A question for Freezer 7 Pro (Rev. 2) users

Nah, that's not too tight.

Back when I had the Tuniq Tower 120, I tightened the screws all the way until they literally could not turn anymore.  The motherboard flexed, but the temps were excellent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by safe 

Is a little bit of flex necessarily a problem? On an old system of mine I remember noticing that even the intel stock heatsink (with push pins) would cause a small amount of flexing in the board. Any way to gauge the correct tightness for the screws?

It's actually no problem at all.  I think it's a good thing that the board flexes because otherwise it might have a risk of cracking.

I don't know how to gauge the correct tightness other than by checking the core temps under load.  If they're satisfactory, then it's good.  If they're not, then a change is needed to either the tightness, thermal paste, fan speed, etc.

I feel that it's better to have a more relaxed and casual approach to this.  For example, when I apply thermal paste to normal heatsinks (as opposed to HDT heatsinks), I just put a blob on the center of the CPU (the size of a healthy pea), and let the heatsink spread it naturally.  For my peace of mind, I remove the heatsink to check the paste.  If it spread nicely and is covering most of the CPU, then I put the heatsink back on.  If I don't like the way the paste looks, then I fix it and put the heatsink back on all the way and remove it again to see how it looks.

For tightening screws, I just figure the tighter the better, and that philosophy always works for me.  I mean, I think that the heat dissipation's efficiency is at its best when the CPU and the heatsink are pressed so tight against each other that they are basically one unit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by safe 


This is the way I installed it a few weeks ago (I had a faulty motherboard, now doing it again with the replacement) and I had good temps. I used a kind of cross between the blob method and horizontal line method. I call it the 'rectangular blob' method. Seemed to work well.
From some more reading I've found that most people, including an ASUS support rep that someone had spoken to, agree with you that a small amount of motherboard flex from installing the heatsink is quite common and acceptable.
Unless a lot of Freezer 7 Pro users all post saying that they have the screws tightened all the way down, I think I'll just tighten them until it is a snug fit, and if the temps are ok, I'll keep it like that.

Rectangular blob. hehehehe  :)  That sounds like a mutation of my simple blob.  Run!

Ahem.

Anyway, I agree: if the temps are good, then it's good.  I see too many people investing too much energy in this stuff thinking that everything has to be "exactly this way", and "exactly that way".  I'm like, "I'd rather enjoy this".