How much weight can a motherboard support?

[OneHaplessGamer]

Hey guys. I'm gonna keep this post short and to the point - I've been wracking my brain and trying to decide on a new heatsink for my computer. However, I don't know if I should go with a water cooler or an air cooler because of a couple of concerns of mine with high-end air coolers - their size and weight. My motherboard is a Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 R5 with a stock FX-8350 processor, all inside a Cooler Master 431 Plus Mid Tower case and it has currently a GeminII S524 V2 heatsink as well as an 8GB Radeon RX 480 GPU. A couple of heatsinks I've had my eye on include the Cryorig R1 Universal and the Scythe Fuma - both of which are in the 2 to 2.5 lb range.

I have to ask - how much weight is a motherboard able to support, or if there's a difference depending on the the board maker, how much would a Gigabyte board like mine be able to handle before any sort of damage or snapping occurs? Is it worth using large coolers like this - large and heavy but able to efficiently cool a processor that generates high heat, or can they wind up snapping my board?

And a side question - are there any high end air coolers that can greatly cool down an 8350 CPU (OC'd and Stock) that weight less than the two I mentioned? I'm asking in case the weight of a cooler's gonna be a big issue or not.

Thank you for your time.

 

[ShadyHamster]

The mounting systems for these big heavy coolers is usually sufficient to hold the cooler without any issues or risk of board damage.
The only time you should be concerned is if you move your system around a lot (I'm talking about car travel and the likes).
Not sure about the Fuma mounting system but the R1's mounting is pretty solid.

 

[OneHaplessGamer]

The mounting systems for these big heavy coolers is usually sufficient to hold the cooler without any issues or risk of board damage.
The only time you should be concerned is if you move your system around a lot (I'm talking about car travel and the likes).
Not sure about the Fuma mounting system but the R1's mounting is pretty solid.

I read a few similar topics on here talking about the mounting systems for things like the R1 and other larger coolers. I'm guessing they're able to distribute the weight equally to avoid having one point of the board weighed down? Sorry if this sounds rather.... novice of a question - just wanting to fully understand how the mounting of heavier coolers handles the weight on the board.

Someone else - I think it was here in these forums or somewhere else, mentioned their board snapped after five or six months with a heavier cooler attached, so that's one reason I wanted to ask. Also, thank you for responding Shady - I was starting to lose hope of getting any answers with the last set of questions and concerns I posted a few weeks ago (though I may have brought it on myself - I'll admit).

 

[ShadyHamster]

I wouldn't think a board like the 990FXA-UD3 would have any issues with heavy coolers.
I could see it being a problem with really cheap boards where the actual PCB is thinner and/or weaker.

I used a Noctua NH-D14 for around 6 years over multiple PC builds and never had any issues, my PC was also moved around a lot to lan events too and there was never any issues, i would always lay my PC down on its side to limit the amount of stress being put on components.

 

[Dragos Manea]

Thats why i prefer water cooling , honestly i dont like how the motherboard bends slightly whena very heavy cpu cooler is attached (yes it bends no matter what you do) and i like my system to be as moveble as possible because of cleaning or puted on desktop or puted on the ground, on its feet not on side(because of glass side-panel) etc. Water cooling has some advantages but some disadvantages, for example big radiator which are hard to position or leakage(this issue has become very rare with modern cooling solutions).

 

[OneHaplessGamer]

Thats why i prefer water cooling , honestly i dont like how the motherboard bends slightly whena very heavy cpu cooler is attached (yes it bends no matter what you do) and i like my system to be as moveble as possible because of cleaning or puted on desktop or puted on the ground, on its feet not on side(because of glass side-panel) etc. Water cooling has some advantages but some disadvantages, for example big radiator which are hard to position or leakage(this issue has become very rare with modern cooling solutions).

I've heard that leakage is a rare issue, but even if the chances are slim that it would occur it dissuades me a bit from going with a water cooler. I also heard a few other things, some people saying even a decent AiO can't compete with a high-end air cooler, and some horror stories of people having one of their tubes pop out of place or that their pump never worked in the first place.

I do like the weight aspect of the AiO though, don't get me wrong - how you can mount it plus the overall weight and airflow option seems nice. But I just want something that can provide good cooling for my CPU with the side panel on (OC'ed or stock performance as well by the processor) that has the least likely chance of causing any damage to my components - be it from stress caused by weight, failures of any parts of the cooler, leaks, etc.

Also, from the sound of the bending thing you mentioned, it sounds like this happened with a board of yours. If so, what cooler was it and what was the mounting system like?

 

[Sinko]

The motherboard should be able to handle the weight no problem. However, the CRYORIG H7 cooler would be a lighter option for you if you are concerned with the weight. It is a great cooler and only weighs about 1.3 lbs.

 

[Dragos Manea]

I got 3 water systesm in my pc, i got a corsair h100i v2 for the cpu, i got a kraken x41 for my top videocard and i got a kraken x31 for bottom videocard, i never worry about leakage because a good brand will have a higher quality build.

 

[OneHaplessGamer]

The motherboard should be able to handle the weight no problem. However, the CRYORIG H7 cooler would be a lighter option for you if you are concerned with the weight. It is a great cooler and only weighs about 1.3 lbs.

The H7? I'll have to look up tests of its performance. I have to ask though, would you go with the R1 or the H7? I still need to double check information on the R1's mounting system as well - unfortunately I haven't had much of a chance to respond on here - family related issues, unfortunately, so sorry for the late response.

 

[jay_rogers]

Do not worry about weight. Mounting mechanisms for the cooler is what holds and distributes the weight.