Heavy air coolers, do they really wreck stuff if you move your case around?

nOOky

Platinum Member
Aug 17, 2004
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I am considering the Noctua NH-D15 CPU cooler for a new i7-8700K build. I have a Coolermaster HAF-X case and a Vega 64 GPU. While I'm sure everything will fit if I buy the correct low profile memory, I wonder if anyone has any experience with these big coolers causing trouble. I move my case around maybe once a month to open the side and blow out any dust etc. because we live in a dusty environment. My current cooler in a Coolermaster 212 which is not so big as the Noctua. I ask because I may even take it outside and use the air compressor on it to clean at times, so it will get picked up and moved around.

I try to be careful with it of course, I'm just interested if there are any horror stories about damage or having the cooler crack the mobo etc.

Happy Halloween!
 

UsandThem

Elite Member
May 4, 2000
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No, it's fine to gently move it.

Just don't ship it with a huge cooler, or drop it, and you'll be fine. I move my case with the NH-U12S / NH-U14S relatively often. I did sit it down hard once when slipped from my hands, from about 6" high, and my CPU fan dislodged from one side, although it didn't hurt anything.
 

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
Jun 30, 2004
15,722
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Agree with UsandThem. Even with a cooler like the NH-D15, you could probably drive to the LAN party through mountain snowdrifts and dirt roads if you simply remove the fans. It's all about torque and stress from flinging around the machine with some weight hanging on the motherboard. Nearly a pound of that weight derives from a pair of cooler fans hanging on the cooler.
 
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