Secondary Rig Cooling: The saga begins.

[GHoosdum]

To replace my A7N8X-Deluxe, which can't do above a 333FSB comfortably, I have purchased an A7N8X-X revision 2.0. I got it refurb from NE for the meager sum of $41.

This thread will contain my adventures in cooling the system in which it will reside.

For my wary post about the NB cooler, click here (http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6250).

[GHoosdum]

Here is the bare motherboard:

[GHoosdum]

Here is the stock NF2 northbridge cooler:

[GHoosdum]

Here's a little taste of what's to come, the Zalman NB cooler:

[Clutch]

What cpu do you plan to use in the system? Also are you going to lap the zalman before you install it?

[GHoosdum]

The CPU in this system will be an XP1800+ (hopefully DLT3C). On top of that will be an SLK-800A with a 53CFM Mechatronics fan.

Lapping? Hmm... do you think it'd really be much help on a NB chipset? I think the thermal paste will have to be thicker than on a CPU anyway... plus I really really found out I suck at lapping when I put some nice whorl marks in my SK-6 a few years ago!

[Clutch]

I don't think lapping will help all that much, I mean your nb isn't going to get super hot to begin with, but it would be good practice :)

[Mt_Goat]

Clutch had this to say
What cpu do you plan to use in the system? Also are you going to lap the zalman before you install it?

Clutch,
I didn't need to lap my Zalman as it was perfectly flat and I didn't want to mess up the perfect finish they had on it. I was impressed by this a lot.

[Geeky1]

You'll need to lap the northbridge to get any benefit out of lapping the Zalman. non-flipchip northbridges (the nForce included) are so far out of whack it's not even funny.

[GHoosdum]

I received my order of 10(!) of these (http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=270&item=HS-70&type=store) (the black one) heatsinks from allelectronics. They are buff! Well, for a NB cooler they are at least... I think I'm going to use the Zalmans on the SBs now, or use something else. Wow. The black heatsink seems like a very good value for $1 each (plus shipping - cost me $16 to get 10 of them). Here's a comparative photo of the generic next to the Zalman next to the stock. What do you think they'll do for cooling?

[GHoosdum]

I've mocked up the possible cooling for the whole board. SLK-800A, generic NB cooling, BGA ramsinks on the MOSFETS, and the proposed Zalman on the southbridge. I might scrap that idea and/or use something else on the SB though, because I can't rotate the Zalman and still get proper contact due to the capacitor that is just north of the heatsink on the board (east on the photo I guess...)

[Geeky1]

You sure it's big enough? :D

[GHoosdum]

;D I think it just might be!
I was most worried about the possiblitity that I'd have to cut off one of the heatsink's risers to accommodate the fan off of the SLK-800A, but the SLK was just tall enough. Sweet, I can't wait to test this thing out!

[Clutch]

Any reviews on that generic h/s you got there?

[GHoosdum]

Not yet... I've been keeping track of my NB/CPU temps on the A7N8X-DLX board in the secondary over the past few days. Before I swap the board into my girlfriend's PC I'm going to put the black generic heatsink on and keep track of temps, then I can give you a review of it. I'm still trying to figure out how to bond it to the NB non-permanently... Looks like I'm going to try to mix 1:1:1 Arctic Alumina compounds A & B with Ceramique and see what happens at this point... unless anybody else has a better suggestion for a non-permanent bond!

[Geeky1]

Drill + tap holes

[GHoosdum]

/me falls over dead at the thought of more fabrication work.

I guess that's the best option for NB cooler attachment, true, Geeky... but what of the SB, as well as the heatsinks on the MOSFETS?

[Geeky1]

Drill holes in the motherboard? :confused: :D

Uh... "thermal" tape, or just forget the heatsinks and turn up your case fans a few notches...

[GHoosdum]

"Oops... I drilled right through those copper-colored parallel lines on the motherboard... I hope I don't neet 'em!"

Seriously though, I think I will drill holes in the heatsinks for mounting to the NB, but I'm still looking for a formula to make the Epoxy non-permanent for everything else.

[GHoosdum]

Well, work is currently stalled. I am in the process of trying to find a suitable mix of Arctic Alumina Epoxy and regular heatsink compound so that it will stick but be non-permanent. Everywhere I saw posted said that mixing 1:1:1 Epoxy A, Epoxy B, and normal heatsink compound would be a decent bond. I mixed it about 1:1:1.5 and stuck 3 pennies to an old stick of 72-pin RAM. After 12 hours of curing, the first penny popped off. After 24 hours of curing, it was rock solid and my hand was the only casualty. Then after 36 hours I tried removal again, and the penny came off, but took the memory chip with it! Here's a photo of the stalled work-in-progress (any ideas for a non-permanent epoxy bond?):

[Cobalt]

You're gonna glue your finger back together? ;)

[Clutch]

haha, what did you do to your finger? When heatsinks attack eh? hehe

[GHoosdum]

It makes me feel really stupid that I did it, but I first tried to pry the penny off the memory chip with a knife, and the knife gave way before the epoxy did. I plunged the knife full-force into my middle finger. It wasn't exactly cut to the bone, but the knife penetrated my first knuckle sideways deeper than the distance between the upper skin and the bone. It was a day before a bandage the size of the one pictured could contain the bleeding. w00t!

[Geeky1]

GH, here's a tip for you, should you find yourself in a similar situaution in the future:

ALWAYS always always always cut AWAY from yourself.

[GHoosdum]

Thanks for the tip, Geeky. ;)I hate you. I'll be sure to cut away from myself in the future. Or, pry away from myself, as the case may be...

[Geeky1]

I hate you.

To quote Thrax:
Pfffft @ you.

:D

[GHoosdum]

Geeky1 had this to say
To quote Thrax:
Pfffft @ you.


Well, at least I made it this far without being Pffft'ed at before! ;D

Alright, I'm done hating you for sounding just like my mom, now. :D

[Tozmo]

My SLK-800A also touches a capacitor. how detrimental is this? should i 'bend' it, or just file away the hs?

[GHoosdum]

I would NOT recommend bending the capacitor if you can avoid it - but be careful if you decide to file the HS to clean away all of the particles afterward, otherwise you run the risk of a piece of filed off HS material touching and shorting some traces.

[Geeky1]

Depends on how much you have to bend it. what board is it?

[Tozmo]

it's the asus board. i 'eased' the capacitor away from the heat sink, but that was while the case was laying/lying down. i have turned it upright, and will look in the morning to see if it is in place, or if it reverted.

but, what all can happen to a capacitor that touches the edge of a hs? it /could/ melt, i suppose....

[Geeky1]

Which ASUS board?

[GHoosdum]

A7N8X, I assume. A little nudge won't kill a cap, but a bend just might.

[Geeky1]

It can't be an A7N8X, GH. The SLK-800A doesn't mount parallel to the socket, so it CAN'T interfere with any of the caps.

[GHoosdum]

:doh:

Yeah, you're right - so much for my assumption!

[Tozmo]

oops, it's the a7n8x, 800-U

[Geeky1]

Ah. That makes sense.

If it's just touching the heatsink (that is, the heatsink isn't putting pressure on the cap or vice/versa), leave it. If the two are actually forced against one another with some force, try bending the cap, but do so very, very, VERY gently. If you have to apply any kind of force, stop or you'll risk breaking the cap.

If that doesn't work, then yes, file off a bit of the heatsink. It will make precisely zero difference in performance for all intents and purposes. (any difference would be too small to be measurable, except under controlled laboratory conditions with high-precision equipment)