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A number of consumers are reporting that some third-party cooling solutions are causing damage to 6th gen Intel Skylake CPUs.
Some reports say the problems are due to Intel changing the thickness of the chips, suggesting the thinner structure could lead to coolers damaging the chip and/or the motherboard. It seems the pressure exerted by a number of well-known coolers is causing components to bend.
While there were more and more reports of damage towards the end of last week, a number of cooler makers have now issued their official statements on the matter.
Most have stressed that their coolers are fully compatible with Intel’s Skylake CPUs, while Scythe has admitted there is an issue and is advising users on what to do next.
Here are all the official statements we’ve found so far:
Cooler Master
“Cooler Master has been at the forefront of Cooling Technology since its inception. With the Cooler Master designed heat-sink technology in your coolers, you are getting the best standards of thermal cooler in the world. Every cooler we ship meets Cooler Master’s highest standards for providing incredible performance, regardless of the design or model.
We would like to reaffirm our commitment to all our fans and supporters that you can rest assured, all air and liquid cooling products from Cooler Master are not affected by the mounting issue.”
‘There will be a major shortage of Skylake CPUs until end of November’
Scythe
“Japanese cooling expert Scythe announces a change of the mounting system for Skylake/Socket 1151 on several coolers of its portfolio. All coolers are compatible with Skylake sockets in general, but bear the possibility of damage to CPU and motherboard in some cases where the PC is exposed to strong shocks (e.g. during shipping or relocation). This problem particularly involves only coolers mounted with the H.P.M.S. mounting system*. To prevent this, the mounting pressure has been reduced by an adjustment of the screw set. Of course, Scythe is going to ship the new set of screws to every customer completely free of charge! To apply for the free screw set, please send your request via e-mail to support@scythe.com or use the contact form on our website.
*only the following coolers are affected by the Skylake issue:
Mugen 4 & Mugen 4 PCGH-Edition & Mugen Max”
Arctic
"We want to assure with this official statement that ARCTIC coolers are not affected by these problems – and thus are fully Skylake compatible.” (Via Hexus)
NZXT
"All NZXT Kraken Series closed loop liquid coolers are fully compliant with Intel’s socket 1151 mechanical force specification. The mounting system developed for NZXT’s liquid coolers does not encounter the problems associated with either gravity that large fin arrays of oversized tower coolers have or with Skylake’s changes in substrate and IHS thickness.
Our older generation of large tower coolers (Havik 120/140) are mounting and pressure compatible with socket 1151, but we advise against using them with socket 1151 CPUs due to potential of force exerted on the socket by the weight of the cooler." (Via Tom’s Hardware)
Entatech offers Skylake attachment opportunities
Thermaltake
"All current CPU cooler from Thermaltake, as the Frio Silent series, as well as older models such as the NIC series, the Contac series and the Frio series, and compact water cooling of the types Water 2.0 and Water 3.0, are 100% compatible with socket 1151 processors." (Via Hexus)
EK Water Blocks
Its current lineup is fully compatible with LGA-1151 mechanical force limitations although it doesn’t recommend using older generations that use its classic, undefined clamping ForceType mounting mechanisms. (Via Techspot)
