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by vbezhenar 2417 days ago
Can motherboard break from the fan weight? Those huge coolers have solid weight.
5 comments

These days there's usually a back bracket which helps distribute the weight of the cooler over a large part of the board as opposed to earlier coolers which would only mount to a few screw holes. Extra large aftermarket coolers usually come with extra large mounting brackets. I wouldn't be too worried about any name brand cooler causing damage to the board. Follow the directions from the kit and it will probably be fine.
If you get a giant cooler it's usually recommended to uninstall it before transporting the computer (which means having rubbing alcohol and new thermal paste to reinstall it after transport), but stationary it's perfectly fine. They also have to hold up high end gaming GPUs which weigh equally much (and also recommended to be removed for transport).
The TR4 socket is extremely sturdy, and can take a great deal of weight - far more than you may be used to for more home desktop oriented parts. Given that the new socket needs even more cooling I think it's a reasonable assumption it'll be at least as sturdy as before.
Maybe at sufficient g-forces.
I might unmount the cooler before shipping the box somewhere, but if it's just sitting there you will generally be alright.