Compatibility and Installation Tips

Alpenfoehn Brocken is compatible with all contemporary platforms. The cooler is installed in a very simple and intuitive way. You use the included universal backplate and steel push-in bushes to install the cooler onto LGA775 and Socket 754/939/940/AM2(+)/AM3. In case of an LGA1366 mainboard, you use the provided screw-nuts molded into the plastic bushes and plastic brackets:

After that the installation procedure is the same for all platforms. All you need to do is press the cooler against the bushes with a steel plate and tighten the thumb screws with the screwdrivers slits:

The cooler is pressed against the processor very tightly and you really have to apply some effort in the end. Due to special splines in the plate and four-point retention the cooler doesn’t rotate or shift around the processor heat-spreader. The distance from the mainboard PCB to the lowest heatsink plate is 50 mm that is why Alpenfoehn Brocken won’t interfere with any electronic components or tall heatsinks on the PCB.

The fan is attached to the heatsink with two wire clips that can be turned either way: with the curve facing towards to or away from the heatsink:

There is no mention in the manual of any preferable positioning of the cooler on the CPU. Therefore, we decided to check the cooler performance on an overclocked processor in two different positions. At first we installed the cooler so that the airflow from its fan was directed towards the back of the case (East-West):

The second test was performed with the cooler turned by 90° and the airflow from its fan directed towards the top of the case (South-North):

During our test session we discovered that the CPU temperature was 2 °C lower in the second case than in the first one. We have already observed this temperature difference between different Intel Core i7 cooling methods before, and today we have once again proven that it is indeed the case.

In conclusion, we would like to show you the fan LED lighting in the dark:

I think it looks very beautiful and not too bright, so it will not start to annoy you after a while.