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How to Install the MSI MAG CoreLiquid LGA1700 Upgrade Kit

·~3 min·PC Builds · Tutorials · Tech

Quick note: this is one from the archive. I originally posted this install guide on the channel a few years back, around 2022, but nothing about the steps has changed, so I'm finally getting it written down here.

Hey everyone, Romel here! This is a quick one, but it's the kind of guide I really wish existed when I needed it. I was in the middle of an Alder Lake build for my brother-in-law, an i7 12700KF with a 3080 Ti and the MSI MAG CoreLiquid 360R, and when I went to install the LGA1700 upgrade kit, there were no videos or instructions online showing how to actually use it. If you're anything like me, you want to double-check you're doing it right before you torque anything down on a build that expensive. So here's the sanity check I wish I'd had.

WHAT'S IN THE LGA1700 UPGRADE KIT

The kit is refreshingly simple. Inside you get:

  • A backplate for the back of your motherboard
  • A mounting plate for the cooler, the LGA1700 bracket
  • Four standoffs
  • Four screws to secure the cooler to the motherboard

That's it. No surprises. The order you do things in is the part that matters, so let's walk through it.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTALLATION

  1. Mount the backplate. Place it against the back of the motherboard, lined up with the CPU socket holes.
  2. Install the standoffs. From the CPU side of the board, screw the four standoffs down into the backplate and snug them up tight.
  3. Attach the LGA1700 plate to the cooler. Pop the mounting plate onto the CoreLiquid pump block. It only goes on one way, with the opening lined up where the tubes come out. If it's fighting you, you've got it rotated wrong.
  4. Paste and seat the cooler. Add a small amount of thermal paste to your CPU and set the pump block on top.
  5. Screw it down in a cross pattern. This is the part people get wrong. Tighten in an X: top-right, then bottom-left, then top-left, then bottom-right. Going corner to corner keeps even pressure across the CPU instead of cocking the block to one side.
  6. Finish up. Install your fans, mount the radiator in your case, and you're done.

A FEW TIPS

That cross-pattern tightening matters more than it looks. Even mounting pressure is half of good cooling on an AIO, so don't fully crank one corner before moving on. Go around gradually. And if this is part of a fresh build, sort out where the radiator is going to sit in your case before you commit, so you're not fighting the tubes at the end.

PARTS USED IN THIS BUILD

Those are affiliate links. If you grab something through them, it helps support the channel at no extra cost to you.

FINAL THOUGHTS

That's really all there is to the LGA1700 upgrade kit. It's a five-minute job once you know the steps, and the only thing to watch is the screw order. This was part of a pretty beefy Alder Lake build, and I've got a full build video on that machine if you want to see the whole thing come together.

Any questions about the install, or something not lining up? Drop a comment or hit me up on Discord. Always happy to help.