AMD Retail cooler on Barton 2500+

[compudog]

I just got a Barton 2500+ CPU for my A7N8X. The cooler that came with the CPU seems to be pretty well made. I plan to lap the heatsink and use AS3. The heatsink is fairly heavy, it seems heavier than if the thing was made of aluminum, but it looks chrome plated. Is this thing chrome-plated copper? Does anyone have any experience with these coolers? If I do overclock, it won't be very agressive, if at all. My 2100+ with retail cooler is running about 46 C at full load.

As for lapping the cooler, I have a few sheets of crocus cloth which I will lay flat on a piece of glass. I will use acetone as the lubricant, unless someone knows of a better method.

 

[Lyfer]

Retail cooler will limit your overclock.

 

[compudog]

Thanks Lyfer.

Anyone have any idea if the AMD retail coolers are made from chrome plated copper?

 

[GetInMyFatBelly]

"made from chrome plated copper"


Hahaha, yeah, that will save them a lot of money to take heavy and expensive copper and chrome plate it and throw it in with the CPU.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I believe it's made of steel :Q The one that came with my 2500+ sure seemed like it anyways.

 

[compudog]

I can't believe they would use steel. I'm going to find out what it is and post back. I was just thinking someone here had an idea. The cooler that came with a client's 2800+ was skivved copper.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Just F'in' wit ya here you go link

 

[compudog]

Thanks DAPUNISHER. So the base is plated copper with aluminum fins. I'm going to lap the bottom flat with crocus cloth and use AS3 (scraping the TIM off first of course!) I have an MCXC370 on order, but I won't have it until next week sometime and I want to put the chip in NOW!!!

 

[Tavoc]

The retail cooler that comes with the Barton 2500+ is actually quite good. Using the default thermal adhesive that comes preapplied to the bottom of the HSF, my friend and I were able to do pretty decent overclocks without the CPU temp getting anywhere near dangerous temps. He has it running at around 3000+ PR speeds with under 50C temps.

 

[compudog]

The AMD Cooler with the retail Barton CPU is indeed chrome (or something) plated copper. After lapping the bottom for what seems like hours with 400 grit and then a touch up with crocus cloth (all the while using acetone as a lubricant) it has an almost mirror finish. I don't know if I will install the CPU tonight, but I will repost my results when I do.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

:camera:?

 

[mrman3k]

Is it nickel as the coating on the copper base?

 

[compudog]

I have no idea what the coating is. It was shiny. I suppose it is nickel. Here are some rather poor pics.

:camera: #1

:camera: #2

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I'm definitely interested with how well it cools now. I've heard the fan is darned quite too. Almost sorry I just sold the one came with my 2500+ now.

 

[compudog]

I buffed it up a little more, and it's ready for installation. I can't do it tonight though because I have to clean out the fish tank. Had a couple of fish float this week. Just what I want to do when I have a CPU to OC! Grrrr. :|

 

[compudog]

BTW, mrman3K, it is Nickel plated copper. Thanks DAPUNISHER for the linkage to ajigo.com!

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: compudog
I buffed it up a little more, and it's ready for installation. I can't do it tonight though because I have to clean out the fish tank. Had a couple of fish float this week. Just what I want to do when I have a CPU to OC! Grrrr. :|

Bummer, I actually meet someone once who used an anti-bacterial sponge to clean their fish tank with, of course the poor fish were all goners.

 

[Regs]

Lucky you, my retail HSF kept my barton at 56-58c full load.

 

[pspada]

The retail hsf is quiet and appears to be quite effective as well. I'm running my 2500+ at 166x12 = 2000Mhz, stock voltage and it is rock solid and stable @ between 51 and 53c.

 

[GetInMyFatBelly]

 

[compudog]

UPDATE: Well the fish are all dead and the tank is drained out and ready for storage. Barton CPU is still waiting to be installed. Maybe tonight. I'll repost with temps and OC results. It's off to another fun day at work! w00t!

 

[rocketbubba]

Just got my 2500+ in the mail yesterday (week 22 chip btw). The retail HSF is a slab of copper (not plated - just copper) with an aluminum (I think) fin structure attached. It's smaller than the aluminum Taisol HSF I was using on my old T-Bird 1.4, but it had the same small fan. It's quiet, but not real effective. I've been seeing temps in the mid to low 50s (atleast according to the BIOS) under load. That's higher than the temps I was seeing on the 1.4 which is famous for running hot. I used the stock thermal putty/pad that was attached to the bottom of the HSF - tonight I'm going to scrape it off and use some AS to see if that helps.

 

[phpdog]

The base coating on the 2500+ cooler is nickel-plated, probably to prevent the copper from oxidizing. However, there's a downside to using nickel for the contact surface: nickel is a much worse heat conductor than copper (90.7 W/mK as opposed to 402 W/mK for copper). That said, this design does a more than adequate job of keeping die temperatures down: they peaked at 55° C under a full load, while the thermal resistance ran at 0.50° C/W.

 

[compudog]

I am using the retail HSF with full load temps ranging from 42 to 46 C. The CPU is multiplier overclocked and running at 2088 MHz with no problems at all. I had ordered a swiftech MCX, but UPS lost my first one :| I have another on the way, but I may water cool this CPU as I think I have a good OC one!

 

[Averox]

There are two types of retail Barton 2500+ heatsinks.

One is the copper heatsink with nickel plated base and thin fins.
The other is aluminum with a round copper core in the center. The fins look like traditional retail fins, big, thick, aluminum fins.

I wonder which ones are better? I only have the one with the copper core. Anyone have both that can test it out?