fan vibration dampener on cpu heatsink

71monaro · Post by **71monaro** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 1:06 am

Does anybody know if there is a problem using one of the siliceous fan vibration dampeners between a fan and the CPU heatsink?
I have an XP-120 that is suppose to have some rubber strips between the fan and the fins of the heatsink. I got it without the rubber. I am thinking of using the dampeneners that are sold by Vantec/Antec etc. But is there a danger of this 'siliceous' material melting? is it worth it or should I just cut up an old bike tire tube to use as rubber dampener in the corners.

EndoSteel · Post by **EndoSteel** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 2:30 am

But is there a danger of this 'siliceous' material melting?
No, it doesn't melt at all. Even if you put it in a microwave

.

dfrost · Post by **dfrost** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 10:33 am

I'd think that pieces of bike tube would work fine as fan vibration dampers - probably better attached to the fan corners with a little glue before clipping it on the XP. The fin area of my XP-120 has never been noticeably warm to the touch, even when the CPU temp is indicated as 47-50C.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 7:02 am

All my Thermalright heatsinks have come with a set of stick-on silicone rubber dampening strips. I've used these with 100% success on every TR heatsink I've used. Has TR stopped including these in their packages?

In this pic, they are the small blue strip in the right side of the picture.

More pics here. Scroll down and look at item #6.

Since those silicone strips work just fine, I suspect any other silicone dampening pads will also work just fine.

71monaro · Post by **71monaro** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 2:40 pm

I bought the XP120 second hand without the rubber strips, So i purchased a 120mm fan acoustic dampener gasket.

This was on the gasket when purchased.

Please Note: Do not use these gaskets in very high temperature locations inside a PC/Server such as attached to a CPU cooler or GPU heat sinks! These gaskets are designed to be used against case side panels.

But if the top of the XP120 doesnt get that hot i spose it would be ok.
Although it is in HTPC with restricted airflow.

Probably wont use as found not to sit in the recessed fan spot very well.
Strips of bike or car tube will be better to sit into the recess.

bondiablo · Post by **bondiablo** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 9:35 pm

Has anyone tried using these vibration dampening gaskets between a fan and heatsink? I just put an Asus Triton 75 in my system and unlike Thermalright they don't include anything to put between the fan and heatsink. I've seen that note on most gaskets saying they're not to be used in high temperature locations but not on the ones sold by Vantec or Nexus.

bexx · Post by **bexx** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 11:50 am

For some reason I highly doubt any of them will melt in a computer. Who would make something that melts under 200F?
Actually checking specs AcoustiFan rates theirs at "Operating Temperature: (-)20 - (+)70Â°C" -- 160F... which yeah is under 200F but I still doubt it'll melt at 200F. Anyways even using their number which is bound to leave a large safety margin.... if the edge of your heatink is 70C no way is your CPU under its max rated temp of 90C or so.

I'm pretty sure there is no way in hell to melt a silicon gasket without damaging your computer hardware in the process. And even if this is the case... silicon melting just turns into liquidy... not going to burst into flames and burn down your house. If you've damaged your CPU who cares about another $4 needed to buy a new gasket.

BTW If you buy silicone oven mitts they're 100% silicone I think the lowest temperature they start to melt at is 400F or so. For some reason I have 400F in my head as their melting point but checking online i see them rated 500-700F.... who knows. Point is all these temps are INSANELY hot compared to a wimpy 150F of a CPU and likely 130F of a heatsink. I'm not sure why silicone gaskets for heatsink swould be anything other than 100% silicone as well.

bondiablo · Post by **bondiablo** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 1:19 pm

It seemed unlikely to me as well but the fact they all seem to feel the need to include that note gave me pause. Since I didn't see the warning on Vantec's or Nexus' packaging I asked them directly and they replied...

Vantec:

The fan vibration dampener kit is only designed to use with case fan, and may melt if using between a heatsink and fan combo. If you have any further question, please don't hesitate to ask and we will do our best to answer them.

Nexus:

Although I do not believe it will melt, I cannot recommend it for use with CPU coolers.