Can larger CPU coolers actually break or damage the motherboard?

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TommyLegend

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Apr 19, 2017
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If the case stands vertically and so the motherboard, and has a cooler on it which weights much, could the mobo get damaged or actually, could the cooler break the socket out of it? I need a short answer, and maybe an explanation please.
 
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synphul
Not really, not unless you slam your pc around and bang it or drop the case with the cooler mounted. Motherboards don't flex a whole lot, they typically have mounting screws above and below the socket. The longer and thinner something like a motherboard is, the easier it is to bend. If grabbing the top and bottom of an atx board and bending it in the hands it would flex pretty easily. With the mounting screws so close it effectively shortens the length of the board between the top and middle screws making it much more difficult to bend.

Large air coolers also using larger support brackets usually made of metal that press against the back of the board and spread the weight out over a larger area. The backplate moves the force of the...
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LowlySkeleton

LowlySkeleton

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Aug 5, 2015
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Short answer, yes. Heavy CPU coolers can bend and, possibly, break motherboards.

Longer answer, it depends. If you properly installed a back plate, the weight of the heatsink is distributed along a much larger surface area of your motherboard. This will reduce the strain on the motherboard and reduce the risk of any bending that may occur. However, if you move you PC case around a lot or jostle it too much, the chances of the motherboard bending and breaking increases. This is especially true if you drop it! In normal situations where your PC case is stationary, your motherboard should be fine.

This is the one of the heatsink that I use: http://www.lepatek.com/eng/product_content/31/1/56/
 
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Tolis_GR

Tolis_GR

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Mar 13, 2017
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In general terms no. Motherboards bend. The force that is applied to motherboards when installing parts, plugs etc is way heigher than this. Heatsniks are made of light metals, like aluminium that have high thermal capacity and little weight. As long as your heatsnik is designed for your socket, i wouldn't worry about this.
 
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synphul

synphul

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Mar 11, 2011
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Not really, not unless you slam your pc around and bang it or drop the case with the cooler mounted. Motherboards don't flex a whole lot, they typically have mounting screws above and below the socket. The longer and thinner something like a motherboard is, the easier it is to bend. If grabbing the top and bottom of an atx board and bending it in the hands it would flex pretty easily. With the mounting screws so close it effectively shortens the length of the board between the top and middle screws making it much more difficult to bend.

Large air coolers also using larger support brackets usually made of metal that press against the back of the board and spread the weight out over a larger area. The backplate moves the force of the mounting screws to the backplate and front mount so the screws aren't directly pulling against the motherboard pcb.

Just like a gpu can bounce and break the pcie slot if the pc case is roughly handled larger air coolers could possibly damage the socket the same way. If shipping a pc, large air coolers and gpu's should be removed. If sitting on a desk it will be fine.

If you're worried because of the slightly thinner pcb board on skylake/kabylake cpu's, they're not so much damaged from the weight of larger coolers but by the mounting force from tightening the cooler down too hard. Same thing can be done with a water block for a liquid cooler and that weighs almost nothing if it's screwed down too hard to the cpu forcing it into the socket.
 
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