In my quest for an ever-cooler system, I picked up a Thermaltake K450 dual-heatpipe heatsink/fan that is good all the way up to FX-55 for my A64 3500+ Newcastle. Upon receiving this thing ($30) at NewEgg, there were no instructions and that is kind of what this learning experience is all about. I wondered about the orientation of the heatsink in relation to the bends in the heatpipes, but with no clear direction to go off of, I simply shrugged it off. The heatpipes run the length of the solid copper base and then bend around and run through the thin fins. It comes with a Shin-Etsu thermal pad, and while good, I of course removed this and used AS5 (with a lot of Arti-Clean remover/purifier in the process). OFF TOPIC--that Arti-Clean crap is totally awesome--much much more effective than acetone or alcohol. ON TOPIC. Anyway, I proceed to install it and used the AS5 strictly according to directions and the orientation of the heatpipes were such that the bends were at the bottom (ie, the ends of the tubes that are crimped at the end of the heatsink are pointed at my PSU). I fired up the system and immediately noticed a idle and load temp of 45C/60C--load temp using Prime95. Not right. Hmmm. AS5 applied wrong? Pulled it and tried again after much more Arti-Clean,etc. Same thing. Ok, how about the break-in period (legendary at 200 hours). I gave it about 50 hours to see if anything happened. Temps came down about a degree. This was with a thermal cycle every night to let the system reach room temperature. Somethign is NOT right. Scratch head.
Then I started researching the XP-90C from from Thermalright (one awesome heatsink if there ever was one), and the reviewer said something interesting about the orientation of the heatpipes and how that would affect heatsink performance. OK, quick test. I shut down the system, and the put my case on it's side and fired back up. Wow. Immediate 40C/57C idle and load temps. I pulled the heatsink, and after yet more Arti-Clean and AS5, I then put it back on with the heatpipe bends UP, and the crimps DOWN. Fired up. Same thing--40C/57C idle and Prime95 load. OK!!! Well, now to let the break-in occur with the appropriate thermal cycles and see if my temps come down a few degrees (they should). In a week I hopefully will be seeing 35C/50C if the AS5 breaks in the way it should.
Just thought you guys/gals might want to know about this.
FWIW, the Thermalright XP-90 heatsinks mount in such a way that the heatpipes are HORIZONTAL in a tower case, so one would not run into such a problem there.
Thanks for taking the time read--now I am off to order more Arti-Clean and AS5!
Then I started researching the XP-90C from from Thermalright (one awesome heatsink if there ever was one), and the reviewer said something interesting about the orientation of the heatpipes and how that would affect heatsink performance. OK, quick test. I shut down the system, and the put my case on it's side and fired back up. Wow. Immediate 40C/57C idle and load temps. I pulled the heatsink, and after yet more Arti-Clean and AS5, I then put it back on with the heatpipe bends UP, and the crimps DOWN. Fired up. Same thing--40C/57C idle and Prime95 load. OK!!! Well, now to let the break-in occur with the appropriate thermal cycles and see if my temps come down a few degrees (they should). In a week I hopefully will be seeing 35C/50C if the AS5 breaks in the way it should.
Just thought you guys/gals might want to know about this.
FWIW, the Thermalright XP-90 heatsinks mount in such a way that the heatpipes are HORIZONTAL in a tower case, so one would not run into such a problem there.
Thanks for taking the time read--now I am off to order more Arti-Clean and AS5!
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