MSI Assuages Intel Skylake CPU Bending Concerns With CPU Guard 1151 Socket Brace

By Kevin Carbotte
published

MSI has an answer for anyone still concerned about potentially damaging their Skylake CPUs with coolers that apply too much downward force. The company has just revealed a new bracket that will brace the corners of the CPU for higher pressure.

We recently ran a story covering the reports of bending Skylake CPUs. In it we posted statements that we received from various CPU cooler companies and Intel itself regarding the situation. The consensus from each of the companies that made a statement, with the exception of Scythe (which seems to be the only company affected) is that there is little to no danger of any CPU bending happening unless it happens during transport. MSI, it appears, wasn’t content with the majority and has a solution for others who feel the same.

MSI had already been developing the CPU GUARD 1151 as a brace for delidded CPUs. It’s designed to brace the corners of a cooling block or heatsink when cooling bare exposed CPU cores, but it can easily be used as additional support without removing the heatspreader from your processor.

MSI said the CPU GUARD 1151 can be used with Intel Xeon E3 V5, Celeron, Pentium and Core processors. The company did not say if it will support motherboards from other vendors.

Pricing and availability for the CPU GUARD 1151 have not yet been announced.

______________________________________________________________________

Kevin Carbotte joined Tom’s Hardware in early 2015. He writes GPU and VR hardware reviews and contributes to the news channel in the areas of computer graphics, water cooling, VR and other immersive technology. Kevin’s personal interests include technology advancements, fast cars and collecting video games that he doesn't have time to play.

Follow Kevin Carbotte @pumcypuhoy. Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.

Kevin Carbotte

 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years. 

11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • thor220
    Oh would you look at that, deliding and bending CPU chips. Both stemming from Intel's ongoing cheapening effort.

    I really hope Zen crushes it. Then maybe Intel will actually work on improving their processors and not focusing on going as cheap as possible.

    Anyone want to start an AMD kickstarter? They could really use the R&D money.
    Reply
  • NightLight
    Oh would you look at that, deliding and bending CPU chips. Both stemming from Intel's ongoing cheapening effort.

    I really hope Zen crushes it. Then maybe Intel will actually work on improving their processors and not focusing on going as cheap as possible.

    Anyone want to start an AMD kickstarter? They could really use the R&D money.

    Wow, one negative intel post, and a 3rd party problem no less, and you are all over intel, you must really hate them! If amd could, they would.
    Reply
  • Valantar
    Jeez, can we stop with the meaningless arguing? Intel has had a huge lead in CPU perf for years now, and no, it's not a coincidence. At the same time, CPU performance hasn't increased much during this time either. Has their lead led them to be slightly lazy? Possibly. It's impossible to speculate whether this is true or not. All we know for sure is that Intel has been more focused for the last four generations or so on reducing power consumption than increasing raw power. And, we should add, this has caused them to more or less own the entire laptop market (the biggest consumer PC market), while keeping their lead in desktops and dominating the server market. Their architectures scale remarkably well (4-165W? That's a huge range!).

    Is the reason for thinning the Skylake PCB cost cutting? Possibly. It's hard to argue that it's not at least part of the logic behind the decision. Does it matter? No. As we've seen, with ~99% of all cooling solutions, it makes no difference. I'd bet the thinking behind it is along the lines of "Can we make the PCB thinner without any negative consequences? *Testing* Sure, seems like it. Let's do it!" After all, there is absolutely no logic in wasting materials, no matter the scale.

    Did they screw this up? Possibly. Should they have tested this more thoroughly? Sure. Has it yet affected any end users, at all? Not that I've heard of. That'd be a class action suit waiting to happen.

    The use of a subpar TIM is another matter entirely. But still one that doesn't matter to 90%+ of users.
    Reply
  • ssdpro
    MSI needs this because their motherboards and sockets are always the thinnest and cheapest available. This whole thing is a non-story anyway. Any giant cooler could damage the cpu or socket if it is rocked and slammed in transport - and it has always been that way.

    And for the fanboys: yes I hope Zen is competent too. Intel prices have been rising and corners cut. They need a kick in the jewels.
    Reply
  • thor220
    17136236 said:
    Oh would you look at that, deliding and bending CPU chips. Both stemming from Intel's ongoing cheapening effort.

    I really hope Zen crushes it. Then maybe Intel will actually work on improving their processors and not focusing on going as cheap as possible.

    Anyone want to start an AMD kickstarter? They could really use the R&D money.

    Wow, one negative intel post, and a 3rd party problem no less, and you are all over intel, you must really hate them! If amd could, they would.

    This isn't a 3rd party problem. This is an issue with Intel Skylake CPUs being thinner.
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    17136790 said:
    Jeez, can we stop with the meaningless arguing? Intel has had a huge lead in CPU perf for years now, and no, it's not a coincidence. At the same time, CPU performance hasn't increased much during this time either. Has their lead led them to be slightly lazy? Possibly. It's impossible to speculate whether this is true or not. All we know for sure is that Intel has been more focused for the last four generations or so on reducing power consumption than increasing raw power. And, we should add, this has caused them to more or less own the entire laptop market (the biggest consumer PC market), while keeping their lead in desktops and dominating the server market. Their architectures scale remarkably well (4-165W? That's a huge range!).

    Is the reason for thinning the Skylake PCB cost cutting? Possibly. It's hard to argue that it's not at least part of the logic behind the decision. Does it matter? No. As we've seen, with ~99% of all cooling solutions, it makes no difference. I'd bet the thinking behind it is along the lines of "Can we make the PCB thinner without any negative consequences? *Testing* Sure, seems like it. Let's do it!" After all, there is absolutely no logic in wasting materials, no matter the scale.

    Did they screw this up? Possibly. Should they have tested this more thoroughly? Sure. Has it yet affected any end users, at all? Not that I've heard of. That'd be a class action suit waiting to happen.

    The use of a subpar TIM is another matter entirely. But still one that doesn't matter to 90%+ of users.

    Actually the thinning of the PCB was probably due to less layers needed with more parts being moved to the CPU itself. That is what I would assume before anything else as it has happened with motherboard and GPUs as well.

    Most people jump on the "its a cost saving mechanism" bandwagon because 1. Intel is a company and 2. they think the price difference is enough for Intel to even care. Honestly it is probably not as much as people think.
    Reply
  • Xivilain
    Good job, MSI. - Its the right move, especially for folks who are worried about their CPU. - Enough said.
    Reply
  • falchard
    It's a good move for MSI who predominantly deals with enthusiasts. Other mobo makers probably won't need to worry someone will put a Corsair V10 cooler on their mobo.
    It's also a selling difference like MSIs military-grade capacitors. Is it a concern? Yea for cheap mobos with cheap capacitors. Is it more durable than ASUS's capacitors? Absolutely. Is it necessary compared to ASUS? Not at all.
    Reply
  • BulkZerker
    jimmysmitty your right. Intel is a company. A billion dollar company that has people who's entire job is to cut costs. If they can get away with using less material they will. A fee pennies a chip adds up to a few dollars per tray of processors. That adds up fast.

    Another reason for the thinner processor could be apple and their unhealthy obsession with making the thinnest laptop possible.
    Reply
  • jaber2
    jimmysmitty your right. Intel is a company. A billion dollar company that has people who's entire job is to cut costs. If they can get away with using less material they will. A fee pennies a chip adds up to a few dollars per tray of processors. That adds up fast.

    Another reason for the thinner processor could be apple and their unhealthy obsession with making the thinnest laptop possible.
    I agree, lets shift the blame to Apple and their thinning line of thinner than air laptops, soon they will be so thin you don't even see them, just walk into apple store, pay for thin air 2, walk out with nothing, genius I say, that steve jobs is a genius
    Reply