Installation

Installation on Intel LGA 115x CPU sockets begins, as always, with the provided backplate. It has an insulating sheet on the underside already, which touches the motherboard to prevent electrical shorting, so all you need to do is to orient it such that the notches match the screws from the socket ILM, while having the threaded parts in the four corners meet the holes in the PCB for cooler mounting. Take the sticker off the double-sided tape/sticky film to ensure the backplate remains in place and you can then flip over the entire assembly without having to worry about it coming off. With that done, simply take the provided LGA 115x mounting posts and screw them through the PCB and into the backplate. Once done, apply some thermal paste to the CPU IHS, maneuver the block with the bracket over the four posts, and place a plastic washer followed by a metal washer over each of the four posts. With that done, lock the block in place with the four locking nuts until you run out of thread, thus making this a precise installation with no guesswork or any tools but your own two hands. It is recommended to tighten down the nuts in a diagonal manner, in sets of two for uniform mounting pressure.


Installation on Intel LGA 2011(-3)/2066 is even simpler as those already have a socket backplate or cooler-mounting threads pre-installed on the motherboard. Simply screw in the M4-threaded mounting posts and repeat the procedure as before. XSPC provides enough thermal paste for 3-4 runs, so feel free to mount, undo, check for TIM spread, re-apply/adjust TIM application, and re-mount if you so desire.


Finally, remember to use the provided LEDs and hook them up to the LED controller, and it in turn to the PSU, if you wish to have the block light up. Make sure to align the arrows on the LED cables to those on the controller cable when connecting the male-male pin adapter or they will not light up, and feel free to try out the various options available through the in-line controller. The images above, taken at different angles, show the color white at its maximum first and ~50% brightness second.

There are multiple lighting options here; a breathing mode (multi-color or single color), speed control, static color changes, and some brightness steps are included. There is no software control to the lighting here out of the box, which I was not expecting, but the LEDs use standard wiring, so these should theoretically be compatible with onboard motherboard LED controls as well. Managing the wires and controller will not be the easiest, so set up a lighting effect you would like to keep first, and set about organizing the cables after you have, just in case.

Update (November 7, 2017): XSPC tells me they have verified the LEDs will work with onboard lighting control from ASUS, MSI and Gigabyte.