Does the weight of the CPU heat sinks effect the motherboard or cpu in the long run?

First, the heat sink is not actually attached to the CPU, but rather simply presses against the CPU (which a bit of thermal paste in between, to reduce the amount of air in the coupling between the CPU die and the heat sink; you might be surprised just how good a thermal insulator non-moving air is). Thus, the CPU itself is under no significantly different physical stress depending on the size or weight of the cooling assembly, including the heat sink and fan, assuming of course that they have been properly installed.

Second, as modern CPUs dissipate potentially quite a lot of power during use, motherboards provide reinforced cooling supports precisely to cater to the potentially large, heavy cooling assemblies for the CPU that a user may wish to install. Also, the cooler itself may very well come with stronger support posts that attach to the motherboard. The specifics of how the motherboard is reinforced varies -- particularly between Intel and AMD, it seems to me -- and the particular ratings for how much weight these reinforcements can take are likely to be different between various motherboards. (This is largely speculation, but I would expect motherboards marketed to the gaming community to be sturdier in this regard, since high-end CPUs and graphics cards need relatively large cooling assemblies to operate for prolonged periods of high load at safe temperatures, particularly with acceptable fan noise levels.) However, possibly with the exception of the lowest-price, low-performance motherboards designed for fanless or near-fanless operation, they should all be sturdy enough to support the weight of even a relatively large CPU cooler, even when the system is installed in an upright configuration.

As a personal anecdote, my own system has a Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler (which is massive, almost to the point that it didn't fit in my case; it only left centimeters of clearance and made, ironically enough, the CPU fan power header on my particular motherboard very difficult to reach) and one thing I did try after installing it was to rock it gently in various directions. It remained solidly in place.

a CVn

Posted 2016-08-20T17:07:23.817

Reputation: 26 553

I've had a Zalman similar to this one https://www.quietpc.com/cnps7700 on a Q6600 CPU since it was new [6/7 years??]. No issues & it weighs nearly a kilo. They come with backplane strengthening plates. Having said that, I wouldn't like to take it jogging. Those new style coolers are very much like the Mac Pro has had for several years - though they are mounted flat, so no leverage against the mobo itself [CPU tray on a Pro rather than mobo] - http://i.stack.imgur.com/RGl6h.jpg

– Tetsujin – 2016-08-20T17:39:00.590

Without reading the specific article I assume it's about the change Intel made to the specifications to their newest CPU, which has never been confirmed independently, and Intel denies even happened. In other words the weight specifications suggested for heat sinks to have, have not changed. – Ramhound – 2016-08-20T17:46:45.243

1Anecdotally, possibly. A friend as an older i7 (socket 1366) system with a large Noctua cooler and a B-stock EVGA board. The system will randomly power off when up-right but runs run on its side (so the cooler is being pulled down) or if the Intel stock cooler is put back on. When it randomly shuts off, the cooler appears to be firmly attached suggesting it's an issue with the weight on the motherboard. Replacing the motherboard with a new one of the same model resolved the issue – nijave – 2016-08-20T21:56:04.193

Does the weight of the CPU heat sinks effect the motherboard or cpu in the long run?

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