{"id":256457,"date":"2025-08-13T16:41:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T14:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hwcooling.net\/?p=256457\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T00:28:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T23:28:20","slug":"triple-noctua-nf-a12x15-deshroud-for-asus-tuf-rtx-5070-ti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hwcooling.net\/en\/triple-noctua-nf-a12x15-deshroud-for-asus-tuf-rtx-5070-ti\/","title":{"rendered":"Triple Noctua NF-A12x15 Deshroud for Asus TUF RTX 5070 Ti"},"content":{"rendered":"

Graphics card manufacturers usually fit low-profile fans. If you ever need to replace them, there\u2019s a wide range of 25 mm-thick models to choose from. In most cases, however, using them will make your card occupy four slots. The alternative is to stick with low-profile fans. We\u2019ll test what happens when we swap Asus\u2019s factory-installed 100 mm Axial-tech fans for three slimmer NF-A12x15 from Noctua\u2014and also what happens if they don\u2019t spin at all.<\/p>\n

Last time, we tried mounting two NF-A12x25 fans on a TUF RTX 5070 Ti<\/a> in place of Asus\u2019s original Axial-tech units. The downside was that this significantly increased the card\u2019s height\u2014from three slots to four\u2014and left part of the heatsink without airflow.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Today, we\u2019ll look at a setup closer to the original cooler. I\u2019ll install a trio of 12 cm low-profile Noctua AF12x15 fans on the card. This reduces its height by a centimeter compared to the 25 mm solution, and unlike the setup with three 25 mm fans, this one is only a few millimeters taller than the stock TUF GeForce RTX 5070 Ti with its 11 mm-thick fans.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When you line up three 120 mm fans, they end up several centimeters longer than the card itself and can\u2019t be mounted directly to the heatsink fins. I therefore designed and 3D-printed a frame to hold them. At over 360 mm in length, it doesn\u2019t fit entirely on most 3D printers, so I split it into several pieces and joined them with plastic screws.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is the first prototype\u2014a proof of concept to see if the approach works. Ideally, I\u2019d model the fans and card with heatsink in 3D and design a perfectly fitting shroud around them, but that would require much more time.<\/p>\n

To speed up the assembly process, I skipped the metal threaded inserts Asus uses in the original shroud. I also avoided glue, instead designing and orienting the parts for faster printing and easier modification, and used screws for joining.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not perfect\u2014some screws could be a millimeter longer or shorter than what I had on hand. Most pieces are first prints, and with longer parts it\u2019s hard to predict how much they\u2019ll warp or what surface imperfections they\u2019ll have. Some of this can be tuned in reprints; other flaws, given the nature of 3D printing, can only be addressed with sanding and filler. But clearly, this concept could form the basis for a modular system for mounting different fans on various graphics cards.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s still just a simple support frame, but it already looks more polished than the two fans awkwardly sitting in the middle of the heatsink fins in the previous experiment. Even so, this isn\u2019t ideal for the originally 33 cm-long card\u2014the fan rotors are a centimeter larger in diameter, so part of the third fan blows beyond the heatsink.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The frame mounts via standoffs in the original shroud screw holes. From an aesthetic standpoint, the biggest issue is probably the three thick cables from the three fans. But this isn\u2019t unsolvable\u2014with more space under the shroud, they could be hidden just like in the factory design. For cooling tests, however, this isn\u2019t essential.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The openings on the sides of the white part of the frame can hold \u201cside panels.\u201d This will let us test whether covering the heatsink sides\u2014preventing hot air from escaping sideways immediately under the fans\u2014has any impact on cooling compared to leaving them open.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The fans are once again connected to a Corsair Commander Pro controller. In the following sections, we\u2019ll first see how the GPU\u2019s power management handles being unable to directly control fan speeds\u2014and what happens when the fans don\u2019t spin at all.<\/p>\n

This can happen if you have the cooling set to passive by default and don\u2019t launch the software that starts the fans under GPU load. After that, we\u2019ll move on to the card\u2019s temperatures and noise levels with the Noctua NF-A12x15 fans.<\/p>\n