Heavy Air Coolers - Could they damage motherboard

wenzu1989 · 21 Sep 2010 at 07:00

Hello guys,

I am building my gaming rig and was browsing for some coolers. I was going for the Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler. It looks great and has had many good reviews. My problem is on one .... its WEIGHT.

On their website it is quoted to weigh around 1.2kgs when the fans are installed. I have an (expensive) Asus rampage III extreme and I am a bit worried that all this weight might (sag) damage my motherboard .

What are your opinions ?
Could anyone share his/her experience as related to this particular cooler ?

Thanks

Doughnut007 · 21 Sep 2010 at 07:06

Interesting question I too would like to know.

Crowort · 21 Sep 2010 at 07:25

Firstly surely the manufacturers would have tested this? Secondly lots of people use them and you don't hear often (infact I never have) of boards being warped my the weight alone.

I can understand the worry, these things are heavy but the lack of posts about it happening suggests it almost never / never happens.

shroomz · 21 Sep 2010 at 08:02

Cooler manufacturers provide a backplate that helps distribute the stress on the motherboard more evenly so motherboard damage caused by a heavy cooler isn't normally an issue

wenzu1989 · 21 Sep 2010 at 08:05

shroomz said:
Cooler manufacturers provide a backplate that helps distribute the stress on the motherboard more evenly so motherboard damage caused by a heavy cooler isn't normally an issue

AS an engineering student i can tell you that although a backplate is important an distributes the stress evenly, the stress is still confined to a small area

Makhaira · 21 Sep 2010 at 08:05

As long as you use the backplate you should be fine. If you are not being careful when moving your PC, I wouldn't recommend having it in place when transported though.

no_1_dave · 21 Sep 2010 at 08:12

They're fine.
Motherboards are stronger then people think

wenzu1989 · 21 Sep 2010 at 09:02

no_1_dave said:
They're fine.
Motherboards are stronger then people think

So you would go with the 1.2Kgs Noctua ?

Frozennova · 21 Sep 2010 at 09:05

plenty of people use large coolers such as the noctua, megahalems and True without issues. The backplates provided are to stop any bending of the board. You'll be fine

BigBruiserAl · 21 Sep 2010 at 10:31

wenzu1989 said:
AS an engineering student i can tell you that although a backplate is important an distributes the stress evenly, the stress is still confined to a small area

You dont need to be a engineering student to work that out?

@op yes it will be fine, worry when you buy a copper TRUE

reflux · 21 Sep 2010 at 10:35

iirc the Intel spec recommends a cooler of no more than 500g, but the Intel spec also recommends that you don't overclock, run RAM faster than JEDEC spec or do anything remotely interesting with your computer.

Heavy air coolers are fine if you install them properly.

wenzu1989 · 21 Sep 2010 at 10:46

BigBruiserAl said:
You dont need to be a engineering student to work that out?

@op yes it will be fine, worry when you buy a copper TRUE

LOL i am worried with 1.2kg...let alone 2kgs. So in your opinion given i have the space and the money u should go with the Noctua

domthecondom · 21 Sep 2010 at 11:26

i used the true and i swear there 1kg and my mobo was fine.

BigBruiserAl · 21 Sep 2010 at 11:30

In my experience i would go with a Prolimatech Megahalems just to confuse things, not because it better but better price/performance. Top 5 coolers all perform within 2-3c of each other so why pay £64+?

If your minds made up and you want D14 dont let the weight put you off it will be fine

wenzu1989 · 21 Sep 2010 at 11:53

BigBruiserAl said:
In my experience i would go with a Prolimatech Megahalems just to confuse things, not because it better but better price/performance. Top 5 coolers all perform within 2-3c of each other so why pay £64+?

If your minds made up and you want D14 dont let the weight put you off it will be fine

Just to make it clear i was SO concerned , because i am going to use a rampage III extreme , which as you might imagine is not a cheap motherboard

BigBruiserAl · 21 Sep 2010 at 12:17

wenzu1989 said:
Just to make it clear i was SO concerned , because i am going to use a rampage III extreme , which as you might imagine is not a cheap motherboard

Nope totally understand i have 2 of them

i was like that on my 1st build

Big.Wayne · 21 Sep 2010 at 12:35

wenzu1989 said:
I am building my gaming rig

Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler

£66.99 inc

Hello wenzu1989

Why on earth are you considering spending £67 on a CPU cooler for a gaming rig? . . . that is a really expensive cooling solution . . . do you actually need it or?

It seems a lot of people are becoming a little "obsessed" by cooling these days . . . a cooler like this really isn't needed for most people! :cool:

Helios1234 · 21 Sep 2010 at 13:05

Big.Wayne said:
Hello wenzu1989

Why on earth are you considering spending £67 on a CPU cooler for a gaming rig? . . . that is a really expensive cooling solution . . . do you actually need it or?

It seems a lot of people are becoming a little "obsessed" by cooling these days . . . a cooler like this really isn't needed for most people!

And that's why the Thermalright Silver Arrow should be considered instead which is cheaper and marginally better

.

To answer the OP, the Noctua's weight isn't a problem at all. I've had mine for over 10 months and haven't had any issues with its weight on the two motherboards I've used it on. The SecuFirm 2 kit is one of the best available.

R088ieS86 · 21 Sep 2010 at 13:07

If your worried get a Corsair H50-1. Even though its big brother is now out it will provide just as good cooling, with none of the weight your worried about!

Relentless81 · 21 Sep 2010 at 13:10

Are you overclocking? If not just use the standard cooler, I only ever use the standard cooler but I ensure I have a decent case, currently antec 902 and my PC is a gaming PC