CPU Cooler Sag - Cooling - Linus Tech Tips

• Sharpman85

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Hi,

I have a question about a cpu cooler sag. I have a be quiet! Dark Rock Slim and it seems to be sagging a bit towards the gpu. It is a medium-sized tower cooler with only two screws holding it above the standoffs so my question would be to all the big cooler owners, do you also experience it? Can it damage the cpu/socket/bend the substrate? The case isn’t transported, only sometimes gently moved so there isn’t much stress due to that. I will attach photos.

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• Mateyyy

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Very slight sag on my Dark Rock Pro 4, but that's just gravity.

As long as you mounted the cooler correctly and securely, it shouldn't damage anything.

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• Moonzy

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23 minutes ago, Sharpman85 said:

big cooler owners, do you also experience it?

dark rock pro 3, it's mounted with 4 screws so it's less of an issue for me ig, never really noticed it

24 minutes ago, Sharpman85 said:

Can it damage the cpu/socket/bend the substrate?

-flashback to that guy using a drill to screw in his cooler and bent his 6700k substrate back in 2016-

no, you're probably fine

-sigh- feeling like I'm being too negative lately

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• VIVO-US

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The motherboard itself is slightly flexible, so CPU cooler sag is common for larger coolers.  It won't hurt anything.

Speaking of sag, anyone remember the all-copper version of the Scythe Ninja back in the late 2000's?  Now there's a cooler that made people nervous!

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• Sharpman85

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2 hours ago, Mateyyy said:

Very slight sag on my Dark Rock Pro 4, but that's just gravity.

As long as you mounted the cooler correctly and securely, it shouldn't damage anything.

It uses 4 screws to the mounting plate and then 2 more for the cooler itself so it may be just that. I’ll keep an eye on it but it was probably there since last September. Is it the cooler itself, the motherboard or something else?

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• Mateyyy

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14 minutes ago, Sharpman85 said:

It uses 4 screws to the mounting plate and then 2 more for the cooler itself so it may be just that. I’ll keep an eye on it but it was probably there since last September. Is it the cooler itself, the motherboard or something else?

It's just the cooler, it's fine.

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• Sharpman85

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15 minutes ago, Mateyyy said:

It's just the cooler, it's fine.

Ok, thanks! Did you try to correct yours?

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• Mateyyy

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1 minute ago, Sharpman85 said:

Ok, thanks! Did you try to correct yours?

I mean, I honestly cannot even notice it. It's just that if I gently push it up a little with my finger, it does go to sitting perfectly straight (perpendicular to the board), but it really doesn't bother me. 

The 16x PCIe slot on my board also isn't right underneath it, so even if it were to sag more, it wouldn't really be a problem.

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• Sharpman85

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45 minutes ago, Mateyyy said:

I mean, I honestly cannot even notice it. It's just that if I gently push it up a little with my finger, it does go to sitting perfectly straight (perpendicular to the board), but it really doesn't bother me. 

The 16x PCIe slot on my board also isn't right underneath it, so even if it were to sag more, it wouldn't really be a problem.

I understand, it bothers me as I’ afraid it can damage something, but seems like all tower coolers have some sag. The temperatures also seem pretty even with only a few degrees of variety between cores so I assume it’s making good contact.

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• Mateyyy

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3 minutes ago, Sharpman85 said:

I understand, it bothers me as I’ afraid it can damage something, but seems like all tower coolers have some sag. The temperatures also seem pretty even with only a few degrees of variety between cores so I assume it’s making good contact.

I wouldn't worry about it, especially considering that the Dark Rock Slim is quite light in comparison to those bulky dual towers, like the DRP4 and NH-D15, which weigh over 1kg each.

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• LogicalDrm

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If all of your mounting screws are tight, there's no issues. I also can't see any sag from those pics.

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• Sharpman85

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10 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

If all of your mounting screws are tight, there's no issues. I also can't see any sag from those pics.

I remember tightening them, not too much though, just enough to stop. I think I will check the two holding the cooler again as when I put the case down it seems more upright, just a few millimeters though. I may be overreacting, but I don’t want to damage to cpu or motherboard.

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• Sharpman85

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On 8/11/2020 at 8:07 PM, Mateyyy said:

I wouldn't worry about it, especially considering that the Dark Rock Slim is quite light in comparison to those bulky dual towers, like the DRP4 and NH-D15, which weigh over 1kg each.

I tried checking the temperature differneces between cores and it seems that core 6 is usually colder. Can this indicate wrong mounting? Should I remount it or are these differnces normal? Hiw does your Dark Rock Pro 4 run? Do you also have such uneven temperatures? It'a 9700K in Cinebench and Intel XTU stress test.

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• Mateyyy

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24 minutes ago, Sharpman85 said:

I tried checking the temperature differneces between cores and it seems that core 6 is usually colder. Can this indicate wrong mounting? Should I remount it or are these differnces normal? Hiw does your Dark Rock Pro 4 run? Do you also have such uneven temperatures? It'a 9700K in Cinebench and Intel XTU stress test.

-snip-

8C delta between the cores on my 9900K.

It's just the fact that the IHS is not always perfectly flat, so you will have hotter and colder spots, basically. It's why professional overclockers (or just enthusiasts) lap their CPUs. You can learn more about it in this video:

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• Sharpman85

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30 minutes ago, Mateyyy said:

8C delta between the cores on my 9900K.

 

It's just the fact that the IHS is not always perfectly flat, so you will have hotter and colder spots, basically. It's why professional overclockers (or just enthusiasts) lap their CPUs. You can learn more about it in this video:

 

I've already seen this one, just wanted to align with someone who I can actually talk to. It was just strange that two neighboring cores would have a 4 degree difference and the next one would have 7, then again I don'y know where on the die they are located. Are you going to lap your at some point? I assume it's not due to wrong thermal paste application as that would affect it differently. 

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