pleasureable feelings...new stuff

[Lord Evermore]

It shouldn't be possible to be so happy about cooling stuff arriving. I suppose I'm just tech-starved, since I haven't bought anything major in a while.

Got my AX-7 today, some Panaflo's to use on that and to replace my PSU fan, and a Crystal Orb to put onto my GF2 (granted I don't need that one, but I needed a fix of shiny stuff). Plus Arctic Silver 3 just for fun. And some rounded IDE and floppy cables.

 

[ChrisADuffy]

Where did you order all that good feelin coolin stuff?

 

[Lord Evermore]

2cooltek

His prices are reasonable, doesn't rape you on shipping. Has a decent selection though he doesn't have everything out there.

I managed to put in the rounded cables and the Panaflo in the PSU (ended up having to use an external 4pin molex connection, the 2pin connector in the PSU uses smaller than normal pins, so I couldn't use that connector). It doesn't sound severely quieter than with the Antec fan or the original fan, but I can hear my drives grind more than before, so I'm guessing it is.

Sometime later I'll put on the AX7. I'm hoping the change in fans from the 60mm Sunon to a panaflo 80mm will reduce the noise more.


Got everything assembled, all seems to be running nice. I modded the connector for the PSU fan to run on 7 volts, it cut the noise a tad, but not surpremely, and I think I'm going to put it back to 12V and see how the temps change.

The AX7 is a P.I.T.A. to install, though relative to some others, it's not bad. There should be at least two bars, preferably 3 running through the center of the heatsink rather than just the standard single pressure bar/clip. The heatsink is large and tends to rock on the chip, and I think additional support would help that. Additionally getting the clip centered so it would fit on the socket studs was difficult, and the screwdriver slipped off a couple of times; I was afraid I'd ripped out a DDR slot. There's just not much working room or room to see with the heatsink, since it wraps around the clip area somewhat. Trying to hold it still while setting the clip is hard due to the rocking (very scary feeling it rock on a fragile CPU).

The fan screws are the biggest pain. Due to the size of the heatsink, I preferred to put the fan on after mounting it (I do this with most heatsinks now), because another 3/4 inch of blocked space makes it that much harder to maneuver a clip.

The screws are of course meant to accept a huge Delta fan, but when you're using a normal 80mm fan, the screws are annoyingly long. They should include a smaller set so that you aren't forced to screw in an inch of thread. Of course, there should be a better way of mounting them in the first place. I thought the old "thread a screw into the metal of the heatsink" way was gone, and I was glad of it. It's not exactly difficult, just not as easy as it could be with a clip or plastic fan mount or machine threaded holes and screws. Also since the heatsink is exactly the same size as a fan, the screws are very close to the edges of the heatsink; without any guidance supports, and with the screws being much smaller than the holes in the fan, the screws can go in at an angle and possibly just end up sticking out of the side of the heatsink. Or you can get one set of two secured (even if only partially) and then find that the holes for the other 2 are beyond the edge of the heatsink, requiring adjustment. The heads of the screws need to be a tad larger as well; I'm sure they're large enough not to slip through the holes, but a larger head could prevent the psychological feeling that you're just going to keep screwing past the hole. (boy does that sound dirty) I ended up using fiber washers which come with motherboard screws even though they aren't needed, just to make it look like there was some support.

The undersurface of the heatsink appeared slightly corroded, but I guess it'd be difficult to keep it from happening completely with copper. It just looked kind of pitted, again just appearance, not necessarily an issue.

CPU temp seems to be slightly higher. This could be due to the PSU fan not pulling enough air out, I'll find out later.

I did manage to find the most noisy part of the system though, since it didn't seem the PSU or the CPU fan were the real culprit. Turns out the fan in my Yamaha CD burner is making the most noise. Unplug it and noise suddenly drops. It was making a whining sound as well, which a good blowout with canned air fixed. However it's still pretty loud. I may be getting a new one.

 

[dolph]

there's a fan in your yamaha cd burner? what model yamaha do you have? (i have the crw2100ez, and it's unbelieveabely loud)

 

[ChrisADuffy]

Always did like 2Cooltek, great reseller.

 

[Boobers]

You should mount the fan to the heatsink BEFORE you mount the HSF to the CPU socket.

If you mount the heat sink to the socket first and then install the fan, the pressure and twisting exerted on the heat sink from screwing on the fan will ruin the contact pattern between the heat sink and the core. In laymans terms, all the compound gets squished out from between the heat sink and the core. Your temps are high because you probably have no compound between the heat sink and the core. I would STRONGLY advise you to remove the HSF as ONE UNIT, clean off the old compound, reapply new compound, and install the HSF as ONE UNIT.

Use steady, SLOW pressure on the clip with a screwdriver of sufficient size. I use a screwdriver with a BIG handle, but a blade that fits the clip perfectly. With the correct tool, you'll be able to install the AX-7 easily without damage to your DDR slots. The HSF should NOT rock when you are installing it. If it is, you are doing something wrong.

 

[Lord Evermore]

As I said, mounting the fan to the heatsink beforehand makes it difficult to mount the heatsink to the socket, because there's something else in the way while trying to hook onto the socket. With such a large heatsink, shaped as it is, there's already little room to work around it (I didn't remove the motherboard tray to change heatsinks, as that's a pain).

I don't think the motion causes such a huge difference in the interface. You don't WANT any thermal material to be between the heatsink and CPU. Anywhere that it CAN touch bare metal to metal, you want it to do so, because that's a better thermal interface than having anything in between. The pressure of a socketA clip forces most of the compound out anyway; every time I've needed to remove my Alpha (or any other heatsink), the pressure was so great that there was bare metal showing, and the only points that thermal compound remained was where the lettering appeared. Anywhere that thermal material is remaining should only be due to there being no chance of contact between the heatsink and the core (such as where the labelling is etched into the core).

Temps are high due to lack of airflow in my case, and possibly because of the positioning of the socket (ECS puts it closer to the front of the case than most boards). I mounted another fan behind the CPU, and even running on 7V it's cut the temperature by 4 degrees. This system has always shown rather high temperatures anyway, which may be due to the motherboard's readings not being particularly accurate.


As for the CD burner, it's a 6416 drive, SCSI. I forget how long I've had it, but over the last year the fan has gotten worse. It really makes an annoying whine now. I'd guess that I could take it out, disassemble it, and oil the fan. However I've been wanting a new burner, so it's a good excuse, and I'll put this one out of the way and maybe eventually get around to trying to fix it.

 

[jayboal]

Originally posted by: Lord Evermore
You don't WANT any thermal material to be between the heatsink and CPU. Anywhere that it CAN touch bare metal to metal, you want it to do so, because that's a better thermal interface than having anything in between.

True, but only if the CPU die and heatsink contact area are both perfectly flat, and sit perfectly flush together...which is NEVER the case. The point of thermal grease is to fill microscopic nooks and crannies. Where people go wrong with it is when they use so much it forms a buffer between the die and HS.

 

[Crucial]

I've taken off and put fans back on many times without any problems. Temps were fine. I STRONGLY think that it is not a problem at all.

I agree that the AX7 is a pain to install, but it is even harder to remove. I finally found 1 screwdriver that would fit into the clip enough so it would slip off while removing. I have never had a screwdriver slip before but it happened with this hsf. I love the cooler but absolutely hate the clip.

 

[Lord Evermore]

It's not the worst clip ever. I think GlobalWin heatsinks get the prize for that. At least the AX7 clip doesn't have any moving parts and no easy way to hold those parts still.


jayboal: If the die or heatsink aren't flat, then it's unlikely that I'm getting rid of any compound that should remain. With every heatsink I've used, there's been obvious contact between the heatsink and CPU, given the appearance of the compound after removal, and the near lack of any remaining on the CPU (except around the edges where it's a pain to remove).

Temps today are a good 5 degrees below what they used to be, though I've no idea whether that's due to the AX7 or just the extra case fan behind the CPU. I'm pleased with the noise level though.

 

[Boobers]

I was just showing concern for a fellow Anandtech'er, but I guess that I shouldn't give advice to someone who already knows everything...

 

[Lord Evermore]

Don't get all upset. I just don't couch things in softness when I respond. If I disagree, I disagree.