With its new LGA-1700 socket, Intel has revised the dimensions of its processor support. Where previous processors were square-shaped, the new ones are rectangular. However, this has a direct impact on the pressure exerted on the processor and its deformation. The hardware community is well aware of this phenomenon, and alternative mounting systems have been developed.
This is where the famous BCF (Bending Correct Frame) or Contact Frame, or whatever they’re called, come into play. You’ll find them at Thermal Grizzly, but also at Thermalright. These exert a uniform pressure all around the processor’s IHS, limiting or even preventing any deformation of the CPU.
To cut a long story short, we’ve been dealing with the phenomenon of CPU deformation as part of our overhaul of the cooling test protocol. Here’s a dedicated article to show you the extent of the damage!
Thermalright BCF:
Briefly, the Thermalright frame arrives in a classic cardboard box bearing various markings. On the back, the box briefly explains the steps to follow for installation. We’ll come back to this later, of course.
Once out of the box, we find a simple rectangular piece of aluminum. The brand offers several colors: black, silver, red and blue. It’s up to you to choose the color that suits you best. The aesthetics are well thought-out, with markings including a reminder of the manufacturer’s logo and the words “LGA 1700”.
In itself, there’s not much to specify other than the dimensions, which are 70.2 (L) x 53.1 (W) x 6.25 (H) mm.
Finally, the accessory section includes :
- Brief assembly instructions
- The LGA-1700 BCF
- Torx wrench for disassembly and assembly of the Intel mechanism
- A syringe of thermal paste
Now that we’re all set up, it’s time for a little DIY!
BCF, assembly :
Assembly of the Thermalright BCF is not very complicated, although a few precautions must be taken. Of course, before unscrewing the original retention system, you’ll need to open it so that it’s no longer under voltage. Otherwise, the socket may jump, risking damage to the motherboard.
Once unlocked, we can start unscrewing it before removing the lever and cage. Next, we place our CPU on its socket and position the Thermalright accessory around the processor. All that remains now is to screw it in. Of course, we prefer an “X” tightening pattern to ensure even pressure on opposite corners.
Effects:
To check the effects of the Bending Correct Frame, we simply spread the thermal paste with a finger over the entire processor, then mounted the pump. This way, where contact isn’t made, there’s simply no paste on the base of the pump. We attack with a first series of photos of the motherboard equipped with its default locking mechanism:
Clearly, without the BCF, the contact between the copper base and the processor is at best correct… At worst, it’s downright non-existent, as can be seen with the Liquid Freezer II. In fact, only the top and bottom of the copper base made contact with the processor. The same applies to the Liquid Freezer II 420, with a lack of contact in the middle of the copper base. The same applies to the Corsair H170i Elite Capellix. On our Liquid Freezer II 280, however, the situation is different: the plating is more uniform.
With the Thermalright device in place, the situation is much improved. The results are most obvious on the Liquid Freezer II 240. The base of the pump now comes into contact with almost the entire surface of the processor’s IHS. The same is true of the Liquid Freezer II 420, where only the upper left-hand part of the processor is well plated. However, there are no heating elements in this area. As for Corsair’s kit, the plating is much improved with the BCF!
Finally, where the device won’t have a great impact is on the Liquid Freezer II 280, where the gain is more minimal.
What impact on temperatures?
Obviously, by improving contact between the processor and the heatsink, temperature gains are bound to occur… Especially in the case of the Liquid Freezer II 240. In this case, we might as well tell you: there’s no need to switch on the machine, because the result is already known!
As far as temperatures are concerned, Thermalright’s Bending Correct Frame clearly does good work wherever it goes. Systematically, we find temperatures below Intel’s stock locking mechanism. However, these differences are more or less significant depending on the heatsink.
For example, on Liquid Freezer II 280 and Ryuo III 240 which ensure good contact with the CPU without the BCF, the addition of the frame doesn’t affect temperatures any more than that. Temperature differences are as little as 1°C on Arctic’s kit, and as much as 2°C on Asus’.
However, on kits with poor contact with the processor, the gains are massive. For example, with the H170i Elite Capellix, gains of up to 17°C are achieved at mid-range. The situation is similar with Arctic and Liquid Freezer II 420: -16°C at high speed and mid-range.
Of course, you’ll tell us that with these kits, the processor’s hot spot is not or only partially covered by theAIO base. Nevertheless, the frame does its job by preventing deformation of the processor’sIHS, thus avoiding overheating. Without Thermalright’s BCF , half of our cooling units wouldn’t hold up to the 170W profile. We haven’t yet mastered the art of Wi-Fi cooling.
Conclusion:
As we’ve seen, mounting this type of accessory is straightforward, especially as all the mounting hardware is supplied. However, be sure to unlock the original retention system before disassembling.
Once in place, it’s night and day with the original Intel locking mechanism. As we’ve seen, without it, some of our heatsinks wouldn’t even touch the processor, like our Liquid Freezer II 240, but with it, it touches the IHS just fine. In these conditions, we were able to take temperature readings that would have been impossible without it.
If you have a heatsink which, with Intel’s original mechanism, didn’t completely plate the IHS of your CPU, you can hope to use your air-cooler/AIO on the one hand. On the other hand, if the plating was random, the temperature gains are serious. On two of our cooling units that were “problematic”, we achieved very substantial gains… On others, we were able to use it in our tests (cuckoo Liquid Freezer II 240).
But beware of your card’s warranty, which may simply be voided. Unfortunately, manufacturers may consider this type of mechanism as a hardware modification invalidating the warranty. Find out more before installing it.
Finally, there’s the price, which turns out to be very reasonable, as it’s on sale on Amazon for around ten euros, sometimes less. This could be an investment to consider if you’re migrating to the platform.