Secondary Rig Cooling: The saga begins.

GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
edited December 2003 in Hardware
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.
«1

Comments

  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    Here is the bare motherboard:
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    Here is the stock NF2 northbridge cooler:
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    Here's a little taste of what's to come, the Zalman NB cooler:
  • ClutchClutch North Carolina New
    edited November 2003
    What cpu do you plan to use in the system? Also are you going to lap the zalman before you install it?
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    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!
  • ClutchClutch North Carolina New
    edited November 2003
    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_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    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.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited November 2003
    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.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    I received my order of 10(!) of these (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?
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    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...)
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited November 2003
    You sure it's big enough? :D
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    ;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!
  • ClutchClutch North Carolina New
    edited November 2003
    Any reviews on that generic h/s you got there?
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    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!
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited November 2003
    Drill + tap holes
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum
    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?
     Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    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?
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited November 2003
    Drill holes in the motherboard? :confused::D

    Uh... "thermal" tape, or just forget the heatsinks and turn up your case fans a few notches...
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    "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.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    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?):
  • CobaltCobalt Connecticut
    edited November 2003
    You're gonna glue your finger back together? ;)
  • ClutchClutch North Carolina New
    edited November 2003
    haha, what did you do to your finger? When heatsinks attack eh? hehe
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    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!
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited November 2003
    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.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    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...
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited November 2003
    I hate you.

    To quote Thrax:
    Pfffft @ you.

    :D
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2003
    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
  • TozmoTozmo Yes
    edited December 2003
    My SLK-800A also touches a capacitor. how detrimental is this? should i 'bend' it, or just file away the hs?
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    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.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited December 2003
    Depends on how much you have to bend it. what board is it?
  • TozmoTozmo Yes
    edited December 2003
    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....
Sign In or Register to comment.