Testing the ILM Washer Mod for LGA 1700 Socket PCs, Does It Improve Cooling?

What is the LGA 1700 washer mod?

So you might be wondering, what is the ILM Washer mod? It was uncovered by Igors Lab that the LGA 1700 socket’s clamping force results in the processor warping. This then results in suboptimal cold plate contact and negatively affected cooling potential with the CPU.

The solution to this excessive pressure is to place 1mm non-conductive washers underneath the mounting mechanism to reduce the tension, thus resulting in the CPU remaining flat.

Testing methodology:

The same Intel Core i9 12900k processor was used throughout AVADirect’s testing. As it was noted in Igors article that he had a processor permanently bent, so special attention was made to ensure that this processor was in fact still straight after each removal from the socket. All testing was done with the room temperature at 20.5C using my open loop utilizing a 360x45mm radiator in push-pull. Stock bios settings were used on each board to represent standard usage, voltages and frequency were monitored to insure consistency. Three runs with and without washers were made, and the average was taken.

ILM Washer Mod LGA 1700 Socket Results

Note: Each motherboard reports temperature differently, so the results should only be compared for the same motherboard and not with each other.

Right off the bat, you’ll notice there was a notable difference between boards that used the Foxcon socket vs. boards that use the Lotes socket. Manufacturers tend to source a majority of their motherboard parts from either of these two factories. In this Generation Asus seems to be sourcing sockets from a little of both while all other brands are using mostly Lotes.

AVADirect Custom Computer’s testing has shown that while in many instances the washer mod could have a positive effect on cooling, it’s not as cut and dry as a lot of the articles floating around indicating 5C improvements. While this did indeed hold true on the MSI A Pro motherboard that was tested, it’s substantially less for other models in this test, and it would seem Foxcon sockets can even be at a detriment from this modification in some cases. 

Ordering a Custom PC with ILM Washer Mod for LGA 1700

Interested in having this mod applied to your Intel powered custom PC? As long as your custom computer’s motherboard features the LGA 1700 socket, this should be a possible modification. Talk to a member of our sales team to have ILM Washers applied to your LGA 1700 Socket Custom Computer.