Big problems installing heatsink to a Supermicro X10SLM+-F

[vicmarto]

Hello.

I'm upgrading my FreeNAS from an Asrock E3C224D2I to a Supermicro X10SLM+-F. Planed to reuse the CPU and the heatsink but... the mounting systems seem different. Please, take a look:



Look at these 4 holes, there are some king of metal plate and screw that the Asrock E3C224D2I didn't have!!

I tried with the 3 heatsinks I have with no luck (Scythe SCKTN-4000, Intel E97370-003 and Noctua NH-L9i)

Please help!!

 

[kdragon75]

What does the manual say about mounting hardware?

 

[vicmarto]

Nothing special, the manual explains a normal procedure heatsink install, the same I did with the old Asrock!

 

[sretalla]

Both of those boards seem to have LGA 1150 sockets, so I would expect cooler mounts to be more or less the same.

All of the Noctua coolers I have bought came with a flexible bracket for Intel sockets which I think should fit.

This specific quote from Noctua's site "The NH-L9i is a premium quality quiet CPU cooler for Intel LGA115x" seems to confirm that.

 

[vicmarto]

Thanks sretalla for your answer. Yes, they both have a LGA 1150 sockets, but the holes are different, the Supermicro has a plate in the back side and screw thread in the holes. The Asrock has the standard 1150 mount: holes without screw thread!

This pictures are from the old Asrock:

 

[kdragon75]

It looks like the asrock used the plastic peg clip things that snap into the holes and lock in place. The SM board has the screw mounts. Do you have the full mounting hardware for your heatsinks? You may need a different base for the HS.

Edit: the SM mount with the brackets and screws is much stronger and more reliable. More than once I have had one of the plastic peg clip crap things come lose in a move.

 

[vicmarto]

No, I don't have such of thing. Please, can you be more specific, what I need to mount a heatsink in the Supermicro?

 

[kdragon75]

You may want to contact Noctua and ask about your options. You MAY also be able to remove the brackets from the motherboard depending on how strong the adhesive is but I would not recommend that.

 

[sretalla]

You should have some mounting brackets in the box with the Noctua cooler which would probably attach to those posts coming from the brackets on the back of the new board.

If you didn't get/keep the brackets, you may need to go back to where you bought it and ask.

 

[vcjames]

Hi. For installing coolers that are typically in server rack chassis, Supermicro actually includes their own damn backplate. If you can, use a heatgun to gently pry it off. Yes, they are the same footprint. I have the same motherboard as you. Curse me all these forums want, but, I had an old Corsair H90 cooler that I stashed away and forgot to RMA after finding coolant saturating on one of the fittings.

The Arctic Alpine 11 Plus cooler I bought, which SHOULD and DOES work with this motherboard (Another user of this board posted that they are using it on the Amazon reviews), wouldn't work with the OE Supermicro backing plate as it, too, uses the push-pin style. While doing a mockup, I found I couldn't use this cooler anyway because it hit my hard drive cages (Silverstone TJ08) and Supermicro's offset-placement of the CPU socket.

I have been running a known-to-leak Corsair H90 for a while now, with no issues (checking it daily). The Supermicro backing plate is the same screw threads as the Corsair H90's backing plate, so it was a win-win for me. Nice, cool temperatures, now with ten times the risk of dripping liquid on my UDIMMs.

TLDR - the backing plate is from Supermicro. It's still complaint with Intel specs. You must remove it with a heat gun. If not, you can use certain coolers which supply their own backing plate to screw onto.

 

[vicmarto]

Thanks all, and specially vcjames. Following his advice, I successfully removed the backplate (using a hair dryer and a plastic card). The motherboard is working correctly and finally could install an standard LGA 1150 socket heatsink.

THANKS!

 

[jdabb]

that’s is scary I am looking to do this as mines has the same hardware there are a lot of capacitors and components near the plates. I am guessing the hair dryer is not hot enough to make those things fly off like I have seen with a proper heat gun on other electronic boards. I would use Kapton tape to protect the components still scared to try. Anyone else have other options.

 

[vicmarto]

Yes, of course It's scary. Like I said, In my case I didn't have a heat gun, so used only a hair dryer and a plastic card (like a credit card one). It was easier than I thought at the beginning, because the glue was not strong as seemed.

Good luck.

 

[jdabb]

Yea i got it off as well eith a heat gun as well thanks