CPU Cooler Mounting

illogik · 13 Mar 2010 at 12:47

Hi,

Could someone please tell me if it's possible cause any damage by over-tightening the cpu cooler? I just fitted a titan fenrir yesterday onto my Q6600 G0/P5Q Deluxe but I didnt tighten the screws as tight as possible because I was a little worried it could cause some damage.

Is it safe to tighten them as much as possible without damaging the cpu/mobo?

Thanks.

Frozennova · 13 Mar 2010 at 12:56

Just watch the mobo to make sure its not flexing, once it begins to flex slack it off about 1/4 turn and it'll be fine

Jotunkaiser · 13 Mar 2010 at 13:30

Well I wouldnt go as much as possible but make them tight enough? you should know if you are going too tight lol - I'm heavy handed myself, gotta becarefull haha

illogik · 13 Mar 2010 at 16:57

Hmm ok, thanks.

After reading a few threads on these forums and checking out a few youtube vids I've decided to buy a different cooler and lap both the cooler & cpu as my temps vary between cores by about 8c and although my idle temps are 26 32 30 26 as i type this, I'm not really happy with it and think I could get lower temps to allow for a higher than my current 3Ghz overclock.

UnworthyBean · 13 Mar 2010 at 16:59

illogik said:
Hmm ok, thanks.

After reading a few threads on these forums and checking out a few youtube vids I've decided to buy a different cooler and lap both the cooler & cpu as my temps vary between cores by about 8c and although my idle temps are 26 32 30 26 as i type this, I'm not really happy with it and think I could get lower temps to allow for a higher than my current 3Ghz overclock.

Idle temps mean nothing. Put it under load and thats what matters.

You may also have a stuck sensor meaning it cant go lower than 30, Or whatever.

illogik · 13 Mar 2010 at 17:18

Load temps are around 51c - 59c depending on which core as they vary quite a bit. Used to get lower temps with an AC freezer 7 pro than I get with this fenrir, hence the thread topic.

Either way it seems pretty clear to me that the IHS isnt flat.

saitrix · 13 Mar 2010 at 17:26

Why buy a different cooler? Just lap the IHS. Also have you checked you have a good thermal compound spread? The open heatpipe coolers are harder to do with it, I found doing lines of thermal compound on the flat sections between the heatpipes worked best for me.

What paste are you using too?

illogik · 13 Mar 2010 at 18:51

Im using AS5 atm.

Also I used the credit card method to spread a thin layer over the entire IHS.

JonJ678 · 13 Mar 2010 at 20:20

The heat transfer coefficient improved with mounting pressure. On the microscopic level this is attributed to the various imperfections on the surface being squashed flat or into each other, increasing the fraction of direct contact. Hence lapping helps, smaller imperfections gives greater contact fraction.

PCB's are remarkably indifferent about being bent. I imagine they're designed to be flexible. At least a few X58 boards have shown that high mounting pressure leads to one or two sticks of ram not being detected, no idea why that happens. Backplates are popular as a means of increasing mounting pressure without causing excessive deflection.

As tight as causes visible flexion then loosening off a bit is a good idea. I'm currently going for as tight as I can get by hand, but I'm using a backplate and there are springs between the nut and the board.

illogik · 13 Mar 2010 at 20:35

Yeah the titan fenrir i'm currently using has a backplate but doesnt use any springs at all.

No doubt i could have fastened it tighter than it currently is but at the time was unsure whether that could damage anything. I do plan to lap my cpu. Have already made my mind up on that score, I dont rly think the fenrir would be the best cooler to pair with a lapped cpu though so I'll probably end up getting a true black or 120 extreme and lapping that aswell.

JonJ678 · 13 Mar 2010 at 20:40

I think the fenrir uses exposed heatpipes in the base, which means lapping it will destroy it. Using a lapped cpu with a fenrir probably wont change temperatures much. Lapped true with lapped processor is a good combination, I had to move to watercooling to do better than that.

illogik · 13 Mar 2010 at 20:43

Yeah the fenrir does have exposed heatpipes so I wont be lapping that

setter · 13 Mar 2010 at 20:44

I lapped both my old q6600 and TRUE black (2000 grit), knocked 10c of load temps at 3.8ghz. Still have the TRUE on my current i7, though im a bit reluctant to lap the new cpu as ive only had it a few months.

illogik · 14 Mar 2010 at 16:48

So today I decided to re-seat my titan fenrir until I get around to lapping my cpu & buying a TRUE.

While I had the fenrir out of the pc, I covered the base of it in a thin layer of AS5 and then used a credit card to scrape off the excess to give some idea as to how flat the contact area was.

Well, I think the results speak for themselves as you can clearly see from the pic below....

illogik · 14 Mar 2010 at 18:00

Just out of interest, my load temps have gone down to 48 52 52 48 since re-seating the fenrir.

I did however tighten the screws way tighter than the first time.

saitrix · 14 Mar 2010 at 21:22

illogik said:
Just out of interest, my load temps have gone down to 48 52 52 48 since re-seating the fenrir.

I did however tighten the screws way tighter than the first time.

Well the copper heatpipes will change shape when you tighten it more onto the cpu so it may have greater contact area than before.

illogik · 14 Mar 2010 at 21:47

Hmm ok. I wasnt aware of that. Will they change shape enough to compensate for the awful contact points though which you can see in the pic if you scroll up a little?