I'm building my first PC and I'm having a tough time getting my Thermalright Peerless Assassin cooler attached to my B550M motherboard. I want to screw it in evenly, but every tutorial I've found is pretty vague on the details. When I twist one side, the other side seems to stay too far away to connect properly. Sometimes I get both screws in but they're really loose, and when I try to tighten them, one of them inevitably comes undone. I really need a clear explanation of how to screw them in evenly and what I might be doing wrong. Thanks for any help!
2 Answers
When I installed my cooler, I did it in an X pattern. I tightened a bit on one corner, then moved to the opposite corner, and kept going back and forth. It made a big difference! I found it important to give each screw about the same amount of turns before going to the next one. Just be gentle, you don’t want to overscrew them; they shouldn’t feel overly tight at the end. By the way, I used an AM4 socket, so your experience may vary a bit since you’re using AM5. But it worked well for me!
I have a similar cooler (the Arctic LF3 Pro) and I found success by tightening each screw a bit at a time—about two full turns for each screw until they were firmly locked in. It’s important to keep them both at an even level as you go so they don't become uneven. Just make sure that they feel secure but don't over-tighten! It worked great for me, and if you follow that pattern, you should be fine.
I’ve been trying to do the same, but it feels like one side always screws in deeper than the other. Any tips?