Who has actually broken a motherboard due to a big heatsink?

[krotchy]

I always hear talk about breaking a mobo with big heatsinks, especially with the newer gigantic ones that have been coming out lately (Cooler Master GeminII, Scythe Infinity, Tuniq Tower, Big Typhoon, Sonic Tower etc etc.)

I want to know if anyone has actually personally destroyed their mobo due to carelessness with a big heat sink. And no, improperly attaching a backplate and shorting it out isnt what I mean.

Basically has a big heat sink physically damaged your mobo due to misuse?

Im not saying it cant happen, im just curious how often it does.

p.s. If you sent a computer through UPS/Fedex with a Giant HS on it, that doesn't count, UPS chucking your box like a ragdoll is different story :-D.

 

[PCTC2]

no. not yet. i have over 1kg (very bad) on my motherboard, and so far, with only two moves back and forth from my friend's house for a video project, it seems ok.
(BTW, my cooler is a Thermalright Ultra 120 with Dual Fans)

 

[jzodda]

I hear people busting motherboards because they screwed up during assembly, but thats been going on since HS/Fan combos were tiny. I have done that myself a few times over the years but I have yet to hear much of weight from an aftermarket solution breaking the MB. I have read about people busting their rig with custom built monsters but thats about it.

 

[swtethan]

nope, never. I am taking my rig back home today though, wish me luck I will transport it on its side. The heatsink puts so much pressure on the motherboard that it has a bend in it, thats scary.

 

[VinDSL]

Mobos are a lot tougher than ppl think!

Retention brackets are a lot weaker than ppl think!

Ppl stop short of destroying their mobos when their retainer busts in half!

So, no, nobody has broken a mobo due to a big HS, but they've destroyed a lot of retainer rings...

 

[krotchy]

Originally posted by: VinDSL
Mobos are a lot tougher than ppl think!

Retention brackets are a lot weaker than ppl think!

Ppl stop short of destroying their mobos when their retainer busts in half!

So, no, nobody has broken a mobo due to a big HS, but they've destroyed a lot of retainer rings...

This is pretty much the point of my post. I want to get people to stop complaining about HS weight in every post about a HS installation.

 

[swtethan]

thermaltake's big typhoon brackets are made out of metal, its hard to break this thing.

 

[50cent1228]

nope its has to be really heavy mobos are pretty strong

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: krotchy
This is pretty much the point of my post. I want to get people to stop complaining about HS weight in every post about a HS installation.

This begs the question, however...

Has anybody had a big HSF sag on a mobo? I think, yes!

That's what they should be worried about!

If you aren't careful, a big HSF will sit at a different angle than the CPU, causing cooling problems, because of poor contact...

 

[Cheesetogo]

Take an old motherboard that you don't care about, and try to break it in half. Not exactly easy to do.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo
Take an old motherboard that you don't care about, and try to break it in half. Not exactly easy to do.

Absolutely.

I recall when the first socket 478 stuff came out. Installing the retail box HSF was... very difficult and caused motherboards to warp (bend up to the sides). Don't see that too often these days.

 

[judasmachine]

I once stabbed a mobo with a screwdriver, but it still worked. It was a Epox RDA+ back in my TBred days.

 

[VinDSL]

WARNING!

Whoever clicked "Yes" in the poll is a !%@^$# liar!

Turn yourself in, and we'll take it easy on you...

 

[LittleNemoNES]

Originally posted by: VinDSL
WARNING!

Whoever clicked "Yes" in the poll is a !%@^$# liar!

Turn yourself in, and we'll take it easy on you...

lol that's what I was thinking

 

[krotchy]

Originally posted by: gersson

Originally posted by: VinDSL
WARNING!

Whoever clicked "Yes" in the poll is a !%@^$# liar!

Turn yourself in, and we'll take it easy on you...

lol that's what I was thinking

Without a post/story to back it up, I am going to either assume mis-click or joker on that one. Also pictures would be nice.

 

[dedwards]

I get what you guys are saying - and I agree it does seem to be standard propaganda without any facts to back it up.

However, I don't think the whole board violently snapping in two is actually the issue. More like - the strain could cause a soldered joint to break.

FWIW,

DE

 

[wazzledoozle]

I know a guy on Techpowerup who's heatsink snapped off the retention pins on the retention bracket. His PC shutdown after the heatsink fell off, and after he got a new bracket it was fine. I dont remember what heatsink it was, nothing out of the ordinary large.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: dedwards
I don't think the whole board violently snapping in two is actually the issue. More like - the strain could cause a soldered joint to break...

Hi, Fred Sanford here... two generations behind... by design...

I have 478 solder joints on my CPU socket, in about a one square-inch area.

Which do you imagine would break first?

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: wazzledoozle
I know a guy on Techpowerup who's heatsink snapped off the retention pins on the retention bracket...

Yes, as stated above, this is quite common! Either that, or actually busting the retention ring...

 

[Gannon]

Originally posted by: krotchy
I always hear talk about breaking a mobo with big heatsinks, especially with the newer gigantic ones that have been coming out lately (Cooler Master GeminII, Scythe Infinity, Tuniq Tower, Big Typhoon, Sonic Tower etc etc.)

I want to know if anyone has actually personally destroyed their mobo due to carelessness with a big heat sink. And no, improperly attaching a backplate and shorting it out isnt what I mean.

Basically has a big heat sink physically damaged your mobo due to misuse?

Im not saying it cant happen, im just curious how often it does.

p.s. If you sent a computer through UPS/Fedex with a Giant HS on it, that doesn't count, UPS chucking your box like a ragdoll is different story :-D.

Yes you can absolutely destroy your motherboard but not because of the weight of the heatsink... its usually due to capacitors and other components being too close to the CPU socket so the heatsink when pressed down basically rips the capacitors out. I know this because I recently tried to install a scythe ninja on a P4P800 SE and the capacitors were just barely far enough away to allow the scythe to sit on the CPU if you carefully put on the heatsink and didn't exert too much downward force all at once trying to strap the heatsink to the CPU.

 

[Bluefront]

My ASRock board apparently broke/cracked after a Big Typhoon installation. It had been working well for a month or so. After the Typhoon install it started re-booting on it's own.....after a day or so never booted again. The Typhoon has no definite stopping point when tightening the thumb-screws. Bad deal.....

 

[BladeVenom]

Has anyone here ever had a motherboard go bad on them? How can you be certain the weight of the heatsink didn't contribute to it's failure?

A motherboard doesn't have to snap in half to be damaged. All it takes is small break at a solder point, or a small break in one of the circuits. Motherboards have several layers so how would you even know if something in the middle was broken due to it being bent over time?

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: Bluefront
My ASRock board apparently broke/cracked after a Big Typhoon installation. It had been working well for a month or so. After the Typhoon install it started re-booting on it's own.....after a day or so never booted again. The Typhoon has no definite stopping point when tightening the thumb-screws. Bad deal.....

rofl..it wasn`t the BigTyphoon that broke your board.....it was user error......
tightening the screws is NOT considered the heatsinks fault...besides that haven`t you ever heard the saying never tighten a screw anymore than to make is snug

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda

Originally posted by: Bluefront
My ASRock board apparently broke/cracked after a Big Typhoon installation. It had been working well for a month or so. After the Typhoon install it started re-booting on it's own.....after a day or so never booted again. The Typhoon has no definite stopping point when tightening the thumb-screws. Bad deal.....

rofl..it wasn`t the BigTyphoon that broke your board.....it was user error......
tightening the screws is NOT considered the heatsinks fault...besides that haven`t you ever heard the saying never tighten a screw anymore than to make is snug

ahahahahaha my cousin broke his board with a big typhoon. But it was his fault. It feel sideways, and next thing we noticed, his caps flew out, and the board was cracked.

SO yes its totally possible, and my poor cousin's had every misfortune happen to him. So i learn from his crying episodes.

But as someone said, if you let your case be, and you dont move it, then no i dont think even a tuniq will break it. However if you live in cali (druing a mild earthquake) , or drop it sideways like my cousin did.

Get ready to cry. :X

 

[Bluefront]

As far as my broken ASRock MB problem goes.....I'm well aware of over-tightening problems. I certainly don't think I did that at all.....but. The Big Typhoon and many other heatsinks, give the installer no definite way to judge how tight to go with the tightening process. They use thumb screws as nuts, hoping you cannot over-do anything with your fingers. Well that apparently went bad.

Other heatsinks have a pre-set tightness that cannot be over-done. Like a spacer in the setup that bottoms out, preventing you from going too far. Out of hundreds of heatsink installs, this is the only time I suspect my installation actually damaged the board. Course it could have been something else.......but replacing the board with a new one fixed the problem.