View Full Version : Is too heavy of a heatsink bad?
chefwaffles
12-10-2005, 01:34 AM
On a motherboard, is a heatsink that weighs alot bad for the mobo? I heard the xp-90c heatsink isnt recommended for some boards because of the weight. Is it possible for mobos to squeak and stuff because of a heavy heatsink?
afireinside
12-10-2005, 02:08 AM
That's BS. I'm running a big typhoon with a delta on a naked 165 and nothing happened...
PorkchopExpress
12-10-2005, 01:35 PM
Total weight isn't an issue when the board is laid flat.
The issue with weight (and size, for that matter), is if the board is vertical.
Thermalright used to include warnings in their instructions that if the PC is going to be moved using their SLK947, that the HS should be mounted through the motherboard to prevent damage to the socket (break the mounts and come free).
With the current mounting hardware most mobo manufactures provide, the XP-90 isn't heavy enough (or big enough to add significant leverage) to break free from the mounts. I use an XP-90c on my girlfriends PC, and the mountings don't even flex.
As long as you don't have a 6 inch chunk of copper attached to the plastic mounts, you should be ok... :)
The issue is not just weight, it is lever forces which multiply the weight if the HSF is very high (high on a horizoontal board).
The Big Typhoon on a vertical board is pressing the lower edge of the CPU into the socket with considerable force, because it isn't only heavy, much of its weight is very high (away from the board).
nn_step
12-11-2005, 07:55 AM
Yes if you like to move your case alot...
physics_geek
12-11-2005, 09:03 AM
On a motherboard, is a heatsink that weighs alot bad for the mobo? I heard the xp-90c heatsink isnt recommended for some boards because of the weight. Is it possible for mobos to squeak and stuff because of a heavy heatsink?Of course, heavy heatsinks are bad for mobo, especially if you keep it vertically. So don't buy the heatsink if you think it's too heavy for your bracket, because if you moved the case a couple of times, the bracket will break due to the force applied on it. Which spells DOOM for your main components.