[SOLVED] Thermalright Le Grand Macho RT cooler not working?

[AP911]

So I just changed my Wraith Prism Cooler on my Ryzen 3700X with the Thermalright Le Grand Macho RT. And I'm the temps are peaking at 95C when running Cinebench R20 compared to 92C on the Wraith PRISM...

Not sure what I'm doing wrong or whether my temperature sensors are busted. While inserting the new cooler, I have applied thermal paste - a single drop - and when the cooler was pressed on top the processor lid, I shook sideways slightly for uniform application. If you have any more pointers, would love to hear them.

Thanks

 

[Gaming7Ray]

So I just changed my Wraith Prism Cooler on my Ryzen 3700X with the Thermalright Le Grand Macho RT. And I'm the temps are peaking at 95C when running Cinebench R20 compared to 92C on the Wraith PRISM...

Not sure what I'm doing wrong or whether my temperature sensors are busted. While inserting the new cooler, I have applied thermal paste - a single drop - and when the cooler was pressed on top the processor lid, I shook sideways slightly for uniform application. If you have any more pointers, would love to hear them.

Thanks

Reseat your Cpu Cooler and apply paste properly.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah, that's 100% how you DON'T install a CPU cooler.

Take it back apart and clean both surfaces off with 91% isopropyl alcohol and a lint free cloth like a microfiber lens cleaning cloth or paper coffee filter.

Then apply an amount approximately equal to about 1/4 the size of a frozen or snow pea. Then DON'T "shook it sideways" because that is absolutely not something you want to do and whoever told you that was a good idea needs a good kick in the soft parts. Fit the cooler back in place after applying the thermal paste to the top of the CPU heat spreader, and then tighten it down until it is completely snug. You do not need to "crank down" on it. Just make it completely snug and then give it maybe an extra 1/8 turn to fully seat the fasteners.

Make sure that the fan is oriented correctly, with the fan blades facing out away from the heatsink.

There is ZERO chance that the Le Grand Macho RT could give you worse performance than the Wraith Prism, and should give you MUCH better performance, unless you used some of the wrong hardware from the kit and the cooler is not properly installed, or you screwed up the thermal paste by "shook it sideways".

 

[AP911]

Yeah, that's 100% how you DON'T install a CPU cooler.

Take it back apart and clean both surfaces off with 91% isopropyl alcohol and a lint free cloth like a microfiber lens cleaning cloth or paper coffee filter.

Then apply an amount approximately equal to about 1/4 the size of a frozen or snow pea. Then DON'T "shook it sideways" because that is absolutely not something you want to do and whoever told you that was a good idea needs a good kick in the soft parts. Fit the cooler back in place after applying the thermal paste to the top of the CPU heat spreader, and then tighten it down until it is completely snug. You do not need to "crank down" on it. Just make it completely snug and then give it maybe an extra 1/8 turn to fully seat the fasteners.

Make sure that the fan is oriented correctly, with the fan blades facing out away from the heatsink.

There is ZERO chance that the Le Grand Macho RT could give you worse performance than the Wraith Prism, and should give you MUCH better performance, unless you used some of the wrong hardware from the kit and the cooler is not properly installed, or you screwed up the thermal paste by "shook it sideways".

Hi! Thanks for letting me know it's wrong to shake the cooler for better paste application. I had removed the cooler and reinserted the cooler before I saw your post. And I have applied more than a snow pea amount of thermal paste(cooler master mastergel basic). Below is an image of the amount of paste I have applied, I know it's too much, but do I need to remove and reinsert the cooler again with lesser paste?

https://imgur.com/a/tnp0kPG

View: http://imgur.com/gallery/tnp0kPG

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ok, yes, here's the deal.

Too LITTLE thermal paste is bad, because it won't spread out far enough to do what TIM (Thermal interface material) is supposed to do, which is ONLY to fill the microscopic pores and any minor lack of flatness from convex or concave surfaces, so that there is a better surface area contact between the bottom of the heatsink and the top of the CPU heat spreader or die. The thermal paste is not there to "cool" anything or for any reason other than to make sure there are no air gaps.

Too MUCH thermal paste is bad too, but for a different reason. Several different reasons in fact. For one, too much paste is likely to squeeze out the sides between the two surfaces and end up all over the motherboard, making for a PITA mess to clean up. And if it's conductive thermal interface material you're using, which some types of paste ARE, you'll need to do that immediately in order to avoid potentially shorting something out. Even if it's not conductive paste, it's a good idea anyhow because, well, it just is.

Two, too much thermal paste between the two surfaces makes it HARDER, not easier, for heat to transfer between the two surfaces so cooling performance is reduced, sometimes dramatically, just like with too little. Heat does not transfer well through thermal paste, not like metal to metal contact, which is why you really only want enough thermal paste so that when the two surfaces are fully clamped together the thermal paste spreads out JUST enough to cover MOST or barely all of the CPU heat spreader surface, and no more. A little less is actually just fine in most cases because really the part of the CPU die under the heat spreader that touches the bottom of the heat spreader is much smaller in area than the overall surface of the heat spreader.

So, you want enough, but not too much. The amount you applied would probably be too much by about double even if you were using a low mounting pressure cooler like those that are held down ONLY by clips or pushpins, such as the stock cooler, or any cooler that doesn't "screw" down with fasteners. For any cooler that screws down with fasteners, like your Le Grand Macho RT, you want to use about 1/4 to 1/3 as much as what you have applied in your image. I would recommend that you clean it off again and reduce the amount you applied to about one fourth (1/4) of the the amount you have applied there. Even a third to a half of what you have applied there might be ok, better for sure than how much is there now.

Also, after you clean it all off, double check to make sure that the backplate and mounting bracket are all correctly installed and fully tightened (Don't "crank down" just snug them up and then about another 1/8 of a turn to seat the fasteners) before applying new thermal paste and screwing down the heatsink.

If you've already screwed down the heatsink again, and your thermal readings are good now, then I'd suggest you just save my advice for the next time it comes off and not remove it again now, but if your thermals are still not where they should be, then it's a good idea to do as I described. Also, you didn't make any modifications to the heatsink in order for it to fit inside your case, like hacking the ends off the heat pipes or anything like that, right?

 

[AP911]

Ok, yes, here's the deal.

Too LITTLE thermal paste is bad, because it won't spread out far enough to do what TIM (Thermal interface material) is supposed to do, which is ONLY to fill the microscopic pores and any minor lack of flatness from convex or concave surfaces, so that there is a better surface area contact between the bottom of the heatsink and the top of the CPU heat spreader or die. The thermal paste is not there to "cool" anything or for any reason other than to make sure there are no air gaps.

Too MUCH thermal paste is bad too, but for a different reason. Several different reasons in fact. For one, too much paste is likely to squeeze out the sides between the two surfaces and end up all over the motherboard, making for a PITA mess to clean up. And if it's conductive thermal interface material you're using, which some types of paste ARE, you'll need to do that immediately in order to avoid potentially shorting something out. Even if it's not conductive paste, it's a good idea anyhow because, well, it just is.

Two, too much thermal paste between the two surfaces makes it HARDER, not easier, for heat to transfer between the two surfaces so cooling performance is reduced, sometimes dramatically, just like with too little. Heat does not transfer well through thermal paste, not like metal to metal contact, which is why you really only want enough thermal paste so that when the two surfaces are fully clamped together the thermal paste spreads out JUST enough to cover MOST or barely all of the CPU heat spreader surface, and no more. A little less is actually just fine in most cases because really the part of the CPU die under the heat spreader that touches the bottom of the heat spreader is much smaller in area than the overall surface of the heat spreader.

So, you want enough, but not too much. The amount you applied would probably be too much by about double even if you were using a low mounting pressure cooler like those that are held down ONLY by clips or pushpins, such as the stock cooler, or any cooler that doesn't "screw" down with fasteners. For any cooler that screws down with fasteners, like your Le Grand Macho RT, you want to use about 1/4 to 1/3 as much as what you have applied in your image. I would recommend that you clean it off again and reduce the amount you applied to about one fourth (1/4) of the the amount you have applied there. Even a third to a half of what you have applied there might be ok, better for sure than how much is there now.

Also, after you clean it all off, double check to make sure that the backplate and mounting bracket are all correctly installed and fully tightened (Don't "crank down" just snug them up and then about another 1/8 of a turn to seat the fasteners) before applying new thermal paste and screwing down the heatsink.

If you've already screwed down the heatsink again, and your thermal readings are good now, then I'd suggest you just save my advice for the next time it comes off and not remove it again now, but if your thermals are still not where they should be, then it's a good idea to do as I described. Also, you didn't make any modifications to the heatsink in order for it to fit inside your case, like hacking the ends off the heat pipes or anything like that, right?

Understood! I'll re-apply the thermal paste to the 1/4 the amount which j put earlier and will update you on how it goes. Also, no I did not make any modifications to the heat sink for it to fit inside the case as it fits perfectly.
But one question, if this process of reapplying the paste does not seem to show improvements, where should I focus my attention on to figure out the real cause of the high temps? FYI, my case fan setup is: 2 intakes at the front of the case and one outtake at the top which I have put directly above the heatsink to let out the hot air faster. The Thermaltake fan is positioned as intake (or) pull mode.

 

[Darkbreeze]

What is your case model?

What is the model of all case fans?

Your CPU cooler fan should NOT be anywhere except on the FRONT of the heatsink pushing air THROUGH the heatsink. Front to back. No other way. It is NOT a heatsink that you can simply put the fan on the back of and get the same performance. I know, I've tested that exact cooler with the fan on both ends and the performance drop was about 7°C with the fan on the back rather than on the front of the heatsink. So, it should be exactly like you see in this video.

If you only have ONE exhaust fan, then it needs to be in the rear location on the back of the case, NOT on the top of the case. Better still would be to get another fan, and install that in the rear fan location so that you have a rear and a top-rear fan for exhaust purposes. You do not want to use the middle or front fan locations in the top of the case if you are using an air cooler as those tend to diminish the amount of cooler outside ambient air that makes it's way to the CPU cooler to be used for cooling, so the CPU cooler ends up using either mostly or partly heated air rising from the graphics card, which obviously isn't as desirable as the cool outside air coming into the case through the intake fans, which is what it SHOULD be using.

 

[AP911]

What is your case model?

What is the model of all case fans?

Your CPU cooler fan should NOT be anywhere except on the FRONT of the heatsink pushing air THROUGH the heatsink. Front to back. No other way. It is NOT a heatsink that you can simply put the fan on the back of and get the same performance. I know, I've tested that exact cooler with the fan on both ends and the performance drop was about 7°C with the fan on the back rather than on the front of the heatsink. So, it should be exactly like you see in this video.

If you only have ONE exhaust fan, then it needs to be in the rear location on the back of the case, NOT on the top of the case. Better still would be to get another fan, and install that in the rear fan location so that you have a rear and a top-rear fan for exhaust purposes. You do not want to use the middle or front fan locations in the top of the case if you are using an air cooler as those tend to diminish the amount of cooler outside ambient air that makes it's way to the CPU cooler to be used for cooling, so the CPU cooler ends up using either mostly or partly heated air rising from the graphics card, which obviously isn't as desirable as the cool outside air coming into the case through the intake fans, which is what it SHOULD be using.

I'm using the Antec NX300 Case and the case fans too as Antec. All the fans are running at max RPM. And like you said, I have positioned the fan on the cooler at the front of the cooler which helps push air through the cooler. Also, the exhaust fan on top is right above the heatsink. I was somehow able to fit it there with 2-3mm of clearance.

I'm done reapplying the paste(this time I went with the paste that came with the cooler and also I was suspicious of the quality of the Cooler Master Mastergel). In the below pics you can see the amount I've used now:

https://imgur.com/a/ChTEeZI

View: https://imgur.com/a/ChTEeZI


Below is how the contact between cooler and the IHS looks like:

https://imgur.com/a/RVVaPlW

View: https://imgur.com/a/RVVaPlW


It might look like there a huge gap, but i have made sure that the cooler is firmly on top of the IHS. the gap could be the paste?

I ran the benchmark again 4 times in a row and here are the results:
Run 1 --> 83C
Run 2 --> 85.3C
Run 3 --> 85.6C
Run 4 --> 86.1C

So I'm seeing almost 10C decrease and the temps are struggling to cross 86C. I saw that it also keeps oscillating between 84 and 85. Can these results still be improved upon? or is this the best case?

FYI that I forgot to mention -> Idling is between 39C to 55C

 

[Darkbreeze]

First, MOVE that top fan to the rear location. It will do FAR more good there, than it will on top. If being on top was more beneficial then every case company, that invests millions of dollars into research and development of these configurations, would already send these cases out with the fan installed there. They don't, and independent testing backs up the reason why. Move the fan, or get another one to put on the rear location. It is IMPORTANT that you have a rear exhaust fan, especially with a big tower cooler.

Second, are you testing with the side panel ON or OFF?

Third, what is the ambient in the room where your computer is at? I realize you are in a region where it can be VERY hot, but I have no idea if it is the same season there as here right now or what the ambient outdoor temps are like in your region.

That amount of paste seems fine, but like you, I am concerned that it looks like the cooler is not sitting completely flush against the IHS. Paste cannot account for any gap there might be, as it will simply squeeze out if necessary. And, your temps seem to me to be way too high for that cooler. You should be down in the 70's honestly, unless you have an extremely high ambient temperature there right now where your computer is.

Besides which, Cinebench is NOT the proper utility to be running in order to test thermal compliance. Download Prime95 and run the "Small FFT" option. Not "Smallest FFT". Not "Large FFT". Not "Blend". Small FFT.

Disable ALL AVX options on the main torture test screen. AVX, AVX2 and if present, AVX 512 should ALL be disabled. Normally, one or more will not be able to be disabled until you've disabled the other not-grayed out option by unchecking the box next to it.

Once done, run for 15 minutes. If temps exceed 85°C, stop the test. If any workers drop out, stop the test. What are you using to MEASURE thermals? Ryzen master? Core Temp? Something else? Use Ryzen master or Core Temp, or HWinfo. Those are the most accurate and most reliable utilities for this purpose.

I assume you are not overclocking the CPU and that you have checked to see that you have the MOST up to date BIOS version available. If not, I would recommend that you do so.

 

[AP911]

First, MOVE that top fan to the rear location. It will do FAR more good there, than it will on top. If being on top was more beneficial then every case company, that invests millions of dollars into research and development of these configurations, would already send these cases out with the fan installed there. They don't, and independent testing backs up the reason why. Move the fan, or get another one to put on the rear location. It is IMPORTANT that you have a rear exhaust fan, especially with a big tower cooler.

Second, are you testing with the side panel ON or OFF?

Third, what is the ambient in the room where your computer is at? I realize you are in a region where it can be VERY hot, but I have no idea if it is the same season there as here right now or what the ambient outdoor temps are like in your region.

That amount of paste seems fine, but like you, I am concerned that it looks like the cooler is not sitting completely flush against the IHS. Paste cannot account for any gap there might be, as it will simply squeeze out if necessary. And, your temps seem to me to be way too high for that cooler. You should be down in the 70's honestly, unless you have an extremely high ambient temperature there right now where your computer is.

Besides which, Cinebench is NOT the proper utility to be running in order to test thermal compliance. Download Prime95 and run the "Small FFT" option. Not "Smallest FFT". Not "Large FFT". Not "Blend". Small FFT.

Disable ALL AVX options on the main torture test screen. AVX, AVX2 and if present, AVX 512 should ALL be disabled. Normally, one or more will not be able to be disabled until you've disabled the other not-grayed out option by unchecking the box next to it.

Once done, run for 15 minutes. If temps exceed 85°C, stop the test. If any workers drop out, stop the test. What are you using to MEASURE thermals? Ryzen master? Core Temp? Something else? Use Ryzen master or Core Temp, or HWinfo. Those are the most accurate and most reliable utilities for this purpose.

I assume you are not overclocking the CPU and that you have checked to see that you have the MOST up to date BIOS version available. If not, I would recommend that you do so.

Unfortunately there is not enough clearance to install the fan at the back of the case with the cooler inserted. I think it can be inserted, but it will be in contact with the heat sink.

The Cinebench R20 tests I've run so far are all with side panel ON.

I ran Prime95 and used both HWInfo and Ryzen Master to check the temps. And within 3mins, the temps hit 95C on both. Looks like I'm back to square one..

The ambient temperature around in the room with the PC is about 25-30C. And regarding the BIOS, it is not up-to-date. The last time I updated it was Jan of this year.

 

[Darkbreeze]

There has to be room. It's a standard distance, and if there wasn't room on your board there wouldn't be room on ANY board with that cooler installed. There might not be room to do it with the cooler installed, so you might have to take it back off again, put the fan in back, and then reinstall the cooler. PITA I know, but that is what SHOULD be done. For now I guess it could stay as is until you can obtain another fan to go there.

Update the BIOS. There is definitely something going on with your configuration or cooler.

Try taking OFF the side panel, and run the tests again to see if the results are the same.

 

[AP911]

There has to be room. It's a standard distance, and if there wasn't room on your board there wouldn't be room on ANY board with that cooler installed. There might not be room to do it with the cooler installed, so you might have to take it back off again, put the fan in back, and then reinstall the cooler. PITA I know, but that is what SHOULD be done. For now I guess it could stay as is until you can obtain another fan to go there.

Update the BIOS. There is definitely something going on with your configuration or cooler.

Try taking OFF the side panel, and run the tests again to see if the results are the same.

I updated the mobo BIOS and I ran Prime95 with and w/o the Side Panel. Here are the results - the results below are after 5mins of running Prime95

With Side Panel:

https://imgur.com/a/ECchXxO

View: https://imgur.com/a/ECchXxO

w/o Side Panel:

https://imgur.com/a/pRvyvNh

View: https://imgur.com/a/pRvyvNh


Other than the temps I see that PPT, TDC and EDC are maxed out while the max clock speed is only reaching 3.9GHz for all cores. Not sure if this is another problem...

 

[Darkbreeze]

3.9Ghz all core is actually better than many others have reported after hitting the 88w limit, so that part at least I think is ok.

The fact that there is no significant difference between side panel on or off tells me that case cooling is not the issue.

What power plan do you have it set to in the system settings?

Start, settings, system, power and sleep, additional power settings, and then below Choose or customize a power plan what plan is selected and what plans are optional, even when you expand the "Show additional plans" option?

 

[AP911]

3.9Ghz all core is actually better than many others have reported after hitting the 88w limit, so that part at least I think is ok.

The fact that there is no significant difference between side panel on or off tells me that case cooling is not the issue.

What power plan do you have it set to in the system settings?

Start, settings, system, power and sleep, additional power settings, and then below Choose or customize a power plan what plan is selected and what plans are optional, even when you expand the "Show additional plans" option?

The "Balanced" Option is selected at the moment.

 

[AP911]

The "Balanced" Option is selected at the moment.

To add on, there is also AMD High Performance Power Plan for Ryzen. And under additional plans there are a couple more which I had added manually. This includes the profiles provided by 1usmus.

 

[Darkbreeze]

And you've tried each of them already then?

 

[Phaaze88]

I've had my eye on this thread out of interest to see how it would progress...

First, I thought I'd mention a little how I've experimented with 2 particular Thermalright coolers out of curiosity VS the NH-D15S with 2 fans - TR is REALLY popular over on Overclock.net.
Both were claimed by users - not the manufacturer - to be 'Noctua Killers'. Cpu is a 7820X, BTW.
A)Silver Arrow IB-E Extreme Rev. B
320w TDP. Equipped with 2x 2500rpm fans, this cooler requires that the chassis fans are also high rpm, so I replaced all chassis fans with IPPC 3000s.
I also tested it with regular Noctua fans, as well as the cooler fans.

B)True Spirit 140 Power
Whopping 360w TDP. Doesn't require any special chassis fans, but I wanted to cover all bases - tested with stock fan, tested with IB-E fan, swapped chassis fans in/out, etc.

No matter what I did, neither of these coolers actually beat the NH-D15S(dual fan).
I even opened a thread over on Overclock.net to try and get to the bottom of why.

The conclusion I came to from that thread - one or more of the following:
1)Poor surface mating. The flat base of the 2 TR coolers on the 7820X's slightly concave/convex(I forget which) IHS. The NH-D15S' base is also slight in one direction or the other.
2)TR lied about their coolers' specs. No way, right? Surely their engineers know better than lil ol' me...
3)Those folks touting about the performance of TR's coolers were full of it.



What does the above have to do your situation though? Well, I'd lean towards point 1 here.
-We already know the Antec NX300 doesn't have great airflow potential, but that shouldn't really choke the LGMRT, as it gets air from not just the front, but the top as well.
-The LGMRT is a big ol' brick of a cooler. I wouldn't expect a 3700X to come remotely close to being able to saturate it, but here you are, running around 85C with it. I would've expected results in the 70s...
-The center paste application isn't really ideal on Ryzen 3000; due to the multiple dies beneath the IHS, that method might not cover them. The thin spread and 2 dot(if you know where the dies are located) methods should be more effective.
-The motherboard doesn't appear to be cranking excessive Vcore through the cpu.

I feel like I forgot something, but it's late. Maybe I'll remember after a nap.

 

[AP911]

And you've tried each of them already then?

Yes, I have tried running on all the power settings, but I don't see the difference in performance for me to choose the other modes. I guess it will make a difference once I Overclock. Below is a snap of the different power modes:

https://imgur.com/a/7bDLB7Z

View: https://imgur.com/a/7bDLB7Z


Btw, I guess I've hit the limit of temp reduction? Since the w/o Side Panel tests show that it hits 85C, I think:

1. There might be something wrong with the temp sensors(considering how a BIOS update drastically changed the readings from 95C to 85C)
2. There is something wrong with the processor itself(this is far fetched, but I can't think of any other cause)

 

[AP911]

I've had my eye on this thread out of interest to see how it would progress...

First, I thought I'd mention a little how I've experimented with 2 particular Thermalright coolers out of curiosity VS the NH-D15S with 2 fans - TR is REALLY popular over on Overclock.net.
Both were claimed by users - not the manufacturer - to be 'Noctua Killers'. Cpu is a 7820X, BTW.
A)Silver Arrow IB-E Extreme Rev. B
320w TDP. Equipped with 2x 2500rpm fans, this cooler requires that the chassis fans are also high rpm, so I replaced all chassis fans with IPPC 3000s.
I also tested it with regular Noctua fans, as well as the cooler fans.

B)True Spirit 140 Power
Whopping 360w TDP. Doesn't require any special chassis fans, but I wanted to cover all bases - tested with stock fan, tested with IB-E fan, swapped chassis fans in/out, etc.

No matter what I did, neither of these coolers actually beat the NH-D15S(dual fan).
I even opened a thread over on Overclock.net to try and get to the bottom of why.

The conclusion I came to from that thread - one or more of the following:
1)Poor surface mating. The flat base of the 2 TR coolers on the 7820X's slightly concave/convex(I forget which) IHS. The NH-D15S' base is also slight in one direction or the other.
2)TR lied about their coolers' specs. No way, right? Surely their engineers know better than lil ol' me...
3)Those folks touting about the performance of TR's coolers were full of it.



What does the above have to do your situation though? Well, I'd lean towards point 1 here.
-We already know the Antec NX300 doesn't have great airflow potential, but that shouldn't really choke the LGMRT, as it gets air from not just the front, but the top as well.
-The LGMRT is a big ol' brick of a cooler. I wouldn't expect a 3700X to come remotely close to being able to saturate it, but here you are, running around 85C with it. I would've expected results in the 70s...
-The center paste application isn't really ideal on Ryzen 3000; due to the multiple dies beneath the IHS, that method might not cover them. The thin spread and 2 dot(if you know where the dies are located) methods should be more effective.
-The motherboard doesn't appear to be cranking excessive Vcore through the cpu.

I feel like I forgot something, but it's late. Maybe I'll remember after a nap.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Well, about the poor contact between the IHS and the heat sink, I can't think of why/how it might be happening(unless the heat sink is slightly concave/convex like you mentioned). I've assembled the cooler 4 times by now, each time making extra sure that the heat sink sits on top of the IHS perfectly. Looks like the only method left I can try to resolve this is to buy a higher end Thermal Paste - like the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut - and give one last try.

 

[Darkbreeze]

As per Phaaze post, to clarify, what paste method ARE you using? I agree that for TR and in fact, for all Ryzen CPUs to some degree or other, the methods used in the past or for most mainstream Intel CPUs are probably not optimal for these applications. I don't really think it's necessary to go overboard and coat the whole CPU with TIM like some reviewers have done, depending on the cooler, but I also think it's going to take more than a dot of TIM in the middle of the CPU to do the trick as well.

I think this is about the best clarification I've seen, and Steve pretty clearly states that he feels that even here, the blob method (Just, a BIGGER blob than you'd normally use) is probably the best for most people.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/...-thermalpaste-application-methods-benchmarked

Personally, I have NOT done any testing with any threadripper CPUs or heatsinks, but I really feel like TR is a GOOD candidate for lapping the heat spreader and baseplate to try and achieve a close to flat mating surface, but that is something that is not going to be feasible for a lot of people who perhaps lack the necessary tools, patience or general "handiness" to do the job at least semi-accurately.

Bottom line is, as much potential as TR has, it is clearly not a well thought out platform where the issues related to cooling were given much in the way of working out the engineering shortcomings, since there are few coolers and those there are don't seem to work all that great, especially on the higher end models. Then again, sometimes the hardware simply exceeds any ability of the times to accommodate the TDP of the design. Better coolers might come at some point, but I feel like these have been around long enough that SOMETHING that stands out from the rest of the pack should have happened by now.

I am interested in knowing how you installed the D15S on a TR socket, since none of the TR sockets are supported by any of the D15 coolers according to the Noctua product pages?

 

[Phaaze88]

I am interested in knowing how you installed the D15S on a TR socket, since none of the TR sockets are supported by any of the D15 coolers according to the Noctua product pages?

Sorry, I was using TR for Thermalright. It was late - typing out Thermalright over and over was a pain in the butt.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Oh, I see. Cool. I was like, huh?