Intel’s Innovation Day is set to kick off in just a few more days and by now, it’s likely that several members of the tech media would have received a press kit of sorts from Intel, enabling them to test and prepare their review of the chipmaker’s 12th generation CPUs ahead of the lifting of the NDA. For the one tech site, it made a surprising discovery about trying to pair LGA1200 coolers with Alder Lake CPUs.

The tech site in question is Wccftech and according to the outlet, attaching a non-LGA1700 cooler on to an Alder Lake processor could lead to some uneven distribution of thermal paste across the CPU lid. Apparently, this is primarily due to the Z-height of new 12th generation CPUs versus the older versions. In contrast, the new processors sit slightly taller than its predecessors by 1mm, yet that difference in height is seemingly enough to cause the uneven distribution.

In the case of Wccftech, the site reportedly received a picture from one of it source, showing the spread of thermal compound for three AIO coolers, used on Intel 12th generation CPUs. The one on the left, labelled MSI K360 and S360, shows the material spread evenly, due in no small part to them actually supporting the LGA1700 platform via the provided brackets, out of the box.

The other two AIO coolers – a Corsair H115 and Cooler Master ML Series – were obviously unable to do the same, for the simple fact that both coolers do not have the necessary LGA1700 cooling brackets and sadly, do not ship out with the necessary mounting kits. As a result, the thermal compound simply didn’t cover the surface of their respective Alder CPUs evenly, and that alone could result in issues with thermal efficiency and performance throttling.

Ultimately, it is to the discretion of these PC Component makers to provide the LGA1700 upgrade kit for currently existing LGA1200 coolers, to consumers looking to trade up from their current processor and system, as well as to ensure that the new brackets are part and parcel of their next shipment of CPU coolers.