BTX case Heatpipe Problem! HELP!

Madgoat1979 · Mar 17, 2007, 12:15 AM

A thread in the nvidia section about a heatpipe cooling solution for the 8800 got me thinking how heatpipes designed for ATX type installation would work in my BTX case.

Some discusion went on, and I carried along my mary way. UNTIL it HAPPEND!

I recently upgraded my CPU HSF to a arctic freezer 64 pro. Installed everything, made sure the temps dropped... heat stressed it blaa blaa blaa....

Decided to do some overclocking now that i was comfortable that the new cooler was up to the job.

SYTEM ERROR! BLUE SCREEN! Ahhhh! it all went south! easy mild overclock and plenty of voltage and the system wouldnt stay stable!

After some long trouble shooting, I found out my southbridge on my AN9 fatal1ty was SO HOT I couldnt touch it!!! Coming full circle here, Im thinking that the heatpipe solution for the chipset on this board doesnt work when installed upside down in a BTX style case like mine!

I put the tower down in it side to see if the heatpipe would then start to function. AND WAAALAAA! the little chip is cool to the touch and the mosfet heatsink (where the heat pipe system dumps the heat) is much hotter than is has ever been!

so I continue on and see if this cures my stability problems. 3.1, 3.2, 3.3... got it up to 3.3ghz so far and as im typing has been stable for 3 hours! (with my tower on its side!!!)

So no heatpipe cooled chipsets for BTX cases peeps!

Now I need some suggestions on replacment cooling for chipset! Any and all Ideas please!

~MG~

Madgoat1979 · Mar 17, 2007, 09:43 PM

Alright. I think I figured out what Im gonna do. Im gonna try and use a HR-05-SLi cooler for the southbridge and remove the heatpipe from the mosfet heat sink to allow me to replace the SB cooler. The northbridge is pasive as it is, so no worries there. Although I think Im gonna take whatever junk Abit has for a thermal pad off and use some good o'l thermal compound.

I guess this isnt a major problem out there or people arent aware it might be happening. Just take a second look at your heatpipe positioning!

~MG~

PS just to give you folks an Idea of what im talking about here:

This is the "upsidedown" position of my board. Marked up in red is my southbridge. Marked with blue is the mosfet cooler and fans. As you can see gavity doesnt allow the liquid to reach the hot southbridge to do its job. Marked in green is where my 8800 sits. Leading to the HR-05-SLI idea.

GutterPunk · Mar 17, 2007, 10:59 PM

Only heatpipes that are specifically designed to be "flippable" will actually work upside down. I wonder how that one is set up.

Mar 17, 2007, 12:15 AM	#1
Madgoat1979 VTX NuTz!!! Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: AZ Posts: 763 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	BTX case Heatpipe Problem! HELP! A thread in the nvidia section about a heatpipe cooling solution for the 8800 got me thinking how heatpipes designed for ATX type installation would work in my BTX case. Some discusion went on, and I carried along my mary way. UNTIL it HAPPEND! I recently upgraded my CPU HSF to a arctic freezer 64 pro. Installed everything, made sure the temps dropped... heat stressed it blaa blaa blaa.... Decided to do some overclocking now that i was comfortable that the new cooler was up to the job. SYTEM ERROR! BLUE SCREEN! Ahhhh! it all went south! easy mild overclock and plenty of voltage and the system wouldnt stay stable! After some long trouble shooting, I found out my southbridge on my AN9 fatal1ty was SO HOT I couldnt touch it!!! Coming full circle here, Im thinking that the heatpipe solution for the chipset on this board doesnt work when installed upside down in a BTX style case like mine! I put the tower down in it side to see if the heatpipe would then start to function. AND WAAALAAA! the little chip is cool to the touch and the mosfet heatsink (where the heat pipe system dumps the heat) is much hotter than is has ever been! so I continue on and see if this cures my stability problems. 3.1, 3.2, 3.3... got it up to 3.3ghz so far and as im typing has been stable for 3 hours! (with my tower on its side!!!) So no heatpipe cooled chipsets for BTX cases peeps! Now I need some suggestions on replacment cooling for chipset! Any and all Ideas please! ~MG~ __________________

Mar 17, 2007, 09:43 PM	Thread Starter #2
Madgoat1979 VTX NuTz!!! Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: AZ Posts: 763 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Alright. I think I figured out what Im gonna do. Im gonna try and use a HR-05-SLi cooler for the southbridge and remove the heatpipe from the mosfet heat sink to allow me to replace the SB cooler. The northbridge is pasive as it is, so no worries there. Although I think Im gonna take whatever junk Abit has for a thermal pad off and use some good o'l thermal compound. I guess this isnt a major problem out there or people arent aware it might be happening. Just take a second look at your heatpipe positioning! ~MG~ PS just to give you folks an Idea of what im talking about here: This is the "upsidedown" position of my board. Marked up in red is my southbridge. Marked with blue is the mosfet cooler and fans. As you can see gavity doesnt allow the liquid to reach the hot southbridge to do its job. Marked in green is where my 8800 sits. Leading to the HR-05-SLI idea. __________________ Last edited by Madgoat1979; Mar 17, 2007 at 10:06 PM.

Mar 17, 2007, 10:59 PM	#3
GutterPunk I = Greatest Dood Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nebraska Posts: 5,949 Rep Power: 71	Only heatpipes that are specifically designed to be "flippable" will actually work upside down. I wonder how that one is set up. __________________ Rock On \m/ Thank you Mousey for the Sig! --------------- Intel Core2Duo E6660 (3.4GHZ) ~ Tuniq Tower 120 ~ Enermax Galaxy 1000W ~ Corsair Dominator @ 1090MHZ 5-5-5-15 (OCZ XTC Modded Cooler)~ EVGA 8800GTX W/ HR-03 Plus 120MM ~ Asus DVD-RW LiteScribe ~ LG DVD-RW ~ Corsair Voyager 2GB ReadyBoost Drive ~ Vantec Nexus Fan Controller ~ ThermalTake Armor 25CM fan ~ Personal Finance Blog: Dent Your Debt