Intel's upcoming Alder Lake processors will feature a new socket, two new CPU architectures, and support for next-generation DDR5 memory modules. Alder Lake will be the first desktop processor to use the company's hybrid core architecture, which brings together high-performance Golden Cove cores and high-efficiency Gracemont cores.
Alder Lake will use an LGA-1700 socket design, a socket that is much larger than Intel's recent conventional socket designs. This design change will make Intel's new CPUs larger and more rectangular. This creates the need for new CPU cooler and heat sink mounts in exchange for lower power consumption.
No products found.
New CPU coolers will be needed to handle Alder Lake well
Alder Lake's new LGA-1700 socket has a new cooler mounting pattern, requiring heat sink manufacturers to create a new mounting system for this generation. It also has a lower Z-height, a change that will require CPU coolers to be mounted lower than before. Heatsinks will need to be redesigned and that can be a huge risk for manufacturers, who will have to upgrade their cooler mounting systems for Alder Lake only.
Some manufacturers can create free mounting kit updates for their products, but many consumers will need to purchase a new dedicated heat sink. The LGA 1200 mounting system they have used uses the same mounting hole pattern as all their conventional LGA plugs since at least Sandy Bridge, giving Intel's current design a long legacy of compatible CPUs.
For Intel to reduce the Z height of its CPU socket with Alder Lake allows PC developers that future Intel processors will be thinner than their predecessors, and with it the IHS of their future processors. By reducing the thickness, the amount of thermal resistance between the Intel CPU silicon and the user's heat sink is reduced. Thus, heat will more efficiently move away from the user's processor, reducing load temperatures while reducing the need for IHS slip or thinning. In short, with this design change, future Intel processors will be easier to cool, resulting in lower heatsink power consumption.
Source: Overclock3D
