The Concern of Over-Tightening CPU Coolers: A Personal Experiment

Every time I attach a CPU cooler, I have a brief worry about how much to tighten it. If I over-tighten it, I risk damaging potentially the motherboard in the CPU. On the other hand, if I under-tighten it, will I actually hurt the thermal performance because of not good enough contact with the CPU and things? So, I decided to test this out.

Firstly, let's go through the actual hardware I used for these tests. The CPU cooler is a Cryo Rig H7, and I used Arctic MX4, which is like a decent thermal paste that I think everyone in the world uses. When it comes to the CPU, it's an Intel i5 7600K. I did all the testing in an NZXT TH 500, but that's not massively relevant because it was kind of an open bench situation, kind of.

I actually placed the case flat down on its side because well, I couldn't have it standing up without a screwed and cooler that wouldn't work. This meant that due to how the NZXT H 500 is designed, it actually blocks off all of the intake air flow vents and stuff. So, I had to take the side panel so that actual error would come in.

I dude recorded the ambient temperature for sitting at about 23 degrees for the entire time. In regards to the actual thermal paste application, I initially wanted to reapply thermal paste in between each test, but then I realized that that actually introduces a variable because it's pretty much impossible to have the exact same thermal paste application every time.

So, I decided to just use the same thermal paste application for all of the tests. Let's have a look at the actual results. Unfortunately, the test results are actually quite boring there isn't much of a temperature variation from just resting the CPU on the cooler all the way up to threading it all the way. It's about four degrees.

I'm actually quite surprised because I was worried that the CPU was gonna catch on fire in the initial test. I didn't think there was gonna be enough thermal contact, but kind of what it shows is that you shouldn't be too worried about how much you tighten the CPU cooler down.

So, have a look on the manufacturer's website who makes the CPU cooler and see if there is like a maximum amount of threading which is like the amount you should screw it down. If it doesn't have that screw it down until it feels relatively sturdy and from that point on, it's fine instead of risking actually damaging your motherboard anyway.

With that, it brings me to the end of this very short and I guess fairly pointless video if you enjoyed the video do like and subscribe to the channel for more videos like this one. I've got an Instagram and Twitter account so go and check out those if you want more of me in your life and until the next video.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: ennow every time I attach a CPU cooler I have this brief worry about how much should I actually tighten the cooler because if I over tighten it I risk damaging potentially the motherboard in the CPU but if I under tighten it will I actually hurt the thermal performance because of not good enough contact with the CPU and things so I decided to test it out now first off let's go through the actual hardware I used for these tests the CPU cooler is a cryo rig h7 and then I used Arctic mx4 which is like a decent thermal paste which I think everyone in the world uses and then when it comes to the CPU it's an Intel i5 7600 K and I did all the testing in an NZXT th 500 but that's not massively relevant because it was kind of an open bench situation kind of I guess because it was on its side anyway we'll get into that a bit and then in regards to how I actually did the tests for the first test I just took the CPU cooler and placed it down on the CPU there was a bit of wriggling around to get it into the position that it needed to be so that would have helped actually spread the thermal compound around and then for the second test I actually threaded to the screws first and then did two equal rotations per screw and then from there I did plus one screw plus one screw plus one screw plus one screw all the way down to when the cooler was actually threaded to its maximum that is kind of the case with most CPU coolers I think I think it's quite difficult to over screw a CPU cooler but honestly considering how much you spend on PC hardware there is always that concern of damaging it so that's kind of the point of these tests and when it comes to the CPU fan speed I said it at a maximum hundred percent for the entire time so it means that there isn't any fan speed fluctuation based on temperature I actually placed the case flat down on its side because well I couldn't have it standing up without a screwed and cooler that wouldn't work I need gravity but this meant because of how the NZXT H 500 is designed it actually blocks off all of the intake air flow vents and stuff so I had to take the side panel so that actual error would come in I dude record the ambient temperature for sitting at about 23 degrees for the entire time and then in regards to the actual thermal paste application I did initially want to reapply thermal paste in between each test but then I realized that that actually introduces a variable because it's pretty much impossible to have the exact same thermal paste application every time so then I decided to just use the same thermal paste application for all of the tests so let's have a look at the actual results the unfortunately the test results are actually quite boring there isn't much of a temperature variation from just resting the CPU on the cooler all the way up to threading it all the way it's about four degrees I'm actually quite surprised because I was worried that the CPU was gonna catch on fire in the initial test I didn't think there was gonna be enough thermal contact but kind of what it shows is that you shouldn't be too worried about how much you tighten the CPU cooler down so have a look on the manufacturers website who makes the CPU cooler and see if there is like a maximum amount of threading which is like the amount you should screw it down and if it doesn't have that screw it down until it feels relatively sturdy and from that point on it's fine instead of risking actually damaging your motherboard anyway with that it brings me to the end of a very short and I guess fairly pointless video if you enjoyed the video do like and subscribe to the channel for more videos like this one I've got an Instagram and Twitter account so go and check out those if you want more of me in your life and until the next videonow every time I attach a CPU cooler I have this brief worry about how much should I actually tighten the cooler because if I over tighten it I risk damaging potentially the motherboard in the CPU but if I under tighten it will I actually hurt the thermal performance because of not good enough contact with the CPU and things so I decided to test it out now first off let's go through the actual hardware I used for these tests the CPU cooler is a cryo rig h7 and then I used Arctic mx4 which is like a decent thermal paste which I think everyone in the world uses and then when it comes to the CPU it's an Intel i5 7600 K and I did all the testing in an NZXT th 500 but that's not massively relevant because it was kind of an open bench situation kind of I guess because it was on its side anyway we'll get into that a bit and then in regards to how I actually did the tests for the first test I just took the CPU cooler and placed it down on the CPU there was a bit of wriggling around to get it into the position that it needed to be so that would have helped actually spread the thermal compound around and then for the second test I actually threaded to the screws first and then did two equal rotations per screw and then from there I did plus one screw plus one screw plus one screw plus one screw all the way down to when the cooler was actually threaded to its maximum that is kind of the case with most CPU coolers I think I think it's quite difficult to over screw a CPU cooler but honestly considering how much you spend on PC hardware there is always that concern of damaging it so that's kind of the point of these tests and when it comes to the CPU fan speed I said it at a maximum hundred percent for the entire time so it means that there isn't any fan speed fluctuation based on temperature I actually placed the case flat down on its side because well I couldn't have it standing up without a screwed and cooler that wouldn't work I need gravity but this meant because of how the NZXT H 500 is designed it actually blocks off all of the intake air flow vents and stuff so I had to take the side panel so that actual error would come in I dude record the ambient temperature for sitting at about 23 degrees for the entire time and then in regards to the actual thermal paste application I did initially want to reapply thermal paste in between each test but then I realized that that actually introduces a variable because it's pretty much impossible to have the exact same thermal paste application every time so then I decided to just use the same thermal paste application for all of the tests so let's have a look at the actual results the unfortunately the test results are actually quite boring there isn't much of a temperature variation from just resting the CPU on the cooler all the way up to threading it all the way it's about four degrees I'm actually quite surprised because I was worried that the CPU was gonna catch on fire in the initial test I didn't think there was gonna be enough thermal contact but kind of what it shows is that you shouldn't be too worried about how much you tighten the CPU cooler down so have a look on the manufacturers website who makes the CPU cooler and see if there is like a maximum amount of threading which is like the amount you should screw it down and if it doesn't have that screw it down until it feels relatively sturdy and from that point on it's fine instead of risking actually damaging your motherboard anyway with that it brings me to the end of a very short and I guess fairly pointless video if you enjoyed the video do like and subscribe to the channel for more videos like this one I've got an Instagram and Twitter account so go and check out those if you want more of me in your life and until the next video