HSF weight

[mojothehut]

Hey all
I'm going to be building a new Coffee Lake rig once the motherboards start coming out.

Im a big fan (ha no pun intended) of Noctua.

Torn between the NH-U14s and the NH-U12s
Leaning more toward the U12s due to it weighing a little less.
The U14s is 2.1 lbs, or 935g. Doesn't that seem a bit much?
I know people love the U14s, it just kind creeps me out a bit slapping 2pounds
of heatsink on, despite a metal mounting plate.
Am I being overly paranoid?

 

[Campy]

Unless you're moving your computer around a lot whilst being uncareful it's going to be fine. People use the D15 aswell and that weighs over 1300g with fans.

 

[mojothehut]

Alright then, I'll man up and go with the larger one. Since I plan to do some overclocking why not

 

[Rifter]

Ive been running a D14, then D15, for the past decade. No issues. The weight is not a factor IMO.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

any of the above will be fine. with the backplate, don't worry about the weight. this is contingent on your not bumping the computer or moving it around a lot.

my noctua d14 has been untouched in my daily rig since around 2012.

 

[StefanR5R]

I am using two NH-D15S on dual processor boards, though not for long yet. Two of such PCs are a little over a year old now. (I used, or am still using, several NH-D14, NH-D15S, and Macho in single processor PCs for several years as well.)

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Think about it. If all the weight of the cooler were concentrated at the HSF base in a blob of metal maybe sitting an inch above the mobo surface, it would have little effect. It would simply hang on the four screw-mounts, and couldn't distort the motherboard.

And if you look at a barebones heatpipe cooler like the NH-D15, its center of gravity is indeed close to the motherboard. Instead, the weight added to it by fans mounted on the cooler increases torque and moves the center of gravity further from the motherboard surface.

A 140mm x 25mm fan weighs approximately 7 oz. Add a second such fan, and we're getting close to a pound. Suppose you could mount that fans in proximity to the cooler such that their weight does not hang on the cooler? For instance, right away, you could see that you could use the rear exhaust fan by itself and simply duct the fan to the cooler -- with a ThermalRight rubber accordion duct or a box you make of foam art-board. You would then only have the 7 oz pusher fan at cooler front-intake adding weight to the cooler. It should even be possible to use a different mounting point or a bracket to secure the fan in its position near the cooler fins.

These are just some options. But -- really -- even an extra pound of fan weight should not do anything to distort the motherboard or shorten its life. The only risk comes from any dynamic momentum imparted to the mounted cooler from moving the computer in shipping or transport. So? Don't flip the computer and drop it to the floor; be careful when transporting it or simply remove the cooler and fans for transport. Easier -- just remove the fans for transport.