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Are some Air coolers too heavy?

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Jayjr1105

· It's a me
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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Just curious if the weight of the 212+ (or other 120mm similar coolers) bother anyone else? I looked up some spec sheets on a few motherboards and some say a max of 400g weight for the cooler. Do the backplate's that come with aftermarket coolers compensate beyond what the motherboards max is? It's just one of those things that bugs me to the point of going with a 92mm cooler like this. Almost half the weight of the 212+ and from reviews, very similar results.

I'm comfortably sitting at 4.6Ghz with my 2500K and never really hitting 50c under normal "gaming" load. In the BIOS I have the fan settings to quiet instead of the more aggressive settings as well. Would it be okay to go with a smaller cooler like a 92mm heatpipe style rather than my big heavy 212+?

The reason I bring this up is because at work I see a ton of boards that have been totally warped into a "bowl" shape after only a few years of use. Granted these boards are basic Intel boards with no backplate at all but I still see what some weight and pressure can do to a PCB after some use.

Edit: The 212+ is 600 some grams in weight.
 
#2 ·
My N520 weighs 668 grams. I was wondering the same thing when i was putting it in; felt like the mobo was going to break. I have had it in my PC for almost a year now, so doesn't seem to be a problem.
redface.gif


Edit: had the board out a few weeks ago and it wasn't bent at all.
 
#3 ·
You could always use some zipties and ghetto-rig it to secure it to some other part of your case.

I've used an Arctic Cooler Freezer 64 Pro on my previous AM3 build for a year and a half, didn't notice any mobo warping. I imagine the screws holding it in would be more stressed than the motherboard.
 
#6 ·
People are too paranoid about the weight of CPU coolers. I've got a Silver Arrow, with 3 fans on it, heavy as hell but its been on my PC for over a year now no issues.
 
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#7 ·
I've had my silver arrow attached with super heavy server fans for over six months, which really added some heft. Happy to report no warping yet. I am thinking that prolonged use without the mobo being screwed into the case could allow warping. But, just like back plates of graphics cards, the case should prevent that.
 
#8 ·
yeah i think the majority of the stress is on the case actually.

If you think about it, the screws are what the heatsinks are technically putting stress on, which
in turn is putting stress much more so on the case rather than the mobo. Although this doesn't apply
to those intel push pin heatsinks, which from what i've experience seens to put the most stress i've ever seen
it bent one of my boards... i will never use again.
 
#10 ·
I think so, always wondered if my 847 gram coolermaster n620 was the cause of a motherboard failure I experienced. In addition to weight, it was also quite tall, thus putting more strain on the motherboard.
With the advantages that the all in one watercooling solutons currently offer, I will never buy another large air cooling HSF.
Here the n 620 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103066
 
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#11 ·
You are perfectly fine with your 212+ ...
My TRUE weighs in at 790gr and it has two kaze 3k fans on it ... that's a total of 1240gr .. 1.2 kilos and I also did the washer mod. Been running like this for >3 years and its perfectly fine. (Mobo is a little warped but nothing to worry about).
 
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#12 ·
#13 ·
I recently got NH D14 and it´s really light for me xD, and I´m using a M-ATX mobo so I has too much weight on it but It´s very stable for that weight Im going to get a nre case bcu I had a disaster with this
 
Discussion starter · #14 ·
Thanks all for the reassurance... I feel better about it now but I think this will just push me toward an entry level water cooling option in the future. We had an alienware that was about a year old in the shop today and I really liked the way it looked. How are the entry level water coolers compared to a 212+?

Edit: The alienware had a H100 "like" water cooler.
 
#15 ·
the H100 with push/pull fan config on the RAD should out perform the Hyper 212+..
but if you want to go water and the best entry level performance, do some reading into a XSPC 750 RASA RX360 or 240 kit
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/14183/ex-wat-182/XSPC_Rasa_750_RX360_Universal_CPU_Triple_Radiator_Water_Cooling_Kit_w_RX360_Radiator.html
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=30281

RX240 kit
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/14182/ex-wat-181/XSPC_Rasa_750_RX240_Universal_CPU_Water_Cooling_Kit_w_RX240_Radiator.html
 
#17 ·
I wouldn't worry about 600 grams, the only cooler that I have ever heard about that actually could damage your motherboard was the Thermalright TRUE Copper , weighed in at 1900 grams.

I have the Thermalright true (non copper one), and that weighs 790grams and I have had no problems with the wieght, even when I move my pc around. Thats not including the two 120mm fans I have attached to it to.

Just about all decent coolers will come with a backplate that will spread the weight out a bit over the board and prevent warping, also be sure to not over tighten the bolts as that can bend the board a bit.
 
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#18 ·
My FRIO weighs 1042 g
 
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#19 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jayjr1105 View Post

Thanks for the suggestion but I don't think I'll be going that high end. Maybe something like this. I'm not looking to go much higher than 4.6 and my temps are already pretty good.
Click to expand...
that or the corsair h80 - h100 will do the trick for 4.6GHz on a closed loop.. even higher
thumb.gif
 
#20 ·
Honestly, unless you plan on dropping it, I wouldn't even worry about ~2000+ grams.
 
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