Thermalright XP-90 and A8N-SLI Deluxe

[olternat]

Hey, if anybody is still wondering if the thermalright xp-90 works well with the a8n-sli deluxe then relax.
It fits great!
I oriented mine so that the heatpipes are closest to the ram slots that way u can have easy access to the memory. You can reverse it if you want though. You can ask me any specific questions on installation if ya want.

Speaking of which on a side note, I used arctic silver 5 paste and according to arcticsilver.com website they said to put a dab in the middle of the cpu if it has a heatspreader like athlon 64 does. And simply put the heatsink on so that it spreads the paste for you. You dont have to put so much paste so as to cover entire heatspread of the cpu. But just enough to cover the core area of the cpu cause that is where the cpu core is. According to arcticsilver.com the heat of the core conducts directly through the heatspreader on the other side so applying paste everywhere including all 4 corners is not necessary.

So thats what I did. Seems to be working fine and I got a 10 degree drop at idle compared to the stock heatsink/fan. What is your guys opinion?

Should I leave it as is or reapply the paste everywhere up to the 4 corners of the cpu?

 

[Jeff7181]

Well my theory is that the IHS absorbs heat from the core... of course it's most concentrated in the center where the core is, but the whole IHS should get warm, so why not make the whole area as efficient as possible at transferring heat to the heatsink?

 

[Tweakin]

I think the bigger issue is that the heat pipes need to be vertical to work efficiently. From the boards I have seen, this normally means the heat pipes face the AGP/PCIe slots.

 

[olternat]

Can't.

The way it is designed you can only face the heatpipes either toward the ram slots to the right or to the i/o ports which is the left side.
Apparently its not made to orient it up or down.

Umm....any more opinions on applying the thermal paste vs arcticsilver.com instructions?
Would like a few more opinions before I decide to do anything......or not.

 

[Rooski 31]

I should be getting my XP-90 tommorow, what fan did you use?
And whats thing thing about the heatpipes? Mine will be on the bottom on the AGP/PCI side, and the end that sticks out will be facing up.

 

[olternat]

I bought it from sidewinder computers and the link is at the bottom. And I picked a Panaflo 92x25mm high speed 57 CFM fan for $8.95.
It seems to be working pretty well.
Go check it out:

thermalright xp90 selling at sidewinder computers

As for the orientation of the heatsink I guess it goes according to your motherboard brand/make. At least when it comes to the a8n-sli deluxe you can point the heatpipes toward the ram or the i/o ports.

 

[Dough1397]

i am sure the manual says the correct orientation....

 

[YtseFlyer]

Originally posted by: olternat
Can't.

The way it is designed you can only face the heatpipes either toward the ram slots to the right or to the i/o ports which is the left side.
Apparently its not made to orient it up or down.

Umm....any more opinions on applying the thermal paste vs arcticsilver.com instructions?
Would like a few more opinions before I decide to do anything......or not.

I just attached mine to a Neo 4 MSI board; same issue with the orientation--only one way to install it. Thermalright's instructions didn't address orientation btw.

I was wondering the same thing about the Artic Silver--I've always spread it over the entire heatsink/cpu. I put a thin layer on the XP and rubbed it in, then put the drop in the middle of the cpu--I'm going to trust AS's instructions on this point.

Let me know your results--I'll do the same.

Cheers,

-rg

 

[DJSfurry]

the heatpipes on the XP90 are designed to resist gravity as the evaporated liquid in them returns to the base of the heatsink via wicks. this was designed with the fact in mind that many of the mobos would be mounting the HSF horizontally and only few mounting vertically.

I used AS Ceramique and put a whole bunch of it on the hs which covered about 85% of the heatspreader. maybe not optimal but it gets pretty decent temps.i read somewhere that actually overdoing it (covering areas of the heat spreader that arent over the core) actually raises the temps slightly, so i would follow the advice over at AS as they have tested it in all the possible ways.

 

[VideoQuasar]

I think it's safe to say you must have the heat pipes going up. It works on the principle of like a boiling pot of water with the lid on. The hot gas's rise to the surface and when cooled on the lid falls back down to the surface.

The thermal past is there to fill in the microscopic gaps only. The last thing you want is it to be like an Oreo cookie. A nice thin layer is what Artic Silver is really getting at and not over doing it. I'm going to be installing a XP-90 soon and thin, almost translucent layers are what I'm going to apply across the whole chip. If it heats up out of spec I will redo it.

hope that helps

 

[nealh]

AS5 do not spread it all over it if you ever need to remove the HSF you will have ahigher risk of pulling cpu out of the socket...dab in the center..."3/4" BB size

so heatpipes will not work well in a tower....only in box on its side????
my mobo is mounted in a tower with mobo vertical and the XP90 vertical as well???

 

[VideoQuasar]

"I think it's safe to say you must have the heat pipes going up". I am wrong with that statement and retract it!!!!!!!!

It works with compressed gas and gravity does not have any effect. BUT, the priciple of the gas moving away from the heat source and returning when cooled is still valid I believe. I'm going to have to besides.....I'm installing it in my new Lian Li PC-V1000 and the mobo is upside down. I just checked it out and the XP-90 will impede the AGP slot with the heat pipes going up. No biggie

I'm going to go with the "little dab will do ya" as suggested by Artic Silver and Neal also. I'm in the not over do it camp.

 

[olternat]

Well I've installed it and got an almost 10 degree drop from what it was at idle. So far I am impressed.

I like it