Abit P35 Pro stock cooling solution

[Hauk]

I remove stock mobo cooling solutions mainly to apply as5 on the chipset; but I also like to see what kind of job mfr's did with thermal interfaces. I'm glad I popped my new Abit P35 Pro's heatsinks off.

While it would have functioned okay, there was poor contact with the moffset heatsink due to a slighly bent heatpipe which was pushing one corner of the heatsink up. Only a couple moffsets were making effective contact.

I straightened things up, reused the moffset thermal pad, used as5 for chipset, and used a good white paste for southbridge.

Overall, I'm not too impressed with this solution. The only copper is the base of the chipset heatsink and the heatpipe; everything else is poorly milled aluminum painted to look like copper. The stock nVidia solution on 680i boards is an example of quality engineering and manufacturing. This Abit solution off the board looks and feels cheap. It may work, but damn they could have done better.

Pics tell the story:

Poor thermal contact with moffset heatsink
Bent heatpipe causing problem
Many little moffsets!
Adequate, but not optimal contact patch for southbridge
Nice clean chipset though!
The underside

 

[Miramonti]

'Painted copper'? lol.

Good move disassembling it. This is enlightening...I think whichever board I wind up getting I'm going to remount the heatsinks as well.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: jjsole
'Painted copper'? lol.

iirc it was Asus that started off that trend?
It certainly isn't unique to abit but is quite common these days.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

The SB and MOSFETs on my IP35-E run cool, even at 488MHz FSB. Getting good contact from all those output devices can be challenging due to the large working plane. Four smaller heatsinks would provide better contact/cooling, but these will add a few extra bucks to the final cost of the board. I dumped the MOSFET's heatsink on my IP35-E and rely on the air flow from my 120 x 38 mm Panaflo on top of the Big Typhoon for cooling.

 

[Hauk]

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
Getting good contact from all those output devices can be challenging due to the large working plane.

Good point.

I tossed a coin over the Pro and the IP35-E. The heatsink on the Pro was a factor, but not at all now that I've seen its quality. You did good...

 

[SerpentRoyal]

I saw both boards at the local Fry's last month and suspected that there would be a contact issue based on the size of the MOSFETs' heatsink. Went with the IP35-E due to the low price. When I didn't see much heat, I also removed the heatsink and discovered that I could rely on the Big Typhoon alone to cool the output devices. I think the stock heatsink does more harm if there is no contact. Dead air pocket is an excellent thermal insulator.

The Asus boards run hot and definitely will benefit with a heat pipe cooler. These Abit IP35s run cool even @ 488MHz FSB. Manufacturers use heat pipe cooling and all solid caps as marketing tools to improve profit margin. A small 80mm Panaflo strapped to the Big Typhoon is more than adequate to keep my RAM and NB cool. My favorite thermal analysis tool is an IR thermometer. It allows me to quickly detect hot spots on the MB.

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: SteelSix

Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
Getting good contact from all those output devices can be challenging due to the large working plane.

Good point.

I tossed a coin over the Pro and the IP35-E. The heatsink on the Pro was a factor, but not at all now that I've seen its quality. You did good...

Lately I've been debating the ip35-e and the middle ground ip35, which has 2 extra sata ports, raid, and firewire for an extra $30 @$149.

Decisions, decisions.

 

[Hauk]

Originally posted by: jjsole
Lately I've been debating the ip35-e and the middle ground ip35, which has 2 extra sata ports, raid, and firewire for an extra $30 @$149.

Decisions, decisions.

Yes, the standard IP35 has the right blend of features. It looks like a solid buy. Go for it... :evil:

 

[covert24]

so i guess we need 8 Circu-Pipes and a solid block of copper to get anyone impressed now a days. Aluminum cools just fine and when used with the right paste it will be sufficient. Not everything has to be a big, copper, cooling machine for it to get enough cooling. Some boards still use i little block and a fan still and it cools just fine.

 

[Hauk]

I agree, in many cases Alum cools just fine. A copper base/alum fin cooler is quite effective in fact. I loved the copper bottom cold forged Alpha heatsinks.

My issue was that the cooler appears to be all copper when you look at pics. Just wanted to let people know in case the cooling solution was a factor in deciding on this board.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

Originally posted by: covert24
so i guess we need 8 Circu-Pipes and a solid block of copper to get anyone impressed now a days. Aluminum cools just fine and when used with the right paste it will be sufficient. Not everything has to be a big, copper, cooling machine for it to get enough cooling. Some boards still use i little block and a fan still and it cools just fine.

Don't forget 8-phase power module.