H60 Bracket Loose when Installed to Asus P8P67 Evo

Hello, I'm posting about a new computer that I'm currently building. I bought an H60 and am following the instructions to install it for an Intel product since My Asus P8P67 evo mobo is Socket LGA 1155. I have removed the mobo and fit the bracket on the backside so that the bracket's screw holes line up and slot into the mobo's holes, and then finger-tighten the standoff screws into the 4 holes. Even upon tightening them as much as possible, there is still some play between the bracket/standoff screws and the mobo. I would expect the bracket to be fitted tight to the mobo at this point :confused: I've removed and retried the bracket a couple times and nothing changed. I've made sure that the little slot in the bracket fits around the two screws coming out of the heatsink assembly on the back of the mobo.

 

I've looked at these instructions: http://www.corsair.com/blog/mounting-the-hydro-series-h60-cpu-cooler-to-your-intel-motherboard/ and even watched this video:

to make sure I'm doing it correctly, and I think I am.

 

Does anyone know if this is normal? If not, does anyone know what I may be doing wrong? Thanks in advance for your help.

Its normal... Its really just like that for ez install... Once the block is on everything is tight.

Ah I see... Ok I will have faith and continue with the install once my processor arrives in 2 days. Thanks!

Hold on a moment! You might be experiencing the apparent thin mother board syndrome! This is not the first time we've seen this issue in the forum.

 

When the standoffs are tightened down on the backplate, there should be zero play between the standoffs and board, and IMO that will not disappear and not matter when the pump is mounted. The four round spacers on each corner of the backplate should contact the back of the mother board when the standoffs are screwed in place. Any play there will not allow correct contact and pressure between the CPU and pump heat plate.

 

First, double check the position of the backplate on the sockets backplate. The backplate is shaped on one side to fit over two rivets on the socket backplate, and if not correctly aligned may cause the play in the standoffs.

 

If that is not the problem, then you will need to add some washers under the the four spacers/contacts on the backplate. The spacers are removable from the backplate nuts. One thin washer should be enough, placed under the plastic insulator, and then the spacers are put back on the nuts.

 

The standoffs must contact the top of the mother board without any looseness or play, that is critical for correct contact between the CPU and the pump's heat plate.

This is how mine is... Doesnt matter if the backplate is tight to the board or not... The pressure applied on the block is put on the cpu's steel backplate and the top of the cpu, the motherboard has nothing to do with the space between the top of the cpu and the cpu's steel backplate... The motherboard doesnt hold any pressure... And since on h60 (and h100) thats I delt with the standoffs tighten all the way in as well as the screws holding the block, and is very tight once the whole unit is installed it will not sit uneven... If the standoffs were ment to touch the motherboard id think they would have some kind of washer or at least be rounded at the bottom... If they touched the board the way there shaped they would chew up the motherboard during tightening... Mine was like this and I replaced thermal paste the other day and I had perfect spread and my temps were very good... Same with my h100 when I took it off to sell it.

HOOD, glad to hear your H60 works fine. The two H60's I use, one on an ASUS socket 1366 board, the other on an ASUS socket 1155 board, both allow the standoffs to screw down to the point that the flat portion of the standoff contacts the board. Another quarter turn or so of the standoff, and it is solidly in place, and does not chew up the surface of the board. The four contact points on the backplate contact the underside of the mother board, and the whole system is a solid unit firmly clamped to the board.

 

The only way I can see your situation working, is that the pump brackets, which fit over the upper threaded portion of the standoff, do not ever touch the flat, wide portion on the top of the standoff. That would allow the thumbscrews to pull the bottom of the standoffs up and off the top surface of the board, and cause the backplate to be pulled tight against the bottom of the board. That apparently works fine, but is it a scenario that was intended by the designers? Am I the only one that has a backplate (two like this) with the standoffs screwed in, not loose and moving around on the mother board? Given the nature of the instructions with these units, you can't tell what is correct.

 

I would ask anyone wondering about this to check the fifth picture from the top in this link, to the H100 installation blog post, where you can clearly see the backplate screws are not protruding above the mother board:

 

http://www.corsair.com/blog/installing-the-hydro-series-h100-extreme-performance-cpu-cooler-in-the-obsidian-800d/

 

In your case as also stated by a few others in this forum, the backplate screws protrude above the surface of the mother board for some reason. That does not happen on either of my boards. The flat surface of the standoffs have their sharp edges rounded off on both sides, and won't damage the board. I have a H100 in it's box, so I can examine all the parts.

 

Sorry that my post makes yours seem wrong, and vice versa, but both of us are reporting our own experiences with the H60, so we are both right. :confused:

 

I could go on, but the various quirks and inconsistencies with these coolers seen by users is rather surprising IMO.

I figure it doesnt really matter since, like I said in my other post, the pressure is applied between the back of the socket and the cpu. Either way mine had lots of pressure and was very tight. I wondered when I first installed the backplate, so I was weery as well, but worked out fine. And the epic spread proved it to me when I removed it, best i've seen before lol

Yes, it doesn't matter, except in a couple cases I've seen in this forum, where the user had the loose bracket issue, and once the pump was mounted it apparently did not pull the backplate tight against the board. So the pump was loose on the CPU, not good at all. That is why I questioned your post, since I never heard about how it worked out for you.

My back plate was loose after the pillers had been tightened. Once the pump was installed however there was no play.