A few weeks ago, we reported how the older AIO Liquid CPU cooler will have installation and pressure distribution issues with Intel’s Alder Lake LGA 1700 CPU. We managed to obtain more data that showed the performance of the old CPU cooler in the same test when using the appropriate LGA 1700 mounting kit provided by the company.

In order to make their existing coolers compatible with Intel's Alder Lake series, many cooling brands have released LGA 1700 upgrade kits that include mounting hardware for the new sockets. But the Intel Alder Lake platform not only uses a new installation design, but the CPU size itself has also changed.

Intel will finalize the 3nm agreement with TSMC this month, and the trial production will begin-report

As Igor's laboratory announced in detail, the LGA 1700 (V0) socket not only has an asymmetrical design, but also has a low Z stack height. This means that proper installation pressure is required to fully contact Intel Alder Lake IHS. Some radiator manufacturers have used larger cold plates on Ryzen and Threadripper CPUs to maintain proper contact with IHS, but these are mostly high-end and new cooling designs. Those who are still running old AIOs with round cold plates may have difficulty maintaining the required pressure distribution, which may result in insufficient cooling performance.

By the way, our source provided us with pictures of several AIO liquid coolers and their contact with Alder Lake desktop CPUs. Starting from Corsair's H150i PRO, the cooler is equipped with an adjustable LGA 115x/1200 kit that can be installed in the LGA 1700 socket, but it seems that the installation pressure of this mechanism is not enough to make full contact with the new CPU. Please note that Corsair’s H150i PRO does make good contact in the middle of the CPU chip, but it still leaves a perfect space like two MSI radiators (360R V2 and P360/C360 series).

Continuing to use the AORUS Waterforce X360 that comes with the LGA 1700 mounting bracket, we can see a slightly worse contact than the H150i PRO, where the middle of the IHS has almost no contact with the CPU IHS. The worst competitor is the Asus ROG RYUJIN 360, which was tested with a standard ASETEK LGA 1700 kit. The cooler shows a large contact gap in the middle of the chip, which results in poor thermal performance and may trap heat between the IHS and the cooler substrate, resulting in higher temperatures.

Cooling plays an important role in determining the performance of Intel Alder Lake CPUs, especially the unlocked lineup, which runs very hot according to our own reviews. Users will have to use the best cooling hardware to maintain sufficient temperature, especially if they plan to overclock the chip. This is of course a topic that needs further investigation, and we hope that Intel and cooling manufacturers can understand this more clearly to consumers.

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