Stupid Thermalright....broken bracket!

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 6:23 am

XP-120......used to be one of the best rated on SPCR and other places. So I'm transferring this MB into a new project. It was a new board about eight months ago when I installed this heat-sink. This attachment on a 478 board was the hardest install of any heat-sink I've used (a bunch). The spring clips are simply too stiff. And here's the result....

I'll install another bracket on the board, because I need a low-profile heatsink, but..... I'll know to check this thing frequently. If the rear part of that bracket had let loose, the heat-sink would have shifted and I'd would have had a problem.

High-quality heat-sink......crap!

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 6:29 am

Thermalright has lot's of barckets. Maybe you can get new 478 Bracket from thermalright, eBay or something. But that is really bummer.

AuraAllan · Post by **AuraAllan** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:45 am

Write/call Thermalright support and tell them you broke it.

Theyll probably just send you a new one.

I love my XP-120 by the way. Great product.

nyu3 · Post by **nyu3** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:20 pm

Not really Thermalright's fault that plastic brackets aren't durable. I replaced the stock heatsink retention (Asus P4P800) with this one http://www.coolerguys.com/840556062097.html

this one also looks good: http://www.aerocooler.com/shop.cart?act ... FANEC478RM

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 7:29 pm

nyu3 wrote:this one also looks good: http://www.aerocooler.com/shop.cart?act ... FANEC478RM

i'd opt for that one, simply because when it comes to computers, i prefer seeing metal in places where support is needed, not better to have.

i have a few of my own boards like that, your issue raises my attention towards similar heatsinks and the plastic brackets.

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 2:28 am

Thanks for the links.....but I'm going to try to make one out of metal, since I have some brackets that I think I can modify to work.

The point here... every 478 board I ever heard of, comes with a std plastic retention bracket. And hundreds of different coolers use that bracket without breaking it......including the Intel models. This Thermalright cooler has spring clips that are simply too stiff. In order to install one, you have to tilt the cooler a bunch, then engage two clips, then lever the whole thing downward till it's flat on the CPU, then engage the last two clips. This procedure puts tremendous pressure on the first two retention points.....one of which cracked later on (the photo).

There's no excuse for this IMHO. There are many safer installation/retention devices. And there's no need for a spring as stiff as the Thermalright device. It looks like the spring could be spaced out.....but the screws are under the fins....and almost impossible to loosen.

Bad deal......

continuum · Post by **continuum** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:18 pm

So bend the spring out. To be fair, the XP-120 is a pretty old model. I haven't ever had any problems with it, but I didn't use enough to have a representive sample size worth a damn either... and I have broken more than a few socket 478 plastic retention brackets with other heatsinks.