Question Incredibly annoying issue with cpu cooler tightness resulting in likely board flex

[Bathtub_Goblin]

I have a kraken 120mm liquid cooler, combined with an r9 3900x and an mpg b550 pro mobo. after i installed the cooler, I have had this issue where if the cooler is screwed on just a tiny bit too tight (note: this happens before I encounter any serious resistance with screwing it in) it causes dual channel ram to not work and a subsequent failed boot. this results in me having to play this super annoying game with the cooler where I screw it in, if the pc doesnt boot, then I unscrew the cooler, reseat the cpu, and try again. repeat a large amount of times and it suddenly works. I've heard this is probably related to board flex, but I have no idea how to fix this as it is incredibly frustrating

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I have a kraken 120mm liquid cooler, combined with an r9 3900x and an mpg b550 pro mobo.
You have the wrong cooler for the job, either a 240mm AIO or higher or a beefy air cooler.

 

[Bathtub_Goblin]

Thanks for the quick reply, what specifically makes the cooler wrong for the cpu?

 

[drea.drechsler]

Thanks for the quick reply, what specifically makes the cooler wrong for the cpu?

A 3900X CPU generates quite a lot of heat when working hard and a 120mm radiator doesn't have as much capacity to transfer the CPU's heat to the air as a larger radiator does. But that's not related to your problem.

It may be board flex, but that's not exactly the problem. The problem is when the board flexes it brings something out of contact that should be in contact. I'd suspect there is a cracked solder ball between the CPU socket and the motherboard and that's what is comeing out of contact when the board flexes. There's not much you can do but an electronics repair shop could possibly reflow the solder joint if you find one equipped with with a surface mount reflow solder station.

 

[Bathtub_Goblin]

A 3900X CPU generates quite a lot of heat when working hard and a 120mm radiator doesn't have as much capacity to transfer the CPU's heat to the air as a larger radiator does. But that's not related to your problem.

It may be board flex, but that's not exactly the problem. The problem is when the board flexes it brings something out of contact that should be in contact. I'd suspect there is a cracked solder ball between the CPU socket and the motherboard and that's what is comeing out of contact when the board flexes. There's not much you can do but an electronics repair shop could possibly reflow the solder joint if you find one equipped with with a surface mount reflow solder station.

Thanks for the descriptive response, Ill look into this more based on what you said.