Thermal Grizzly CPU Contact Frame Intel 1700 LT - for Optimized CPU Contact Pressure to Improve The Cooling Performance

Bought this hoping to lower temps on CPU. It was easy to install as I had the AIO cooler back plate already installed so removing the ILM screws did not cause any issues. I am using the Asus Maximus Z790 Dark Hero board, which is fairly thick. This contact frame from Thermal Grizzly is the second gen. It comes with replacement screws which are a bit longer than the stock ILM screws. They were plenty long enough. If you look at the photos, you will notice the white markings at each screw hole are no longer there. And you don’t need to mark the screws with some kind of marker. This is because, the way Der8auer redesigned the contact frame, it no longer requires the precise mounting technique from his original tutorial video or the tutorial video on Gamers Nexus. Simply follow the directions on the included instruction sheet using the tools provided and hand tighten and you should have no issues. I turned everything alternating using an X pattern a few turns at a time until snug then gave a very slight final turn. This makes it snug to the motherboard without over tightening the screws.I used the Kryonaut Extreme thermal paste and snugged down my AIO using the same X pattern, only with the AIO I tightened it down pretty tight.System booted into BIOS where I had to redo my settings. BIOS went to defaults. Also had to tell the BIOS to ignore the CPU fan and had to reset the XMP. After it restarted and booted into windows, I used the Asus AI program to allow it to sense and auto set my settings in the BIOS. I am using an i9 13900k. System overclocked my CPU to 6.1Ghz on three of the P cores and 5.9 on the rest (actually, one P core was set at 5.8). Ran Cinebench 2024 for several runs of 10 mins each. Temps stayed in mid 80’s during the Cinebench runs. It has been running consistently at 6100Mhz with no crashes or blue screens and no overheating. Re-ran the Cinebench tests a couple of days later with identical results. Really impressed with this i9 13900k and the Lian Li AIO.What I noticed was cooler temps, but not by a lot like some other people. What it really did more than anything was make all the P cores and E cores run at the same temps (E cores obviously cooler). Prior to using the contact frame, temps on each P core were all over the place, with one at times hitting in the high 90’s while another one would run at 88 while stress testing. Now they are all staying within 1 to 2 degrees of each other. And it is running cooler. Prior to the contact frame I was hitting the 90’s and tapping 100 on a few cores when running the CPU test on Cinebench. Now they bump up against 98 when the test starts and then settle in at about 88. Idle temps drop to 26/27 when nothing is running and go to 33/34 when apps open and run. I would say average idle temp now is around 30. Prior to installing the contact frame, I was idling at around the mid to high 30’s and they were uneven. As I mentioned previously, all cores now stay close to the same temps. This contact frame definitely creates more even contact between the CPU and the AIO.So I’d say it works. I hit 2100~ in Cinebench 2024 on multi core and 35,500 on the GPU test. You cannot compare these scores to Cinebench 2023 and prior, as Maxon is using new rendering software. This was worth the $30 purchase and system tear down to install it. FYI, I also tried using the Thermal Grizzly Graphene cooling sheet (38X38) and it is too big for an i9 13900 and needs to be cut down. I gave up on it though as I could not keep it in place when trying to mount the AIO, kept sliding around. I heard others suggest using a little thermal paste to hold it in place, but I didn’t want to fool with that and just went to straight thermal paste. The Kryonaut Extreme seems to be working pretty well.My system: i9 13900k, Asus Maximus Z790 Dark Hero, Lian Li 011D Evo XL, Lian Li 120 SL-Uni fans, Lian Li Galahad II AIO, G. Skill Trident Z5 RGB 64Gb 6000, 2TB Crucial T700 Gen 5 NvME OS drive, 2TB Samsung 990 Pro Gen 4 NvME data drive, MSI 4090 Gaming X Slim, BeQuiet Dark Pro 13 1000w, Win 11 home (most recent update). This thing is running Alan Wake II at 68-70 degrees max temps. Both NvME drives running at 43 degrees, which is pretty remarkable considering how hard AWII hits the NvME drive (it is loaded on the Samsung 990 pro). Don’t have temp numbers for GPU but it is running pretty cool as well, fans only run occasionally. System fans do kick up though when everything hits full power. Crystal disk mark shows 12k read and 11.5k write speeds on Crucial drive and right around 7k read and 6.8 write on Samsung drive.Overall, I am pretty pleased with the performance on this build. My first build in over 10 years. Seems a lot easier to build a system now than it was 10 yrs ago. It’s a lot faster than my Corsair i8100 with a i9 13900KS, and that sucker is fast.One note: Using the Gen 5 NvME spilts the PCIe lanes into x8, so, the GPU does not get the full X16. However, it has almost no effect on the performance of the 4090. It still hit over 35,000 on Cinebench 2024. Checking multiple web sites that test 4090’s on Cinebench 2024 found them to score just under 35,000. Mine hit this score due to being a Gaming X card from MSI, so it is overclocked. I’ll give up the X16 lane to get the Gen 5 power on the NvME because it has no effect on the video card.

I’ve bought 7 of these for different builds for customers and a couple more for myself. I love these better than the competition. Thermal Grizzly outperforms the competition in every way. Plus they look and feel more quality that the competition. Install is much more fine and less caveman like the orher options on the market. Don’t cheap out and get a different brand, temps are significantly better with these frames VS not having one or VS using the competition.I’ve never had a botched install or any issues with high temps or stability issues after installing one of these contact frames.10/10

I picked this item up in light of learning that the stock ILM of the LGA1700 chipset causes uneven pressure between the Intel CPU and the cooler which can result in bad thermals and warping over time.After installation of the contact frame, I noticed, at the very least, a 2–3-degree Celsius difference in temperature, sometimes even more.The setup and installation were a breeze. My advice when installing this contact frame is to make sure that you do not over-torque the screws. Take note of how tight the screws are when you are removing the stock ILM and try to match it the best you can. If you screw it down to tight, you run the risk of losing memory instructions and potentially clock speeds on your CPU. Also, keep your original ILM bracket hardware in case you need to RMA your motherboard or something else goes wrong, as this installation typically voids your motherboard warranty (totally not an issue as it is easy to switch back).For the money, I don't think you can ask for a better product to not only drop your thermals a bit on these beastly CPUs, but to also protect the longevity of your chip!

Purchased this along with their Thermal Grizzly Kryosheet and immediately noticed better temps. Before the Contact Plate my idle temps were around 49-53c, and now I'm sitting around 38c idle. Before installing the Contact Frame/Kryosheet combo my CPU would avg at ~83c+ frequently spiking to ~96c while under load - now my system hovers around 67c.Installation was super simple, just be aware not to over-torque the Contact Frame screws. I reused my MOBO's screws, but TG provides matching replacements.For reference I run an i9-14900kf under a Corsair H150i Elite Capellix 360mm AIO paired with an Aorus 4080 Master on an Aorus Z790 Elite Ax. I have 3x 120mm case fans. Monitor is an LG Ultragear 2k monitor, 144hz.Take my results with a pinch of salt, each case and build is different. These are my results, thus I HIGHLY recommend anyone with a 12th/13th/14th gen Intel CPU to get this Contact Frame. It's almost necessary, honestly.

I'm using this on an Intel 13600K on a Gigabyte B660I mini-ITX board, with a large CPU air cooler. I'm not overclocking but given recent issues with these CPUs and the fact that I'm using air cooling, I wanted to do everything I could to set myself up for success with thermals. I've read that depending on your particular equipment, you might see anything from a huge difference to none at all, and that it comes down to how much your particular slot/board/CPU was flexing. It made basically no noticeable difference for me with thermals but it DOES make managing thermal paste way more tidy, and for that alone I was pretty happy. No complaints.

I tried using the replacement screws but they did not fit. This contact frame was installed with a Intel Core-i9 14900K processor on an ASUS ROG Strix Z-790 e-gaming motherboard. Installation was easy but screw it in very carefully. Do NOT overtighten the screws. I had to use the orginal screws. Other than that, I would buy again and definitely recommend to a friend. The optimal temps are worth it.

This was extremely easy to install and really seems to do a better job of holding my CPU! It fits great with my AIO!