3D Printed LGA1700 Bracket Counters Alder Lake CPU Warping Disaster

Overclocking expert Luumi on YouTube recently made a new video testing the utility and functionality of a 3D-printed LGA1700 bracket from the Australian extreme overclocker Karta. The custom bracket, which Karta made using one of the best 3D printers on the market, puts less pressure on Alder Lake CPUs installed into the socket, preventing the CPUs from bowing in the middle. Luumi tested the bracket against workarounds involving washers and found temperatures to be very similar.

For the uninitiated, it recently came to light that Intel's ILM (Independent Loading Mechanism) for the LGA1700 socket is not well optimized for Alder Lake CPUs and can put excess pressure on the CPU, causing the integrated heat spreader to bow in the middle. Thankfully, this issue doesn't affect CPU reliability, but it increases CPU temperatures by several degrees.

A month ago, German publication Igor's Lab discovered a method to nullify these effects entirely. The mod involved adding M4 washers behind the socket holder, which increased the socket's height and reduced the ILM's pressure on the CPU. The results turned out to be very successful, with a 5 degrees Celsius reduction in CPU temperatures when using 1mm washers.

Karta took Igor's approach one step further by 3D printing an entirely new bracket from plastic with the additional height adjustment. In testing, Luumi found the 3D-printed mod to be successful but not as successful as he'd hoped.

Luumi tested the 3D-printed bracket with an Intel Core i5-12600K and EVGA's $829 Z690 Dark Kingpin motherboard with the infamous Prime95 stress test. He compared the thermal results between the stock ILM (without the washer mod) and the custom LGA1700 bracket.

Temperature was incredibly similar between the two setups with less than a one degrees Celsius difference. However, Luumi noted that this could be a problem with the water block that already had a convex outline from previous use.

He showcased the mounting pressure between the stock ILM and the 3D-printed LGA1700 socket. He noticed that the mounting pressure was terrible with the latter, where only the center of the CPU was getting the most attention, whereas the edges of the CPU lacked significant contact. On the other hand, it wasn't true of the stock ILM run where mounting pressure was far more linear between the center and edges of the chip.

Luumi will test the custom LGA1700 bracket again once he laps the water block in a future video, so we should see far better results. However, since Igor's washer mod has proved successful, we should see the same results with this 3D-printed solution under more appropriate conditions. In a worst-case scenario, the ILM might need some height adjustment to get the best temperatures out of Intel's Core i5-12600K.