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Do tower heatsinks put stress on the motherboard?

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Xenphor

Member
I have a ASUS P8H61-M LE/CSM Intel H61 motherboard with a Hyper 212 Evo tower heatsink. After I installed the heatsink, I immediately noticed how far it sticks out on top of the motherboard, which is mounted vertically. I can't help but feel that the 212 evo (or any tower heatsink) is making the board top heavy. I guess this is normal?
 
It will torque the MB of course as Ferz mentioned it's just physics. But I don't think there's anything to worry about. People have been using large tower coolers for many years without any apparent ill effects. And the EVO isn't really all that heavy. Just make sure your MB is secured down with as many screws as you have holes for it which will allow the screws/standoffs to prevent the MB from flexing excessively (that's what causes cracks and mechanical stress).
 
Xenphor said:
I have a ASUS P8H61-M LE/CSM Intel H61 motherboard with a Hyper 212 Evo tower heatsink. After I installed the heatsink, I immediately noticed how far it sticks out on top of the motherboard, which is mounted vertically. I can't help but feel that the 212 evo (or any tower heatsink) is making the board top heavy. I guess this is normal?
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I have had my High Tower for 12 years. I have never had a mobo go bad on me. Even better you have more air flow. I recommend open the side cases and a cool room temp and slow fan speeds.. gl
 
Xenphor said:
How would I know if it's too much stress? Only after the motherboard has cracked?
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That's definitely too much stress but even if it just weakens the mobo that could cause reliability problems. Not all mobos are created equal and some PCBs are more resistant to bending than others. I think a 212 EVO is about the upper limit of weight I'd put on a mobo. People with air coolers weighing a kilogram or more with 2-3 fans I think are crazy... if you need that level of cooling get water. (And frankly few people need that level of cooling; it's just showing off.) Else save your money and simply upgrade your CPU more often using the money you saved; this is especially true for sockets that aren't yet dead because you wouldn't even need to get a new mobo.
 
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I was using the 212 + with two fan in a push pull set up and moved that around from one office to another and it never did any damage to the board. You would have to really drop the computer and even then I think that the video card would be much more likely to damage the board.
 
Well I guess hopefully by the time it dies I'll be on a new computer. So what would be the symptoms of a warped motherboard? Would the computer just not boot?
 
Xenphor said:
Well I guess hopefully by the time it dies I'll be on a new computer. So what would be the symptoms of a warped motherboard? Would the computer just not boot?
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If you are really concerned, look it up in your manual or if it isn't stated, ask your mobo maker what the max CPU weight is for your specific mobo.
 
Xenphor said:
Well I guess hopefully by the time it dies I'll be on a new computer. So what would be the symptoms of a warped motherboard? Would the computer just not boot?
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If a motherboard gets flexed too much it can cause solder joints and/or circuit traces to crack. This can manifest itself in any number of ways, system instability, crashes, failure to POST etc.

It sounds like no amount of convincing from forum members is going to ease your mind. If it's going to worry you constantly then I would suggest you just return your EVO and just stick with the stock cooler. That way you can at least have the piece of mind that you're not doing any damage.
 
I've had those thoughts too. I don't like these enormous super heavy coolers.
My prob was also that it took up too much space in my enormous 6 fan case, so much that I couldn't get the lid on.

I would suggest moving to the water cooling alternatives which are more quiet, takes up barely any space (in comparison) and doesn't have any significant weight. They are also same price or at times cheaper than those bulky heavy weight coolers.

My choice came down to Antec Küler H2O 620.
 
212evo is one of lighter tower HS, its listed as 580g , now if you look at CM 812 , that is HS=825g+ fan=150g , so total almost 1000g . big difference .

How about Noctua NH-D14 , thats even higher at 1240g , so don't worry with evo .
Only time I would think about weight is if you were transporting/moving the system . Then depending on vehicle and were you put it during the move I might remove HS for transport but other than that I don't think its a issue.
 
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You could mount a heatsink twice as heavy as a 212 and not run into any problems whatsoever. The motherboard transfers the vast majority of the weight to the case to which it is securely attached.
 
Maximilian said:
If you are really worried you can follow these guidelines:

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_management_relief_coping.htm
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lololololol.... That was awesome. Your motherboard will be just fine. These newfangled heatsinks are pretty heavy, i think the one hanging off the side of my motherboard is something like a 126lbs, but not so bad as the old copper blocks from the late 90s and early 2000s. I don't remember what it was, but I used to have a copper and aluminum brick with an 80mm delta fan on it. It was loud. And so heavy that upon powering up the computer, the mass and energy of the cpu and heatsink actually created a vortex....
 
blastingcap said:
*cough* torque *cough* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque

If the heatsink were shaped like a backplate, that's different than being shaped like a tower.
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but that is what the added backing plates are for, distribute the weight .

Now if this started to be a normal trend they could of add MB tray mou8nts that line up with around socket and further support for heavier HS . this shouldn't be needed though as die shrinks untill we get to a point of not enough surface area to dissipate the heat .
 
Look.

The tower heatpipe coolers by themselves are not going to add much in torque to stress the motherboard.

It will be the fans which you clip on those heatpipe coolers, adding weight and therefore torque.

I created a brief reputation for myself as "the Duck-t-ster" back in '07 with my "motherboard ducting" project. I can tell you about twenty ways to keep the fans off the cooler while ducting the cooler for exhaust. The exhaust fan for your ATX case sits right behind the cooler, so building a foam-art-board duct between cooler-fins and fan is pretty easy. You could even use a "Quaker-Oats" barrel for that.

On the front-side of the cooler, you only need to find a way to bracket a fan in front of the cooler -- with a short duct if required -- which is affixed to the chassis or drive-cage.
 
Look. I don't think anyone is saying a 212/EVO is too heavy, but some tower heatsinks released since '07 are quite heavy and torque-y even without fans attached:

http://www.thermalright.com/new_a_page/product_page/cpu/true-copper/product_cpu_cooler_t_copper.html

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16835608018

Using a strong rear fan with duct is something I once considered, but ultimately it's more efficient to have the fans closer and if you want push-pull you need something up front as well; yes you can duct that too but it gets more involved than many people would like. Also, a duct would obstruct hot air that leaks out from the GPUs below, and in my system the GPUs are the ones throwing around most of the heat.

This is coming from someone who cut out his back fan grill (gaping hole in the back is more efficient for air circulation, and there is no duct in the way so it can also serve to release the hot air from my dual GPUs more easily) and installed a vertical 120mm fan in 3 5.25" slots with some elbow grease, so I'm not a stranger to DIY, either.

I'm also not saying the D14 will damage all mobos, but I would hesitate about using it on cheaper mobo that may have skimped on PCB build quality. I'd look at the mobo manual or contact the maker of the mobo for more info on what the mobo can tolerate. Else, it just doesn't seem worth the risk to me. Reasonable minds may disagree.

BonzaiDuck said:
Look.

The tower heatpipe coolers by themselves are not going to add much in torque to stress the motherboard.

It will be the fans which you clip on those heatpipe coolers, adding weight and therefore torque.

I created a brief reputation for myself as "the Duck-t-ster" back in '07 with my "motherboard ducting" project. I can tell you about twenty ways to keep the fans off the cooler while ducting the cooler for exhaust. The exhaust fan for your ATX case sits right behind the cooler, so building a foam-art-board duct between cooler-fins and fan is pretty easy. You could even use a "Quaker-Oats" barrel for that.

On the front-side of the cooler, you only need to find a way to bracket a fan in front of the cooler -- with a short duct if required -- which is affixed to the chassis or drive-cage.
Click to expand...
 
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Have you ever seen how much the board bends when you use the stock snap down cooler? I don't see the board bending at all with my 212 Evo.

And there is the added benefit of knowing ot won't have some plastic pin break, and then the heatsink falls off the board, which I have seen the stock coolers do.
 
Ed1 said:
but that is what the added backing plates are for, distribute the weight .

Now if this started to be a normal trend they could of add MB tray mou8nts that line up with around socket and further support for heavier HS . this shouldn't be needed though as die shrinks untill we get to a point of not enough surface area to dissipate the heat .
Click to expand...

Not only does the backplate help but when all of the motherboard standoff holes are utilized it helps push off that weight to the case as well. Most tower coolers are actually somewhat light at the top end due to the fins being aluminum.
 
Now this is my system with a Noctua NH-D14. THIS is a big heatsink...not your Evo lol.

img20120602123503.jpg


img20120613215551.jpg
 
All 7 of my rigs have tower heat sinks on them and 6 of them are Cm Hyper 212+'s. I have never once had a problem.
 
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