more heatsink related crap

blackbox_dev · Post by **blackbox_dev** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 7:53 am

I got 2 heatsinks off of old video cards and used a blade to remove the glue and stuff. Then I took the pads off the stock heatsinks and put them on the new ones. After that I put the heatsinks on the graphics chip and cpu. I'm still looking for smaller heatsinks that will fit the ram chips, but will what I've done work?

paul4990 · Post by **paul4990** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 8:11 am

proborrrabally yes

blackbox_dev · Post by **blackbox_dev** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 8:45 am

well that answer doesn't sound very reassuring... can I get a REAL answer?

timmeh87 · Post by **timmeh87** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 9:40 am

theres really no way to tell exactly. how is the contact surface of the heatsinks? did you scratch it up while you were scraping it? theoretically thats bad, theoretically you want that surface to be smooth as a mirror. usually, of course, you are using grease, not a foamy pad to connect the sink to the chip. scratches might be more forgiven in this way.

what do you mean "put". did you grease them or glue them? if they are glued, good luck not breaking your system when you go to take them off. if they are greased, they most definitely need some permanent downward pressure to maintain proper contact. remember how the stock heatsink was installed?

three more factors that affect heat transfer: material, mass, and surface area. unfortnately, you didnt give us that information on your heatsink. so. yeah. there is really no way to tell you exactly.

boot up your system with goldeneye or something in it, and play for a wile. if the heatsinks get too hot to touch for more than a fraction of a second, then you might consider bigger ones or a fan. this is by no means a scientific method, i just made it up now.

Post by **marshallh** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:29 am

If you play almost any Rare game for more than 5 minutes and don't feel the heatsinks heating up, then you can be sure that the heatsink isn't transferring heat away from the chip, and you should turn it off quickly.

A heatsink is supposed to be hot, because that means the chip is cool.

timmeh87 · Post by **timmeh87** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 11:17 am

well it actually means the chip is the same temperature or hotter.

and yeah, if your heatsinks are TOO hot... it means your chip is too hot too.

the question is "how hot is too hot". and perhaps the answer is "so hot that you cant tell just by touching it". yeah like i said. i made that up.

blackbox_dev · Post by **blackbox_dev** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 1:17 pm

i just took the pad of the original heatsinks and put them on the new ones. one of the heatsinks got scratched up a little, but I think that the pad is supposed to melt when the chips get hot and reforms to the shape of the heat sink.

superdeformed · Post by **superdeformed** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 2:08 pm

The pads aren't supposed to melt at all. They're used as an alternative to heatsink grease and act as an electrical insulator. A couple little scratches shouldn't have a dramatic effect on how will it performs, but you will still need pressure on the heatsink for it to work properly.

bioniclebert · Post by **bioniclebert** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:26 pm

I used a Dreamcast fan (the small one) alone, directly over the chips. Are there any problems,or should I have a heatsink on it also?

Post by **marshallh** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:35 pm

Well, you can't just slap a fan over a heatsink and expect it to work. You have to have some way of controlling air flow through the case.

You can make the fan suck in air from the other end, and blow it out, but you really shouldn't do the alternate.

PC cases are designed like this, the power supply fan is made to suck cool air from the environment and pull it through the case, and out the back.

A lot of the hotter cpus (PIII) have a cooling tube right apu the cpu fan so they can blow the air straight out. This helps.

My grandma used to never use air conditioning, she opened all the windows in the house, and placed fans on one side of the house. These fans drew cool air through the house and out the window. It worked pretty well.

bioniclebert · Post by **bioniclebert** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 4:08 pm

Well yeah, It was going to be open on the other side.

I guess as long as the airflow had a way out as well as a way in, it'd be Ok.

blackbox_dev · Post by **blackbox_dev** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 7:33 pm

well thermal compound/adhesive is designed to fill in the gaps to make for better themal transfer, so if i use that am I good to go or not?

daguuy · Post by **daguuy** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 7:48 pm

yeah thermal compound is good

blackbox_dev · Post by **blackbox_dev** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 8:08 pm

OK cool, i'll go to a computer store some time and get some.