cooler master hyper 212 evo wiggle - I know it's been discussed before but I am kinda new

[sjf999]

Have a new custom built PC. A cooler master hyper 212 evo is installed. It does wiggle left to right a few degrees (not a lot but pretty freely). I have read a lot of comments about a very similar phenomenon and this is normal. However, I don't know a lot in this area, Is it to be concerned about? Can the thermal paste loose its connectivity properties between the heat sink / cpu? Will the paste eventually bind and seal the sink to the cpu? Thanks in advance.

Scott

Intel i7 6700k

 

[reedo_43]

Completely normal. Your are good to go and congrats, those are a pain in the ass to install properly.

 

[frostedtim]

The mounting for the cooler is the important thing to check here. If you have to take it off, you should clean up the thermal paste previously used and re-apply before remounting. It takes about twenty four hours for the thermal paste to really set correctly, and you may be able to twist the cooler a little in that period, though I would leave it alone. If it is wiggling on its own you have to tighten it down a little more, but dont over torque the mounting screws.

 

[reedo_43]

The screws only go down so far. You can not over tighten them. Cure time is 50 to 200 hours depending on the paste used.

 

[synphul]

There's a center thumb screw directly under the heatsink fins where the "X" of the mounting bracket meets. Rotating it clockwise should tighten it up some and increase pressure against the cpu. I had the same issue with mine at first, it's not the most firmly mounted cooler I've ever used. Was actually pretty sloppy at first and rotated easily. Just be careful when tightening it, the skylake cpu's are just a little thinner than the previous ones. Too much mounting pressure can bend them if it's overdone. I'd just tighten it a turn or two and recheck until it's snug.

 

[sjf999]

the small "play" in the rotation of the cooler, doesn't that mess with the "thermal paste connectivity/bond"? or does that just the stay in place and it's just the "pin" that turns back and forth?

 

[Pulssqt]

Dont worry about that, just make sure its properly tightened and its all good.

I had mine for 3 years it wiggled left and right and worked flawlessly.
Nothing to worry about.