Applying heatsinks to power circuitry components

[cbn]

http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/revi...p55-t36-mini-itx-living-review.html#post78975

Just wondering, could a set of heatsinks be attached to the power components seen here on the backside of this DFI mini itx board??

If so, what type of heatsink and what type of adhesive/thermal pad/compound?

 

[Ben90]

Your going to have to find a way to cool all of the PWM, and your still not going to be able to push to board to something like 1.35v. If you need a mini-itx setup, your just going to have to live with not being able to overclock that much.

 

[cbn]

Your going to have to find a way to cool all of the PWM, and your still not going to be able to push to board to something like 1.35v. If you need a mini-itx setup, your just going to have to live with not being able to overclock that much.

I am not looking for high overclocks.

I am just wondering if there is room for improvement in the mini-itx form factor?

 

[Modelworks]

The parts circled as failed are not something a heatsink will solve. The ones that failed and have 3 pins are diodes. Diodes normally do not fail because of heat but because the power passing through them is too high, it breaks down the barriers in the semiconductor material at which point it becomes like a wire and sends a large amount of current through the connections.

To cool a diode you would need enough surface area on the part to contact a heatsink and that just isn't doable on diodes that small. You would need to replace it with a higher rating part.

 

[TheStigma]

Have to agree with Modelworks on this one. While additional cooling would have SOME effect (they generally are slightly more effective at lower temps) it wouldnt make much practical difference and thus not be worth the effort.

If you really wanted to tho, you could just cut up some small pieces of something like a RAM heatsink and use some thermal glue. you dont need anything fancy to make that work, but again it probably wouldn't have made a difference in the long term for your spesific problem.

Its worth asking though - what exactly is covered by warranty in these cases? if you buy a motherboard obviously intended for overclocking (and even marketed as such) will a mobo failure at ANY overclocked levels null the warranty? If yes then that seems like it would be covered by false marketing, and if no then what exactly are the "accepted limits" ?

It would be nice if BIOSes were clearly marked with what values are within supported OC specs and which are beyond.

-Stigma

 

[aigomorla]

CB get a pair of Enzo ram sinks.
http://www.jab-tech.com/Enzotech-Forged-Copper-VGA-Memory-Heatsink-BMR-C1-pr-3724.html

IT would look simular to this:

The black things...

or you can use the ones which were meant for the real mosfets..
http://www.jab-tech.com/Enzontech-Mosfet-Heatsink-MOS-C1-pr-4112.html

There abit smaller so they fit exactly on the mosfet..

Or you can messure out the real holes from one side to the other and use one of these guys:
http://www.jab-tech.com/Enzotechnology-DFI-Mosfet-heatsink-MST-DFI-DK-pr-4431.html


But i think mosfet cooling is very important.
Especially when your pushing the cpu hard.. or if your gonna be on load for long periods of time.