Thinner Intel Skylake CPUs are breaking because of third-party CPU coolers
Better be careful with your new Skylake CPU, at least for now. The German tech websitepcgameshardware.de discovered that the substrate on the sixth-generation CPU is thinner than older Intel processors, meaning that CPU coolers that put more pressure on the chip and LGA 1151 socket can actually damage one or even both, Tom’s Hardwarereports.
Arctic Coolers confirmed this yesterday and announced in a statement that its own products are not affected by these problems and are fully Skylake compatible. Arctic says the following:
“Depending on the parcel service drop heights of over 2 m can not be excluded. Therefore we recommend regardless of the CPU used to carefully evaluate the dispatch and the packaging used and to possibly mount larger and heavier CPU coolers by the end user.” In other words, don’t throw your PC around if you’ve got a Skylake processor and a third-party cooler.
So far, it seems like Scythe is the only company that has indicated its coolers are implicated in the reports. Scythe announced on its support page that it’s changing the mounting system screw set for Skylake / LGA 1151 socket CPUs on several of its coolers, particularly hose with the H.P.M.S. mounting system — meaning, the Mugen 4, Mugen 4 PCGH-Edition, and Mugen Max, though reports are circulating that the Fuma, Ninja 4, Grand Kama Cross 4, and Kotetsu are also affected.
Intel hasn’t said anything too specific yet, though it confirmed to Tom’s Hardware that the company was “made aware of the issue only within the last few days” and that there “could be several variables at play.” It did go on to say in the same statement the substrate is “indeed thinner than previous designs, but it is rated for the same 50lb. maximum static load as prior generations.” That could mean that either Intel is stretching the truth, or that some third-party CPU cooler manufacturers have been cutting it pretty close, and that the thinner substrate on new processors like the Core i5-6600K and the Core i7-6700K was the tipping point.
The bottom line: If you’ve got a Skylake machine, maybe pop the heat sink off before you move it. And if you’re assembling a new one now, make sure the heat sink is specifically listed as compatible with Skylake, even though it should have been clear to begin with. We’ll update this post as soon as we hear more from other vendors like Cooler Master and NZXT.
Better be careful with your new Skylake CPU, at least for now. The German tech websitepcgameshardware.de discovered that the substrate on the sixth-generation CPU is thinner than older Intel processors, meaning that CPU coolers that put more pressure on the chip and LGA 1151 socket can actually damage one or even both, Tom’s Hardwarereports.
Arctic Coolers confirmed this yesterday and announced in a statement that its own products are not affected by these problems and are fully Skylake compatible. Arctic says the following:
“Depending on the parcel service drop heights of over 2 m can not be excluded. Therefore we recommend regardless of the CPU used to carefully evaluate the dispatch and the packaging used and to possibly mount larger and heavier CPU coolers by the end user.” In other words, don’t throw your PC around if you’ve got a Skylake processor and a third-party cooler.
So far, it seems like Scythe is the only company that has indicated its coolers are implicated in the reports. Scythe announced on its support page that it’s changing the mounting system screw set for Skylake / LGA 1151 socket CPUs on several of its coolers, particularly hose with the H.P.M.S. mounting system — meaning, the Mugen 4, Mugen 4 PCGH-Edition, and Mugen Max, though reports are circulating that the Fuma, Ninja 4, Grand Kama Cross 4, and Kotetsu are also affected.
Intel hasn’t said anything too specific yet, though it confirmed to Tom’s Hardware that the company was “made aware of the issue only within the last few days” and that there “could be several variables at play.” It did go on to say in the same statement the substrate is “indeed thinner than previous designs, but it is rated for the same 50lb. maximum static load as prior generations.” That could mean that either Intel is stretching the truth, or that some third-party CPU cooler manufacturers have been cutting it pretty close, and that the thinner substrate on new processors like the Core i5-6600K and the Core i7-6700K was the tipping point.
The bottom line: If you’ve got a Skylake machine, maybe pop the heat sink off before you move it. And if you’re assembling a new one now, make sure the heat sink is specifically listed as compatible with Skylake, even though it should have been clear to begin with. We’ll update this post as soon as we hear more from other vendors like Cooler Master and NZXT.
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