Cooler for i7 920 without brackets at the back of the mobo?

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6 Jan 2010
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I've been running my i7 920 at 3.3 with the stock cooler for over a year. I never could get it running higher. It wasn't until today that I figured out my RAM was the problem: I had to keep it running slower than 1333. Just now I managed to get my i7 920 run at 4.0 (RAM at 1200) with the stock cooler! And without changing any voltages or whatever! I am quite surprised I could get this done...!

Anyway, I know now that my CPU can run a LOT faster than I've been running it up to now. But of course temps are a problem (it was around 70 C while playing FSX on a COLD attic), so I am thinking about getting a better cooler so I can also run the CPU at 4.0 in the summer. (And if everything works out fine I will also get faster 1600 RAM).

Now the things is: it seems all coolers I can find for the i7 920 and my Gigabyte EX58-UD5 need brackets at the back of the motherboard... and I don't really want to take out my motherboard completely...

Are there any good (!) coolers that do NOT need brackets and that can be attached on the CPU without having to take the motherboard out? (I've also read that some brackets even require a plate to be removed from the EX58-UD5, which makes it all even more complicated). I just want to take out the old cooler and plug in the new... without having to go through all kinds of problems. (I already am rather scared of doing just this, because of the stuff you have to put on the CPU, compound or whatever it is called... ;) )
 
Soldato
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Are there any good (!) coolers that do NOT need brackets and that can be attached on the CPU without having to take the motherboard out?

No is the short answer. For a heatsink to be good, it has to be big. A big heatsink is heavy, and the push pin system is crap. So a big heatsink without a backplate is just asking for it to fall off and crash into your graphics cards. Plus a heatsink places the board under considerable torque, the backplate stops it deforming. For a waterblock to be good, it has to be clamped down tightly, again backplate is advised.

Backplates are really good, you want a cooler with one, not without. Taking a motherboard out isn't very scary I promise. I don't know of a cooler which needs the built-in bracket removed, but if you find one which does, it uses fairly large torx screws.
 
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6 Jan 2010
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No is the short answer. For a heatsink to be good, it has to be big. A big heatsink is heavy, and the push pin system is crap. So a big heatsink without a backplate is just asking for it to fall off and crash into your graphics cards. Plus a heatsink places the board under considerable torque, the backplate stops it deforming. For a waterblock to be good, it has to be clamped down tightly, again backplate is advised.

Backplates are really good, you want a cooler with one, not without. Taking a motherboard out isn't very scary I promise. I don't know of a cooler which needs the built-in bracket removed, but if you find one which does, it uses fairly large torx screws.
Ok, thanks for the reply. Well... the advantage of being forced to use a backplate is that I can simply search for and get the best cooler there is. ;)
 
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