that has no problem at all when installing a Sythe Ninja Rev. B. A motherboard in which you are sure that the Ninja will not be touching the capacitors. I have read that capacitors of all P965 motherboards may cause problems with the Ninja Rev B. Because of this, some time ago I was decided to go for the Asus P5W DH Deluxe, however some users have also reported problems with this MB. So can you recommend any good motherboard for the Ninja+E4300?. May be a Gigabyte DQ6 (I do not know if this motherboard has problems with the Ninja, but I do not like to remove the blackplate to install the Ninja) or an Abit Pro motherboard?. I do not need Raid but money is no problem. I like Asus P5b Deluxe/Wifi or Asus P5W DH Deluxe because this boards are very high recommended in many reviews and I also like the integrated Wifi.

Another option (that I have seen in the posts) is to buy another universal retention kit for the Ninja but I am not sure what exactly it is and if it is available in Spain. Or to wait until Scythe sells the very desired Ninja Rev.C.??? that will probably solve all of the above described problems.

Last option for me is to forget the Ninja. Then the best option seems to be Thermalright Ultra 120. However it weights about 200 gr more and it is not good as Ninja with a Nexus at low speed. In this case, I have not any doubt: I will buy the Asus P5B Deluxe/Wifi.

At this moment my best idea is the last option (Asus P5B Deluxe/Wifi+Ultra 120+Nexus) for my P150 case. But I hope that anyone of you can help me in this decission.

Thank you in advance

nick705 · Post by **nick705** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 8:50 am

You could have a look at some of the new generation of P965 boards, such as the Asus Commando or Abit AB9 QuadGT, which are clear of capacitors in the immediate CPU area.

I'm not sure I'd go as far as selecting a motherboard on the basis that it can support a particular heatsink - yes, the Ninja is highly regarded but there are many other options that work very well.

falcon · Post by **falcon** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 12:26 pm

Thank you for the reply. I will take a look to the new P965 boards but I don't think that they were available in my country yet.

Maybe I am selecting a motherboard on the basis of supporting the Ninja (in part you are right), however in my selection I have only looked at P965 or 975X boards, all of them on the middle to high_end range. Since I do not need RAID and I will not overclock with a bus above 333 , most -or all- of P965 or 975X boards will fit with my requirements very well (although I prefer Asus or Gigabyte because I want a rock stable and a very reliable motherboard). I will not buy an Asrock_dual-vista just only because the Ninja fits on it!.

I want to use P150 with only an nexus exhaust fan at 5V (or 7V if necessary), an E4300@3 Ghz and a heatsink?+Nexus at 5V (or 7V).
In the summer this room is about 30Âº C. Do you think that there are many options that will keep my CPU cool enough?.

The second best option for me is the Ultra 120 and it keeps the CPU 5 degrees hooter at 5 V (see http://www.silentpcreview.com/article46-page5.html). Also, I think that it is a bit heavy for me (and for the motherboard too, when the PC is moved, I guess). In spite of this I will probably choose that because I like a lot the ASUS P5b Deluxe/Wifi.

Is there another good option for me?

vincentfox · Post by **vincentfox** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 12:36 pm

You are worrying too much. Yes there are a few boards like the DS3 with capacitor interference issues with the LGA775 mounting bracket. This is easily fixed with a metal-file or a Dremel tool. All I had to do was shave off a few millimeters of material along one edge of the bracket. Scythe I think also has some recommendation for it, but it was so easy to fix myself that I did it.

The Ninja is one of the best heatsinks out there, I use mine in an Antec Solo in passive mode (just case fan on low) and idle temp is 44C and it hits maybe 60-70C under load.

nick705 · Post by **nick705** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 12:58 pm

If you like the P5B Deluxe, you might want to steer clear of the Ninja rev.B to be on the safe side - having said that, if you're one of the unlucky ones and the baseplate hits the capacitors, as said above it's only a few minutes's work with a small file to fix it. If you'd rather not go down that route, I think the Ultra 120 will do you fine - the weight (without a fan) is 745g, which is actually "only" 80g more than the Ninja (also without fan), although in a slightly more top-heavy way.

I take your point about weight, but as long as you're careful there shouldn't be a problem - personally I'd much prefer the bolt-through mounting of the Ultra 120 or the Noctua NH-U12 over the Ninja's pushpins anyway. The Scythe universal retention kit seems to be of dubious use with the Ninja rev.B (there's a thread here somewhere mentioning certain problems), and here in the UK it seems to have been discontinued, or at least I can only find a couple of retailers who still have some in stock.

I wouldn't worry too much about reviews which indicate a difference in performance between heatsinks of a handful of degrees one way or another. Ambient temps, sample variance and experimental error can all play a part, and coupled with a 120mm Nexus I'm sure you'll be very happy with any of the heatsinks mentioned.

J. Sparrow · Post by **J. Sparrow** » Sat Feb 03, 2007 6:35 pm

I would drop the Ultra 120 which is the most expensive option and has no big edge over the Ninja.

The Noctua costs a little more (or equal) than the Ninja + Kit but the mounting system looks better than both the old and the new Ninja fittings. It has been subject to uneven reviews, but you don't care about reviews so why not give it a try?

Pauli · Post by **Pauli** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:38 pm

I built a system for my brother around the Biostar TForce965 motherboard in a Solo with a Ninja Rev.B and there were no clearance issues at all. This motherboard was favorably reviewed at Anandtech and is a good overclocking platform. It falls into the "budget" category though, and does not have some of the features that the MBs you have already listed have.

smnettles · Post by **smnettles** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 1:42 pm

I used a MSI 975X Platinum Power Up Edition motherboard with a Ninja in a Solo case. No problems. I am happy with it.

Scott

continuum · Post by **continuum** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 12:17 pm

I've had a Ninja rev B on two different Asus P5B Deluxe WiFi AP 1.03g's here with no installation issues.