Ratdude's Main rig V2

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

I ordered the AL Standoffs, as the SS ones were out of stock.

They came in today:





They are M3 x 13mm, the same length as the two stacked 6.5mm brass standoffs:



I bought 10 of them even though I only needed 8... this way if I somehow snapped one like I did last time, I wouldn't be up the creek again.

The final hardware layering :



Hardware installed (No standoffs snapped this time):





Coolers installed (fresh thermal compound on both):



So far the coolers are cooling well with the new mounts.

Since the last update, I swapped the SATA DVD-RW drive for a PATA one and the DVD-ROM for a CD-RW. I also re-installed the TV tuner, as my problems are partially caused by a sketchy 1ft Coax extension cable that wasn't doing what it was rated to do. The card only picks up a few (maybe 6 unencrypted) channels, not the 100+ my PCI-e tuner could pick up (which is going in a soon to be built HTPC rig).

All it really needs now is a pair or trio of HDDs (in the works) and some more RAM...

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

Some stats:

Under full CPU load (via F@H), the highest temp I am seeing is 66C... From what I saw at CPU world, I am good up to 71C. 66 is a tad high though... would changing from the generic white Synco Compound I am using to something else, like one of the arctic silver compounds make a sizeable difference?

[momaka]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

would changing from the generic white Synco Compound I am using to something else, like one of the arctic silver compounds make a sizeable difference?

Depends, but I usually find that it doesn't matter much.

The number one mistake a lot of people make is over-apply thermal compound. The "pea-size" method is a good way to over-apply thermal compound in most cases. Not cleaning the old compound and layering new compound on top is the second mistake I see a lot of people make. Both of these can actually make the CPU/GPU overheat.

As for your situation, do the heat sinks feel very warm when the CPU(s) is at 66C? (for most people, 66C is very close to "fees like burning" temperature)
- If yes, then the thermal compound is working and you've just reached the capacity of your heat sinks.
- If no, you may have applied too much thermal compound.

A good amount of thermal compound is to barely cover the CPU - almost see-through. After this has been done, you put the heat sink on top of the CPU, apply some pressure and twist back and forth a little, then remove the heat sink. The heat sink should now have a very thin layer of thermal compound on it as well. If there are bare spots, add a bit of thermal compound to the CPU again in those areas where the bare spots on the heat sink are located. Put heat sink on CPU again, put pressure, twist, lift, and check again to see if the bare spots are gone. When they are, you can put the heat sink back on the CPU and latch it.

This is how I do my CPUs and usually I get 2-5C lower temperatures, even with cheap thermal compound.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

Don't get me started on overappying compound.

IMHO pea-size is often too much on certain chips, specifically ones with an exposed die... my buddy fried a pIII 933mhz due to that (in addition to using an undersized socket 7 cooler).

I did do a very thorough cleaning of the CPU and heatsink mating surfaces.

The compound is the ghost-white crap that comes in tubes at radio shack that is normally used for transistors and the like...

The Heatsinks are pretty hot, so I do doubt it is a compound issue.

Side-note- the fans are slightly slower than the stock fans. I swapped them because the old fans were really loud 5000RPM PWM fans designed for a CPU with a much higher max TDP and the cables were too short. These fans came of a pair of cooler master coolers from Some 478 Presario celery boxes.

I wonder if they make higher flow 60mm fans that aren't too loud?

[momaka]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

The Heatsinks are pretty hot, so I do doubt it is a compound issue.

In that case, you probably did a pretty good job with the thermal compound application.

I guess with these CPUs, there's probably going to be a trade-off between loudness and cooling, unfortunately.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

Well, under 100% load we are maxing at 66C. It's rated by intel for up to 71C. When I wasn't folding it was runnign at maybe 41C. Grated that I am in a basement with good cooling but I'd say that my temps might be acceptable?

[c_hegge]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

Any idea what the TDP is on those CPUs?

EDIT: I figured it out. It's 92W (a bit more than a prescott). Consdiering that those coolers don't look very good, I think that your temps are quite normal.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

They have internal heatpipes.... they are 2u ducted side-blowers. I wouldn't call threm absolute crap.

[c_hegge]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

I have a very similar cooler lying around somewhere (although mine is for S478), also with internal heatpipes, and even an all aluminium Intel stock cooler works better. The problem is that the fins are packed so tightly that they don't let much air through them. Even with the fan running at 4000RPM, you can hardly feel any air coming out the back of them.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

I have a very similar cooler lying around somewhere (although mine is for S478), also with internal heatpipes, and even an all aluminium Intel stock cooler works better. The problem is that the fins are packed so tightly that they don't let much air through them. Even with the fan running at 4000RPM, you can hardly feel any air coming out the back of them.

I feel plenty of air coming out of these... not much less than what the fans were producing before I mounted them to the heatsinks.

[c_hegge]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

Yours are obvioulsy a bit better designed then.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

Yours are obvioulsy a bit better designed then.

They are made by Foxconn if that helps. While they are microfin, they have better fin spacing than most.

[Uranium-235]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

clean both off surfaces off throughly. Get a latex glove and spread that small dab evenly and thinly and as evenly as you can across the surface. I've found this the most effective way. You don't have to use a latex glove, you can just put your finger inside a piece of plastic and spread it around like that so you get no oil in the paste

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

From what I saw the compound was on there about as effectively as it could be. What I have been doing is after thoroughly cleaning the CPU and Cooler, I simply place the right amount of compound on the CPU and then cranking it down. The right amount is determined by what worked well in the past from experimentation. I've found that for practical purposes it works very well and is much harder to screw up compared to other methods.

[c_hegge]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

They are made by Foxconn if that helps. While they are microfin, they have better fin spacing than most.

The horrible one I had was also a foxconn.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

The horrible one I had was also a foxconn.

If you go back to page 1...

Surprise tonight. The coolers arrived... at my old house in West Lafayette, IN.

My only guess why is because the coolers came from hypermicro's warehouse (that other site I bought from had a lot of the same stuff, no shock) and I bet they found my old, obsolete hypermicro account with the old address.

I found out because I was staying there tonight for a FIRST robotice regional I am volunteering at tomorrow (well, today tecnically) and Saturday. I arrived to the house and to my shock I find a fedex note on the door and a hypermicro box below, with the coolers inside.

since I brought my camera, some pics:

the side shown by the site's pics:



the other side:



and the mounting system:



(According to the "seller", the mainboard yet to be shipped has matching threaded backplates)

I will be swapping the fans with a pair of cooler master labeled deltas pulled form some junk 478 celeron Compaq presarios... the replacement fans will have longer cables (needed) and also will run quieter while still moving air (my board doesn't have PWM). Once I get to my current home on sunday, I will swap and take piics of that.

I also got a $2 discount per CPU ($10 instead of $12) because they were listed as new but they went to ship them and found they were used and had a few "marks". They offered a refund or a $2/cpu discount... you can see which I took... and heck, for $10 a pop, IMHO its a steal. (604 coolers are not cheap).

Comments?

and page 2:

UPDATES:

1. I got the coolers home... And I swapped the fans:

One of the old fans:



The new fans:



I am swapping the fans because I needed longer cables and the existing fans are too loud for desktop use. I did do a test with an old fan and a new fan powered up... the airflow was not that much different but the noise was considerably less.

Also, the Workstations this model cooler was pulled from was originally made to use Irwindale Xeons, which are 110W TDP. Hence why I figured somewhat slower fans would be an acceptable swap.


There is all the info one would need to know on the coolers (that I know of).

[Uranium-235]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

how much has this cost you so far?

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

how much has this cost you so far?

Has what?

[Uranium-235]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

this rig

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's Main rig V2

this rig

Considering, not a lot.

Already had:

-Case
-HDD
-RAID card
-1394 Card
-CD-RW drive
-Internal cables
-RAM
-Tv Tuner
-Internal card reader
-Case fan
-CPU cooler fans

Motherboard/backplates: free + shipping
CPUs: $22
Coolers: $24
Cooler mount hardware: ~$7
DVD-RW: Free
GPU: $30
PSU: Two Bestec 12E transformers
Sound Card: $15

Total: $98

I may be investing $40 for a pair of 160gb WD Blues to RAID amd so I can use the existing 320GB WD Blue for an HTPC box.

Yeah, it sounds kinda steep for a 2003/2004 era system... But I had always wanted a decent dual CPU system with all parts well made... Unlike other options I've had to turn down due to part issues (EATX boards), cost vs performance problems, and the like, but this board just happened to fit in the case, had enough power at a good price, and fits my style and usage pretty well.