The maximum height of LGA1200 is 8,249 mm, while that of the new LGA1700 socket is reduced to 7.532 mm, the minimums for their part are 7,312 for the first and 6,529 for the second. Or what is the same, the maximum possible height for the new socket is barely the minimum of the previous one.
At best we have that millimeter commented, at worst something else. The problem is that the GAP between the measurements of each socket is proper and normal for each one of them, since the pins will give more or less to the pressure and the anchoring of Foxconn. Understanding the contact problem due to that minimum and important distance and after obtaining the new anchors for LGA1700 with the corrected height, the tests did not wait and …
5 AIOs to the test, disaster imminent
What has been tested reveals a difficult panorama to swallow at the moment, and that is that the compatibility will not be as much as required, new anchors in between. 5 different kits have been shown with a correct application of the thermal paste to check how each cold plate plays and the results have not been good at all.
The AORUS Waterforce X360 It is undoubtedly the worst stopped, since there are multiple areas where there is no contact, while in the profiles it is maximized. This means that it is convex and that it does not press in the center.
The CORSAIR H150i PRO Being a kit for LGA1200 with its new anchors for this socket it has a better contact, but there are two small areas where thermal paste and cold plate are not touched. It is very improvable without a doubt.
The MSI P360 and C360 they are probably the most consistent and curiously the only ones with square cold plate. The contact is not perfect (a lot of paste on the edges and IHS medium with slight contact) but they seem competent, although they have small manufacturing defects according to what can be seen on the net.
The MSI 360R V2 it has a clear problem with its anchoring, since there is an area where it touches too much and another where it is very subtle. It could be a defect when tightening incorrectly or it could be that the round anchor is too close to its overall dimensions, which causes a pressure mismatch.
Finally we see the ASUS ROG Ryujin 360, which is clearly suffering from serious problems. First by dimensions, at the limit of the IHS in terms of contact / size, second by a non-existent contact almost in the center of the IHS, which surprises and repeats almost the same errors as the AORUS, which indicates that it is possible that said anchor has problems in the area closest to the main VRMs.
Contact problems on Z690
Simple and direct: if you are thinking of changing to Alder Lake-S and its platform, buy a new AIO or heatsink that has been designed specifically for LGA1700 and you will save yourself temperature troubles, because what you see will make your CPU go to 100º shortly after putting some intensive load on it.
Finally, these contact problems could be extended, predictably, to the rest of motherboards with different chipsets, that is, not only Z690 would have contact problems, but future B660, H670 and H610.
