Leaked photos of LGA 1700 mounting accessories from Aorus WaterForce X
Lately, we’ve informed you that Noctua was preparing changes for the SecuFirm mounting system for next-generation Intel processors (Alder Lake-S). Based on the first clues, we were still guessing what it might be about. Now it’s much clearer, because there are real photos of the accessories of one of the existing liquid coolers, which already has support for the Intel LGA 1700 included in the specifications.
A leaker momomo_us has posted on his Twitter a series of photos with a backplate and standoff screws to be used for mounting coolers on the LGA 1700 socket for Intel’s mainstream processors, starting with the 12th generation Alder Lake-S.
Although the PCB of the new processors will be rectangular in shape, the pitch hole for installing the coolers is likely to remain square. However, the difference should be between the centers of the mounting holes. While so far on the LGA 115x/1200 it was 75 mm, in the case of the new LGA 1700 base it should be 3 mm more, i.e. 78 mm. This dimension is relatively close to the LGA 1366 (80 mm) and many cooler manufacturers still keep the support of this socket alive.
It is therefore a pity that the difference is so small and that Intel has not aligned it with these old dimensions. At least the backplate that comes with coolers would be compatible, but even so, it is mostly useless (perhaps only few people still buy new coolers for such old processors).
However, it cannot be ruled out that these old backplates would be incompatible for other reasons, for example their thicker shape could collide with a component around the socket. As you can see in the photos below, at least this first LGA 1700 backplate has relatively narrow frames (but this applies to all of the liquid coolers, even the oldest of LGA 115x/1200).
Not only the backplate is to be changed, but also the standoff screws, which set the correct pressure between the cooler’s heat spreader and the processors themselves. The paper manual of one of the coolers with LGA 1700 support states a difference of 0.8 mm, while the new screws are shorter. We assume that this is a difference in the “useful” height, i.e. without external threads.
This would mean that the Alder Lake-S processors, and consequently all others for the LGA 1700 socket, will be lower (either for a thinner PCB or a lower heat spreader) or may be the same height, but a different amount of pressure will be required. However, the first option seems more realistic, and maybe in the end it will be a combination of both, as Intel may specify less mechanical load on the entire system with a thinner substrate.
Recent leaks indicate that the accessories are to come from Gigabyte’s liquid coolers (Aorus WaterForce X), the manual’s graphics correspond to this. It was already obvious it came from a liquid cooler. Note that the figure of Alf in the photo above did not cover the entire area of the information box with supported coolers, from which the text “280” is peaking (speaking of a radiator format of a liquid cooler) and from the opposite side it’s the first letters AORUS.
These liquid coolers already have support listed on their product websites, although the first LGA 1700 socket processors won’t arrive before the end of the year.