There are two days left for the official presentation of the new Intel CPUs, the samples are in the hands of more and more users and even some have already been able to acquire it under the hood with a model of motherboard. But although this is the luck of many, misfortune also plays its part, since as expected current and already “old” heatsinks, AIOs and blocks have mounting and pressure issues with the CPU Alder Lake.
The new Intel processors have a lot of changes to the point that they are arguably the biggest advancement since they launched their Core architecture, and that was years ago. Intel has it very clearly, but many users not so much, because although the vast majority of manufacturers have given advance notice, the current anchoring systems are not the right ones for the LGA 1700 socket
New dimensions that change everything
The new Intel processors have changed shape, socket and also height. We were used to 75x75mm of the current LGA 115x and LGA 1200, where Intel has maintained backward compatibility for many years, something inappropriate for the company. But with the new Alder Lake processors, it goes down in history and a disruptive event occurs, as the LGA 1700 on the new Z690 motherboards (and successive chipsets that will arrive) alter the total metrics.
We are talking about a diameter of 78x78mm, that while this is easily fixed with new retention media, it will not be the only or the worst problem. Rather, it will be the difference in height between the previous shots and this new LGA 1700, since we start from the average measurements of the 7 312/8 249 mm
Heatsink and AIO issues with Alder Lake
What does it mean? Okay, there is on average 1mm less in the distance between the IHS and the radiator / cold plate, which brings us to the pressure problem. And it is that a large number of refrigeration systems are reported where the contact is minimal and insufficient between the two surfaces and logically this affects much higher temperatures than they should be.
Manufacturers have released their new LGA 1700 anchor systems for the products they have in store and many motherboard manufacturers now support both anchor systems as they left holes in their models to install them. . While this is possible, the height issue is still decisive and we urge those who are going to purchase this rig to check if the manufacturer of their refrigeration systems has a new anchor, as a lower height is required for proper operation. .
This is important, mainly because these new processors have quite high consumption and it will not be easy to cool them down, even if they play correctly between IHS and cold plate. If in doubt, better to pressure test with tiny layers of thermal paste and spend the time making sure everything is okay than to be afraid.
