It appears that some Skylake CPUs can get damaged by pressure from some CPU coolers due to a thinner substrate compared to previous generation CPUs, like for example Broadwell or Haswell.

Thoroughly investigated by PCGamesHardware.de, it appears that Skylake CPUs, like Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K, can be warped by strong pressure of aftermarket cooling blocks.

While most damage can occur during shipping or relocation when the CPU and the cooler are subjected to stronger shocks, it appears that it can also happen in general usage due to thinner substrate on Skylake CPUs.

As you can see from the picture below, Skylake CPU is much thinner compared to , for example, Broadwell CPU thus it is quite easier to bend it and damage both the CPU as well as the motherboard socket in some cases.

Many manufacturers have already started to release official statements and, for example, Arctic claims that their CPU coolers are safe and comply with the mechanical specification from Intel. EKWB also released a statement for PCGameshardware.de, saying that their latest -MX and -EVO water blocks are safe to use as its PreciseMount system prevents over-tightening and damage, but the older ForceType mounting mechanism might have problems and are not recommended for LGA-1151 CPUs. Noctua's SecuFirm2 mounting system should be safe as well, due the use of coil spring system that has a certain degree of tolerance.

This is a big issue and we can only advise you not to transport or move your Skylake-based system without taking off the air cooler at least unless you are sure that your CPU air cooler is not going to bend it. You can check out more details as well as a full list of statements from various manufacturers over at PCGamesHardware.de via link below.







Source: PCGamesHardware.de.