PC Processors

[ryinerve]

When I was installing my Ryzen 7 3700X with the wraith prism cooler, I applied some force and the lever handle broke. Now there's nothing I can do with the lever... Any ideas on how to help?

[hardcoregames_]

you can find a new cooler on ebay where I bought several recently

[black_zion]

If it's within the first 30 days, RMA it to the place your purchased it. That's really the best, and least expensive, option.

[elstaci]

I was looking at a YouTube video showing how to install the AMD Wraith Prism on a Ryzen 3700x processor. There are no levers but a long metallic clip on each side of the Prism that attaches to the Motherboard brackets: How to Install AMD Wraith Prism RGB CPU Cooler [ Ryzen 3700x ] Beginner Friendly - YouTube 

By lever, are talking about the side metallic clips that attaches to the motherboard?

If your Retailer won't replace the Wraith Prism, Open an Online AMD Warranty Request (https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/warranty-information/rma-form ) and see if AMD will replace it under Warranty.

I am presuming the Wraith Prism came bundled with the Ryzen when you purchased it. So it has a 3 year AMD Warranty. But the AMD Warranty becomes effective AFTER any Warranties from the Retailer or Vendor.

But if for some reason the Retailer Warranty won't cover your Prism, I then suggest to open an AMD Warranty Request. The worst they can say is go through your Retailer Warranty and the best is they will replace it.

[hardcoregames_]

There is a lightweight lever on the other side. By comparison, the old Phenom coolers are more robust but lack the colorful LED effects.

[namelesswraith]

I had this problem as well.

Elstaci seems to be looking at the other side of the cooling unit as there are two arms that secure to the cooler braces, and on one side, it is loose and can swing freely until the lever is pulled over.  However, when I tried to pull the lever over to secure the cooler to the CPU, it snapped off as shown below.

When I go to the AMD processor warranty, it says to just ship back the CPU, not the cooler, and I don't see a separate way to get just the cooling unit replaced.

[hardcoregames_]

Hopefully somebody learns that the AM4 fans are not as solid as the old AM3 coolers.

When I installed my AMD RGB fan, I took the time to make sure it was secured before attempting to use the tension bar. Then carefully moving it, it did lock.

Just like AM3, I need to get both ends under the black tabs, then the lever can lock the in place,

[elstaci]

Oops, you are correct. I understand now what you guys are talking about when you mention Lever.

It is the black plastic lever that snaps down to lock the CPU Cooler to the motherboard:

I personally don't use a Wraith since I don't have a Ryzen CPU Cooler.

EDIT: I believe why the Levers are made of plastic it is so that it won't get hot to the touch. I have two very old stock and larger stock CPU Coolers and both have plastic Levers on them similar to the Wraith CPU Coolers.

If the Levers broke it was either a manufacturing defect or the CPU Cooler wasn't properly installed when you tried to latch and lock it down.

[hardcoregames_]

The Wraith lever is definitely not nearly as well made as the ones on the that came with K10 processors like my Phenom II X4 965 BE. The cooler that came with my CPU back then was much more robust. I have several of the old AM3 coolers in the box in case of emergency.

[plane_hunt51]

I just had this happen to me, plastic lock lever broke. Has anyone managed to get a replacement from AMD? How long did it take if you did? Is anyone running without the lock? 

[namelesswraith]

I bought mine through Newegg, so I wound up using their RMA since you're supposed to use their RMA first and only use the AMD one if the Newegg one had expired.  It took me a week to get the replacement shipped back.

[huttoner]

OK, I was just installing my Ryzen 7 3700x and was disturbed with how much pressure I was having to exert on the lever. I felt like I was going to snap it. Quick search on "AMD CPU Cooler" led me to this discussion forum... which just told me it could snap, not how to make sure it didn't.  Looking up an installation video on You-Tube, and I saw some guy really bearing down on the cooler to get the lever to work... so I though, ok, they really want me to force this thing. So I did, and the handle didn't snap, though I thought it might.  Then, when I'm installing the cables, and I look at the cooler from an angle I see that holy S*** it is not sitting flat, it is actually sitting up on one of the cooler retention rails! 

It is a REALLY tight fit to get this cooler seated flat on the processor in between the retention rails, so spend some time getting this right.  When it is seated properly, it does NOT take lever breaking force to flip the lever over, and (before that) it does not require a lot of force to get the clips on to the retention rail in the first place.  

[hardcoregames_]

The CPU cooler is tightly held against the CPU so that the contact is improved to obtain better overall thermal conductivity.

This is why a paper thin layer of thermal material is way too much. Needs to be down in the micron range.