Modding AC Freezer 4

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Tue May 09, 2006 7:06 am

I'm thinking of modding my cpu-cooler to get a more effective unit without having to buy a new cooler.
Not sure it's doable tho

My thoughts are that I either cut off every second fin and add the material to the remaining fins to get less air-recistance yet keep the cooling performance.
Might be impossible to cut of the fins so my second thought is to cut off all fins and create new one with Â½mm aluminiumplates and glue them onto the heatpipes.
The height will remain the same but (except for the lowerst 15-20mm) backside can gain 30mm more plate and the sides might gain up to 50mm more plates.

Basicly a low, wide wannabee-ninja

Would it be doable?

BTW My case is basicly a windtunnel

cAPSLOCK · Post by **cAPSLOCK** » Tue May 09, 2006 11:53 am

I don't think that you'll keep the same cooling performance if you stick the layers together two by two, you are losing a lot of surface area, even if it is partly compensated by better airflow...

If you want to stick new fins on, I would suggest you solder them on - better heat conduction than glue I'd say

EndoSteel · Post by **EndoSteel** » Tue May 09, 2006 12:04 pm

You can do this:

Fins can be easily cut with ordinary scissors but taking them off (all 30+) is quite a pain

.

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Tue May 09, 2006 3:01 pm

cAPSLOCK wrote:I don't think that you'll keep the same cooling performance if you stick the layers together two by two, you are losing a lot of surface area, even if it is partly compensated by better airflow...

If you want to stick new fins on, I would suggest you solder them on - better heat conduction than glue I'd say

Not a layer but adding to the sides so surface area would be the same. Half the number of fins but twice as big ones.

Ok, solding is probibly bether

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Tue May 09, 2006 3:06 pm

EndoSteel wrote:You can do this:
Fins can be easily cut with ordinary scissors but taking them off (all 30+) is quite a pain .

That's intresting solution. Not sure I can get in with a scissor tho. The fins are only 2mm apart.
If I cut everyone I'll probibly use my dremel

EndoSteel · Post by **EndoSteel** » Wed May 10, 2006 4:14 am

AFAIK, the fins are press-fitted - no glue, no solder whatsoever... Just take them off, cut every second one in two and fit back on (a set of pics explaining the process can be found here: http://www.modd1ng.com/a-igloo7900.php).

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Wed May 10, 2006 6:07 am

EndoSteel wrote:AFAIK, the fins are press-fitted - no glue, no solder whatsoever... Just take them off, cut every second one in two and fit back on (a set of pics explaining the process can be found here: http://www.modd1ng.com/a-igloo7900.php).

Tryed to find that article but my russian is a bit rusty (I know about 5 words

) so I didn't find it.
But thanks, now it's modding time

Le_Gritche · Post by **Le_Gritche** » Wed May 10, 2006 8:04 am

McBanjo wrote:Half the number of fins but twice as big ones.

You will keep the same area, but your now longer fins will be cooler at their end (because farther from the CPU core). The speed of heat dissipation depends of the area, but also of the temperature delta between fins and ambient air. Hopefully the better air path will compensate that decreased mean temperature delta.

Anyway, don't forget to let us know the results.

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Wed May 10, 2006 11:47 am

Le_Gritche wrote:You will keep the same area, but your now longer fins will be cooler at their end (because farther from the CPU core). The speed of heat dissipation depends of the area, but also of the temperature delta between fins and ambient air. Hopefully the better air path will compensate that decreased mean temperature delta.

Anyway, don't forget to let us know the results.

Yea, thats a worrie. No point to have cooling surfice where the heat never goes to.
Might add some copper to the fins to form a simple heatpipe. Like 1cm wide going from the heatpipes to the fin-edge

It does seem that the fins are glued to the heatpipes but I managed to get 2 off before I gave up for now. Need to get some kind of tool.
But I'll post the result.

EndoSteel · Post by **EndoSteel** » Thu May 11, 2006 12:20 am

McBanjo
Tryed to find that article but my russian is a bit rusty (I know about 5 words ) so I didn't find it.
Actually, that link points directly to it

. Ok, I'll post the pics here:

The tool is very simple, as you can see. A good idea is to smear the pipe ends with some kind of oil or grease so fins would come off easier.

As for homemade fins - you'll have to be absolutely precise in drilling holes for pipes or you won't be able to fit them. Without some serious machinery it's next to impossible.

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Thu May 11, 2006 12:38 am

Yep I read it (babelfish is good

) but I don't have a fork at home I want to destroy and since they are glued I have to figure out something more stable to work with. Bent the fins a little yesterday when I used a screwdriver and an ordinary knife.

If I create new fins I would cut off the present ones but probibly save 1mm for a shelf and cut out a U shaped thing of the new fins so I slide then om from one side rather than sticking them from the top.

I do have access to some serius machines throught my brother. The only problem is to get him to understand the idea, stop him crying, convince him that it is doable, stop him crying again then convince him to do it

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Fri May 12, 2006 9:36 am

It took 1Â½ hour to modd my cooler. The first 2 fins where glued but after that it went rather easy.
That cooler has a LOT of fins. 43 fins if I doen't remember wrong.
Anyway, it's a success...minor one maby but still a success

-4 degrees idle and -2 on load
Did change motherboard during the process so can't controll the cpu-fan right now so can't test that aspect.

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Sat May 13, 2006 5:48 am

I overclocked my cpu from 3Ghz to 3.75Ghz (by misstake, got a new motherboard) and the heat rised with a massive 2 degrees

The computer crashed when I rebooted tho but I can most likely lower the fan-speed a lot before it shows any effect. Can't run it passive tho

JimX · Post by **JimX** » Sat May 13, 2006 11:30 pm

PICS!

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Sun May 14, 2006 2:34 am

As usual it's not very good pics but I might borrow a proper camera some day.

Just finished modding:

Installed in the case and running:

JimX · Post by **JimX** » Sun May 14, 2006 3:34 am

Not exactly Endosteel perfection, but I definitely couldn't do it better!

I'm tempted to try some SI-120 cutting...

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Sun May 14, 2006 3:56 am

JimX wrote:Not exactly Endosteel perfection, but I definitely couldn't do it better!

I'm tempted to try some SI-120 cutting...

he he not really. Those fins bends very easy and I couldn't figure out how to fix then.
I'm consider to bend the outside fins a bit upwars so the natural convension gains some. Doubt it helps performance any on the cpu much but the system might gain from it...and it'll look nicer

SI-120 might be tricky to modd effectivly, maby cutting the fins in 3 parts and make it higher? Every second fin (in 3 parts to cover sides and middle heatpipes) goes up so the hight is raised 1 cm? No idea how you can remove the fins tho. Wider wouldn't gain you anything, atleast I don't think it would.
Cutting off the fins and sold it to the excisting ones might be doable and the minor loss of surface would be canceled out for sure with the easier airflow

JimX · Post by **JimX** » Sun May 14, 2006 4:21 am

I thought about cutting the center portion of every third fin, preferably without removing the fins, but I think that luckily for its sake, they're soldered!

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Tue May 16, 2006 8:05 am

Did some testing with CPUBurn and rthdribl had both running a while and theses are the top-temps (ambient temp 23-24C):
CPU: 60
SYS: 35
PWM: 50
GPU: 56

Took some time to gain those figures and they wheren't stable up there

Checked with http://newstuff.orcon.net.nz/wCalc.html and according to that site my cpu should have a TDP of 98W.
I'm not 100% sure that I've done it correct tho

Original TDP is 89W and overclocked from 3Ghz to 3.3Ghz, 1.35vcore (unchanged)

The site says my cooler has C/W Rating at 0,255362661
Tryed to check the review of the cooler at this site but since that says it in Â°C/W MP (0.25) and Â°C/W TDP (0.29) and since I'm currently suffering from sideeffects of a medication I'm way lost

EndoSteel · Post by **EndoSteel** » Tue May 16, 2006 12:52 pm

-4 degrees idle and -2 on load
Did change motherboard during the process

1. Am I getting you right - the "after" temps were measured on a different mobo?
2. I think 2x80 fans (side by side) would be a better match for the modded heatsink.
3. Why are you so sure you can't run it passive?

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Tue May 16, 2006 3:24 pm

EndoSteel wrote: 1. Am I getting you right - the "after" temps were measured on a different mobo?
2. I think 2x80 fans (side by side) would be a better match for the modded heatsink.
3. Why are you so sure you can't run it passive?

1: Yep so might be a small difference but I don't get that impression. Temps seems to match both in BIOS and in Windows on both motherboards

2: Might be tricky to mount and I don't think the gain would be worth it. I do have 2 120mm fans sucking out air so I do have airflow even in those area that isn't covered by the cpu-fan

3: I tested it and the temp went up way to fast in BIOS. Don't remember what temp it was but I think I aborted at 60C
But I'm rather sure the cooler doesn't need the present airflow but it has to few heatpipes and to small fins to be able to run passive on my computer.
But it would most likely work on a cpu with less heat

EndoSteel · Post by **EndoSteel** » Wed May 17, 2006 11:33 am

McBanjo
2. Well, if you were able to mod a heatsink this way - I don't think it will be an impossible task for you to make a shroud to house two 80mm fans

.

3. Hey, 60C is COLD!

Feel free to let your CPU heat up to at least 85C. If it tends to freeze at lower temps, just increase Vcore (or reduce FSB frequency, if your mobo doesn't support voltage variation). The modded Igloo 7700, shown on the picture I've posted, keeps my 3000+ Newcastle within 70C with no fans at all:

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Wed May 17, 2006 3:05 pm

2. Well, if you were able to mod a heatsink this way - I don't think it will be an impossible task for you to make a shroud to house two 80mm fans .

Shouldn't be a big problem, I just don't think there is a gain from it

I did do a crappy test-modd with one of my 120mm fans (it was even to ugly for me to post a pic here

) it didn't do any bether. It did ofcourse go 1200rpm slower so that might be a clue *lol*
I did get my Zalman fanmates 2 today so played a little with those, 42-44C when the system are rather idle (watching movies and now etc) at 1650rpm on the cpu-fan and 850 on the 120mms. I have to crank that up to 2000rpm resp 1000rpm when I play to keep it below 60C

3. Hey, 60C is COLD! Feel free to let your CPU heat up to at least 85C. If it tends to freeze at lower temps, just increase Vcore (or reduce FSB frequency, if your mobo doesn't support voltage variation). The modded Igloo 7700, shown on the picture I've posted, keeps my 3000+ Newcastle within 70C with no fans at all:

lol ok, doesn't the cpu throttle up there?
I think it's 75C for Intel and 65C for AMD. Atleast thats what the company claims.
I want my cpu to hit max 50 on games and so. I can't afford a new cpu until next year or so

I am considering a new modding tho, getting a new freezer 4 and weld them togheter and create some massive fins

Since when I used CPUBurn the ends where hot so longer fins should aid the cooling. Say 5-6cm on the right side from the heatpipes and then 10-15cm on the left side.
Would like more heatpipes but I have no idea where I can get those in Sweden. Atleast not small enought, 200x200x100 was the smallerst I could find *lol*
I could sold in some copper-stick tho

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:05 am

Did a very easy paint dwaring of the idea:
http://hem.bredband.net/gabsta/Blandat/ ... cooler.JPG

125mm high, 200mm wide and 100mm wide
Massive cooler *lol*

EndoSteel · Post by **EndoSteel** » Sat May 20, 2006 10:52 am

McBanjo
ok, doesn't the cpu throttle up there?
Throttling can be disabled in BIOS setup. A useless feature, IMO - it's very hard to kill a processor by overheating. A couple of times I got my Athlon running tests at 100C for a half of an hour:

Nothing happened, the patient is still with us

.

I want my cpu to hit max 50 on games and so. I can't afford a new cpu until next year or so
Treated this way, your CPU will live forever

.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Sat May 20, 2006 11:09 am

A useless feature, IMO - it's very hard to kill a processor by overheating

In Russia, maybe; in somewhere like Australia or California it's probably much easier.

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Sat May 20, 2006 12:00 pm

jaganath wrote:In Russia, maybe; in somewhere like Australia or California it's probably much easier.

Siberia rocks? *lol*

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Sat May 20, 2006 12:03 pm

EndoSteel wrote:McBanjo
ok, doesn't the cpu throttle up there?
Throttling can be disabled in BIOS setup. A useless feature, IMO - it's very hard to kill a processor by overheating. A couple of times I got my Athlon running tests at 100C for a half of an hour:
Nothing happened, the patient is still with us .

I want my cpu to hit max 50 on games and so. I can't afford a new cpu until next year or so
Treated this way, your CPU will live forever .

You are a very sick man *lol*
I did manage to get it to throttle today when I forgot to change the fanspeed from sleep-speed to play-speed and it went rather fine. It was just some temp lagging.
Thought it was some normal lagg in the system until I discovered the fan-speeds.
So yor right in that the cpu's can take more than what people think

JimX · Post by **JimX** » Sat May 20, 2006 12:07 pm

Hey McBanjo, at what temperature did the throttle start?

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Sat May 20, 2006 1:28 pm

JimX wrote:Hey McBanjo, at what temperature did the throttle start?

Don't know since I didn't think about it until after gameplay

Did run some tests now with 2 CPUBurn (1 hard, 1 normal), rthdribl SpeedFan and ThrottleWatch for about 15 min.

These are the top temperatures:
CPU fan: ~1250rpm
Case fans: ~400rpm
GPU: 67C
System: 47C
CPU: 75C
Motherboard/PWM: 50C

When it hitted 66C it had some minor laggs even if ThrottleWtach didn't report anything. That's probibly more a multitask-problem rather than throttle. After 15 min I was opening a notepad to write the temps in and then it started to throttle with some spikes hitting 25% on ThrottleWatch. The computer was acting a bit slow before the throttle but with 2 cpu-burn, rthdribl, SpeedFan and ThrottleWatch running (and all my other normal appz) it's not very weird. Seems my cpu can handle up to 70C without any problem in a long time but I would advice that people keep it under 65C just to be sure.
Rather impressive feat for a Freezer 4.

67C for a passive 7900GT isn't bad. Think some guy hitted 75C during gameplay with P180 case. His card was factory overclocked tho