CPU air cooler weight issues?

RS17 · 14 Aug 2022 at 17:43

Im looking to get a new air cooler for an i5 12600K and have been recommended the Noctua D15 but have read the weight of them can be a strain on the motherboard, further affected by motherboard quality. Has anyone found this to be an issue? Im currently looking at a Gigabyte Z690 Gaming X to fit it on. I am totally open to different components though so if there are better alternatives, any suggestion would be appreciated too.

Are cooler support brackets a thing yet, similar to ones for graphics cards?

Also, the LGA mounting kits some with different pitches (78mm/83mm). I cannot see on the cooler spec sheets what their pitches are, how do I make sure I get the right one?

Ree · 14 Aug 2022 at 17:58

Only time I'd be worried about the weight of a cooler is when the PC is being transported other than that no worries what so ever. I have the D15S Chromax and it's a great cooler.

Quartz · 14 Aug 2022 at 18:11

RS17 said:
Im looking to get a new air cooler for an i5 12600K and have been recommended the Noctua D15 but have read the weight of them can be a strain on the motherboard, further affected by motherboard quality.

In normal use it's fine. The weight is only an issue when you're shipping the complete system via a courier and have to protect it from being tossed about. If you transport it yourself then I assume you'll be treating it carefully.

arknor · 14 Aug 2022 at 18:50

I'd wager it takes a lot more force than the weight of a D15 to bend a motherboard especially when it's screwed into a case with multiple anchor points.

Personally have a d15 and not worried

here's mine and if it somehow managed to bend the motherboard by pulling the motherboard screws out of the case then it would rest on the GPU anyway

didn't even feel that heavy to me, it's not like it's a solid object without the gaps for airflow it would probably be less than half the size

Glanza · 14 Aug 2022 at 19:45

Shouldn't have any issues with the D15 aslong as you transport your PC on it's side, though Noctua do recommend removing the cooler.

If you want a smaller cooler with pretty much the same performance look at the NH-U12A

Hagar · 15 Aug 2022 at 10:50

I have the slightly older NH-D14 with the AM4 fitting kit. After five years in position, no damage to anything.

Disco_P · 15 Aug 2022 at 11:40

I haven't heard of a single instance of a big aircooler bending a motherboard causing damage in 10 years I've been messing with PCs. I had a D14 on a cheapo Z68 board and it did many trips through the lake district in the boot of the car.

Motherboards are essentially big slabs of copper and fibreglass and are surprisingly strong.

mickyflinn · 15 Aug 2022 at 11:47

Somehow me thinks they stress test the weight of coolers installed on motherboards.

Also never heard of saggy coolers.

arknor · 15 Aug 2022 at 13:48

mickyflinn said:
Also never heard of saggy coolers.

the backplate or cpu socket would have to physically crush into the motherboard for it to even sag surely

Hagar · 15 Aug 2022 at 17:21

Most of the heatsink weight is at the CPU end. Try balancing on a piece of string to check its C of G.

doyll · 15 Aug 2022 at 17:56

I've only see less than a dozen case of cooler damaging mobo in entire history of personal computers. A couple were on super cheap mobos with coolers that did not have mount backing plate, but most were from companies assembling complete systems for courier deliveries .. and we know how courier monkey toss things around.

THere was a lot more damage than just cooler to mobo.

I did see on that mate had set system on shelf 5 feet off the floor and it fell off. Again, lots of damage and not just cooler to motherboard.

As long as cooler mount is backplate design you will be fine. Most even without backplate work fine, but some will tend to warp motherboard.