LGA775 heatsink mechanism = fail

[Indy500]

Core 2 owners will have to excuse me for being blunt here, but I think the fitting for LGA775 heatsinks is the worst I've encountered for the 10 years that I've been tweaking\building PCs.

The latest example of it causing me trouble is this:

While fixing a friend's PC, a fully secured LGA775 heatsink (originally fitted several months back) popped out of the motherboard and collided with the chipset cooler. Yes, the grips underneath actually snapped and the whole thing fell off. I've never seen any other type of heatsink do this. It wasn't even that heavy: an Arctic Cooling one weighing about 400g, mostly aluminium. mavity wasn't working against it either, as the PC was on its side at the time.

Socket A\370 were fiddly, even Socket 478 and 939 clips were a little annoying. But at least the hooks worked and didn't require me to bend the motherboard several degrees while fitting them. Or endure 20 minutes of plastic grips bouncing back up\getting stuck.

I think I'll give this platform a miss the next time I'm required to build a PC...

 

[kppanic]

What the... Did the heatsink itself break apart? If it did, blame the heatsink.

The heatsink probably didn't sit on the motherboard properly. Not only the white plastic grip needs to go through the hole but also the black pin has to go through about 4-5mm into it too. If all 4 legs were properly secured there is absolutely zero chance it will "come off."

You said the GRIPS snapped so i'm guessing the heatsink broke off. What does the 775 socket have anything to do with it? Other decent coolers actually require you to have a backplate + screws to attach the heatsink instead of plastic push pins.

 

[Indy500]

What the... Did the heatsink itself break apart? If it did, blame the heatsink.

The heatsink probably didn't sit on the motherboard properly. Not only the white plastic grip needs to go through the hole but also the black pin has to go through about 4-5mm into it too. If all 4 legs were properly secured there is absolutely zero chance it will "come off."

You said the GRIPS snapped so i'm guessing the heatsink broke off. What does the 775 socket have anything to do with it? Other decent coolers actually require you to have a backplate + screws to attach the heatsink instead of plastic push pins.

I'm not discounting your point, however wouldn't you agree that the plastic grips are more flimsy than metal? The stock coolers use that exact same mechanism. This one did not have a backplate and screws, as I said it was within weight specifications.

 

[setter]

Not a big fan of intel's push pin system either, i used a stock cooler and an arctic freezer pro prior to the TRUE. I never had much faith in the push pins. If i did have to use a cooler that used them, id almost certainly remove them and invest in a thermalright bolt thru kit for a more secure fit.

 

[kppanic]

I'm not discounting your point, however wouldn't you agree that the plastic grips are more flimsy than metal? The stock coolers use that exact same mechanism. This one did not have a backplate and screws, as I said it was within weight specifications.

I do agree whoever designed the plastic pushpin should be slapped.
However once you know how they work they'ren't that bad either.

Although I know a buddy who was pushing the pins too hard and heard a crack and suddenly he had two motherboards.

 

[nightmare99]

While fixing a friend's PC, a fully secured LGA775 heatsink (originally fitted several months back) popped out of the motherboard and collided with the chipset cooler. Yes, the grips underneath actually snapped and the whole thing fell off.

They don't do this if they have been fitted correctly. You sure he hasen't been playing with it, a lot of people assume you have to rotate the clips to lock it in place

 

[Nick1881]

I hate the push pins too, I wouldn't buy a cooler with this awful fitting method.

 

[Theguy]

iam jumping on the hate bandwangon.. the ye old amd clips felt more secure... not sure if technically they were more secure, but just personaly felt more..

 

[Indy500]

I do agree whoever designed the plastic pushpin should be slapped.
However once you know how they work they'ren't that bad either.

Although I know a buddy who was pushing the pins too hard and heard a crack and suddenly he had two motherboards.

See, those two things aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. Push them too much, you might split the PCB. Don't push them enough and they pop out later...

They don't do this if they have been fitted correctly. You sure he hasen't been playing with it, a lot of people assume you have to rotate the clips to lock it in place

Not sure... perhaps it was slow heat damage? Anyway, I replaced the heatsink with a spare, seems to be working fine...

All fine and well saying use a cooler that has a backplate, but there isn't the budget for me to spend £20 extra on each unit - I may as well change to the better value platform. Maybe if it was gaming PCs I was working on, then I'd consider the more expensive cooling option.

 

[Millwall.FC]

See, those two things aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. Push them too much, you might split the PCB. Don't push them enough and they pop out later...

Slight pressure until you hear a click whats so difficult unless your a very un-handy person. If you can prove these clips were not broke by user error I'll post you a grand. I have 4 pc's 3 have these clips and the oldest is 2 years old and they are all fine. Im sorry if i sound cynical.

 

[Indy500]

I have 4 pc's 3 have these clips and the oldest is 2 years old and they are all fine. Im sorry if i sound cynical.

I just gave my opinion, if you disagree I'm not holding it against you.

 

[freddie64]

Personaly, i dont trust the push pins. They may be ok for the stock cooler, but i prefer to use a bolt through kit for a bigger cooler.

 

[Big.Wayne]

I think I'll give this platform a miss the next time I'm required to build a PC...

I can certainly understand your frustration, had a pretty rough time when I built my first LGA775 platform back in Dec 2006 using an Arctic Freezer 7 Pro!

Anyhow the good news is you can buy a kit from Thermalright for about £5.00 which makes fitting any cooler that uses the plastic push pins a breeze!

This kit is included as standard with any Thermalright heatsink which is one of the main reasons I use them, I like to keep things simple, however as you can now buy just the kit alone and use it with any push-pin LGA775 heatsink you have no reason to avoid using the platform!

Thermalright LGA775 Bolt-Thru-Kit *mini* review