Due to the elongated shape of LGA 1700 CPUs and how they are secured in the socket, 12th-14th Gen Intel Core CPUs have been known to bend or warp while installed in the motherboard’s socket. This can cause higher temperatures due to uneven contact with CPU coolers.
So Thermal Grizzly, Thermalright, and others have released complete replacements for the ILM (Independent Loading Mechanism, the CPU locking hardware) of the LGA1700 socket in recent years. We tested Thermalright’s LGA1700-BCF contact frame and saw a reduction of temperatures of up to 12C on an Asus TUF Gaming Z790 Plus motherboard when paired with an Intel Core i9-13900K.
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
But if you were planning on using an LGA 1700 contact frame with Intel’s upcoming “Arrow Lake” Core Ultra processors, you’re in for an unpleasant surprise. While the size of the CPU’s PCB might be identical for LGA 1700 and LGA 1851 motherboards, the size of the CPU itself is slightly taller and thinner – and its hotspot is reported to have shifted north.
What this means is that, if only by a hair, the top and bottom edges of the existing contact frames will interfere with the edges of the CPU’s metal shell – as shown in the image below.
Still, it’s not all bad news. New Z890 motherboards are rumored to incorporate a “Reduced Load ILM” design that spreads the contact points of the ILM across more areas of the IHS, reducing the chance of the CPU bending while in the socket. This should cause the chip's IHS to remain more uniform when touching the contact plate on a CPU cooler, boosting cooling performance and efficiency.
While the details of the ILM haven’t been officially confirmed yet, no contact frames have been announced for Z890 motherboards yet – which hopefully indicates that thermal headaches from bending CPUs may finally be a thing of the past.
Stay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware Newsletter
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
The socket is also shifted south on the motherboards so even if the contact frame was compatible with the IHS it likely wouldn't be mountable at all. This makes me really curious about Arctic's LFIII, but it could explain the gap on the south side of their mounting frame.
I mean, Intel just thought of the most Intel thing: you just need to pay more for a proper ILM that doesn't screw up your temperatures due to excessive pressure.
