Intel CPU cooler is a steaming POS

Deadjasper

2[H]4U
Joined
Oct 28, 2001
Messages
2,568
Just tried and failed to install on on a Mini ITX MB installed in a case. No freaking way. When I finally gave up and pulled it back out the plastic tabs on all four legs were broke. :mad:
 
yah they often break on me as well and i follow the directions in the manual...
 
Had this happen on a 10400. Seemed like the tabs were brittle. Ended up replacing it with a cheap Cooler Master cooler.
 
I paid $40 for a Hyper 212 Evo to cool a 10 year old 2500k in a spare rig because of this issue. I had tried initially with a cheap cooler I got off amazon that still used the push pins, eff that. Backplate all the way from now on for Intel.
 
No reason to use them anymore in my opinion. There's a lot of inexpensive, better performing solutions that even carry over to new platforms.

I hate them for the obvious flaws, but a big one is low tolerance to bumps/vibration when you transport a system. One will usually pop back out and that'll be that.
 
they work fine, if you install them correctly. the real garbage ones for breaking were the old ones that hooked on at the four corners and you flipped 2 levers over to lock it. those broke all the time.
its too late now, but when install one, i retract the lock all the way and pinch the prongs together a bit to make it easier to insert.

No reason to use them anymore in my opinion.
its what they come with and not all people need to upgrade.
 
Yeah I had all sorts of issues with them going back to core 2 days. I was going to use the stock one on my 8400, while I waited for the aftermarket one to arrive, and it just kept poping out of the holes repeatedly. I ended up just holding it on the cpu to make sure it worked and then waited for my aftermarket one to arrive.
 
It appears the Intel stock cooler quality hasn't changed since the Core 2 days, I remember trying to install it on my E8500 and I ended up breaking it as it failed to make contact with the hole on the motherboard properly. Ever since then, I have used an aftermarket cooler, Intel stock coolers are the worst, even worser than AMD ones.
 
It appears the Intel stock cooler quality hasn't changed since the Core 2 days, I remember trying to install it on my E8500 and I ended up breaking it as it failed to make contact with the hole on the motherboard properly. Ever since then, I have used an aftermarket cooler, Intel stock coolers are the worst, even worser than AMD ones.

Actually the quality has gotten worse, they got rid of the copper cores and made them much smaller.
 
Oh man.. I recently built an AMD rig.. long time Intel user here.. AIO install for my AM4 was so freaking easy.. and I loved the screw down system.. instead of Intel's shitty stock clip down system.
 
The heatsink design Intel has been using since mid-2004 with the introduction of LGA775 is pure crap, but the push pin retainers really aren't that bad once you get used to them.

To install them, you just pull the black handle out as far as it will go without forcing it, rotate it 90 degrees and gently push down towards the mounting hole on the motherboard while rocking it in a small circular motion. It'll fall in the hole in most cases unless the spreading pins are bent and you just listen for the click of the black retainer grabbing the pins. Push the pins down diagonally from each other to get an even force on the die so the heatsink stays flat on the die.

It's a heck of a lot easier than having to remove the board to install screw posts or the worse rear X plate with screw holes that shed metal glitter everywhere when you screw the heatsink in. The first board I installed one of those type of heatsinks on died a fiery death because the metal glitter I wasn't expecting or looking for shorted out something important and the board went BANG when it powered on.
 
The heatsink design Intel has been using since mid-2004 with the introduction of LGA775 is pure crap, but the push pin retainers really aren't that bad once you get used to them.

To install them, you just pull the black handle out as far as it will go without forcing it, rotate it 90 degrees and gently push down towards the mounting hole on the motherboard while rocking it in a small circular motion. It'll fall in the hole in most cases unless the spreading pins are bent and you just listen for the click of the black retainer grabbing the pins. Push the pins down diagonally from each other to get an even force on the die so the heatsink stays flat on the die.

It's a heck of a lot easier than having to remove the board to install screw posts or the worse rear X plate with screw holes that shed metal glitter everywhere when you screw the heatsink in. The first board I installed one of those type of heatsinks on died a fiery death because the metal glitter I wasn't expecting or looking for shorted out something important and the board went BANG when it powered on.
They were pretty decently built for a while now. I've taken the same one off and on 100s of times for testing and see no issues with it breaking on me.
 
They were pretty decently built for a while now. I've taken the same one off and on 100s of times for testing and see no issues with it breaking on me.

I had to buy a box of 50 packs of four of them from China because I come across them broken so much. People get impatient with them and smash them into the board so they get heavily damaged or snap off.
 
I've never personally had an issue with the stock mounting system. Seems pretty intuitive actually. The heatsinks do suck though. I thought they were "adequate for stock speed" back in the Core2 and early i5/i7 days but they have clearly gotten worse. Half as tall, no copper core, etc. It's so bad now that in many cases i feel compelled to buy an after-market heatsink when I build a system that uses an Intel CPU, even if it's nothing more than an office system. It makes the stock cooler that came with my Ryzen 3900X look like a true marvel of engineering.
 
The mounting system is fine for a OEM cooler, it just takes a bit of patience and you need to understand what you are doing. Ive seen so many people not work the turning mechanism properly, or just mash the plastic pins into the board and bend and break them. And they wonder why they break. It just takes a little patience. I have a C2D heatsink with a copper core that has been mounted a large number of times with no issue. And it was made over a decade ago.
 
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