Scythe's Ninja Plus is an effective custom CPU cooling solution with its tremendous heatsink. Unfortunately, its side-mounted cooling fan ended up interfering with the Patriot RAM sticks. All other clearances were fine and the fan could even be mounted on the opposite side. However, I decided against this solution and instead went with Thermalright's Ultra-120 eXtreme.
Ninja Plus Heatsink
In the photograph below, notice that the fin of the Northbridge heatpipe was pressing against the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme heatsink. Enough pressure was being placed on the heatsink that it was close to losing surface contact with the CPU. The 775 mounting adapter should be crossing directly over the center of the heat transfer plate on the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme, but it's about a quarter-inch off to the right.
Heatsink Clearance
Upon removing the Thermalright-Ultra 120 eXtreme I noticed that surface contact had been maintained. Still, it's not a good idea to have two such components touching and a fix was on the agenda.
Contact Impression
In the next photograph, sufficient clearance was established between the two heatsinks as I discovered that the Northbridge's finned heatpipe was slightly bent. By carefully applying pressure, I was able to straighten it back close to its intended position without any ill effects.
Proper Heatsink Clearance
After the manual re-positioning of the finned heatpipe, the mounting adapter was correctly positioned and easily locked into place with the mounting indent on the heat transfer plate.
