PCA Forums

Getting ready to do the upgrade soon to my new mobo/cpu combo and started wonderings about the stress on the mobo caused by the weight of the cooler. I picked a mugen scythe 4, based on reviews http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/11/ ... Ga1DxZRbeY

It's a really pretty piece of hardware but it weight 1.3 lbs w/o fan. I started wondering if this could have a long term effect on the mobo in terms of stress related issues. All the reviews slap a system together for a month at most, and lots of times it looks like they run a test bed where the cpu cooler ends up vertical rather than horizontal.

Seems to me that hanging a ~ 1.5 lb weight from a motherboard which is full of circuitry with minimal clearances may not be a good idea if you're planning to keep the rig for 3-5 years, which is what I normally do.

Anyone thought about this or seen anything on this issue?

I've never had a problem and I prefer large air-cooled heatsinks. My rigs have always run just fine and the boards are built pretty tough. I've used Asus boards for the last 10 yrs or so and have had zero issues.

Most coolers now have a backplate that takes some of the strain off the board. That Sythe is massive. It would be nice if you could find a case where the motherboard was laying down so the weight isn't pulling on it. Make sure you get low profile RAM.

I still have an SLK-900A in my basement.. That was one heavy SOB lol

Lot of cases also have mounts so the heatsink is mounted on the backplate vs the MB itself. Check for that? But yeah, it's big but shouldnt be an issue.

I've had the same concern as you, but so far, I haven't had an issue and I run Thermaltake's Big Typhoon which is a monster & it stands pretty far away, thus has a lot of leverage. The backplate is necessary though. That said, the last few boards I removed did show slight visible warpage (still fully functional though). I've found that PC boards are pretty resilient.

thanks gang. I may drop a light brace from the top of the case - that would make me feel better even if it doesn't really do anything

I'm going to get it switched out in the next day or two because Dragon Age Inquisition is coming out next week and I want full horsepower!