Question on Asus 680i motherboards and their heatpipe cooling

[Fallen Kell]

Ok, after looking at the Striker Extreme and P5N32-E SLI, I thought of a possible problem with their NB cooling solution and different computer case installations. Specifically, how well does this work if the motherboard is inverted in a case like many of the Lian Li cases and others?

The issue I see is that the NB itself will be "higher" then the heatsink fins that is meant to cool the heatpipe. From the pictures I do see that there looks like a bit of heatpipe that goes out part of the NB and then bends towards the PCI-E slots, but I can't tell exactly. Does it bend back up away from the motherboard and then back towards the CPU socket and then through the heat sink fins? If it does, it might still cause the heat pipe material to be able to wick away the heat and move it to the heatsinks even if the board is inverted...

I hope the guys doing the review at Anandtech test this out.

Edit... actually, now that I look at it more, that piece of heatpipe is actually going to the south bridge. I don't think this solution will work at all the more I look. Can someone verify?

 

[genec57]

Asus boards will generally not work inverted with stock cooling of the northbridge and southbridge.

 

[wgoldfarb]

Originally posted by: genec57
Asus boards will generally not work inverted with stock cooling of the northbridge and southbridge.

Is this true also for the P5B deluxe, or just for the 680i mobos? The P5B deluxe also has heat pipes, and I was planning on using it inside an Antec p180B, which inverts the MoBo. Should I NOT do this?

 

[o2brew]

As long as the heatpipe is wicked it shouldn't matter if it is inverted or not. I know the reference 680i board mentions it uses wicked heatpipes, don't know about the Asus board though.

 

[krotchy]

My A8N32-SLI is in an inverted ATX case, and it runs perfectly cool in as a heatpipe mobo. People love to assume it wont without researching or looking into it at all. Truth is, gravity has very little effect on a heatpipe, the wick is the important part.

 

[genec57]

Many of the Asus boards such as the A8N SLI Premium don't have wicking and their heat pipes get extremely hot inverted. I had one and had to add an extra heat sink and fan to get the heat under control.
Other postings on this matter had me believing that this was true of all Asus boards but that apparantly is not the case making for even more confusion amongst Asus owners .

 

[Fallen Kell]

Well, I placed an email to ASUS's contact email from their support pages. However, I don't know if they will be able to answer. I looked in the manual to see if they mention anything about the type of heatpipe used (specifically if they mention wicking like some other manufacturers do), but nothing about that appears in the manual. Even their installation guide is cryptic on the matter, they don't specifically state that the board needs to be oriented a certain way, but it is implied in a sense. I would expect them to have:

==============================
WARNING! DO NOT INSTALL THIS
MOTHERBOARD INVERTED AS IT
WILL CAUSE OVERHEATING OF
THE CHIPSET DUE TO THE USE
OF HEATPIPES.
==============================

Or something if they know that this is a problem....

 

[Fallen Kell]

ASUS didn't even respond to my question. They simply closed the ticket and didn't even let me know that they closed it! What a bunch of crap. If I did that at my work I would get fired! I at least have to tell the person that a) this is not the right department to send the question (and point to the appropriate place), b) state that this is outside their scope of work, or c) say that they do not have the answer to the question and that they don't know

This is their freaking top of the line motherboard, you thing they would be jumping over themselves to answer a question like this which leads to a potential sale.

 

[TBSN]

Originally posted by: wgoldfarb
Is this true also for the P5B deluxe, or just for the 680i mobos? The P5B deluxe also has heat pipes, and I was planning on using it inside an Antec p180B, which inverts the MoBo. Should I NOT do this?

I'm also thinking of using a P5B-D in an Antec 180. I'm not totally sure, but I think the 180 does NOT invert the board, it just mounts it above the PSU (hence all the wiring problems).

 

[Fallen Kell]

Originally posted by: TBSN

Originally posted by: wgoldfarb
Is this true also for the P5B deluxe, or just for the 680i mobos? The P5B deluxe also has heat pipes, and I was planning on using it inside an Antec p180B, which inverts the MoBo. Should I NOT do this?

I'm also thinking of using a P5B-D in an Antec 180. I'm not totally sure, but I think the 180 does NOT invert the board, it just mounts it above the PSU (hence all the wiring problems).

You are correct, the P180 and P180b do not invert the motherboard itself, and that is why they have the wiring problems because this adds the need for 8-10 extra inches on the 20/24 pin connector to the motherboard.

 

[Gary Key]

I had a face to face meeting with the Asus R&D Director this past Tuesday and he said inverting the 680i boards would not be an issue. I should have an answer on the P5B-Deluxe tomorrow.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Thanks Gary!!! If you speak to him again please let him know that he should get Asus's document control/manual department to update their manuals for the 680i boards to specifically state that the heatpipes used had a wicking feature which allows them to work while inverted.

I was really getting close to saying "Screw Asus" on this issue especially the way they treated my email request for help/information.

Off to join the hunt to find one... which seems to be like finding a needle in a haystack or being as lucky as someone who see's a PS3 in a store.

 

[wgoldfarb]

Originally posted by: Fallen Kell

Originally posted by: TBSN

Originally posted by: wgoldfarb
Is this true also for the P5B deluxe, or just for the 680i mobos? The P5B deluxe also has heat pipes, and I was planning on using it inside an Antec p180B, which inverts the MoBo. Should I NOT do this?

I'm also thinking of using a P5B-D in an Antec 180. I'm not totally sure, but I think the 180 does NOT invert the board, it just mounts it above the PSU (hence all the wiring problems).

You are correct, the P180 and P180b do not invert the motherboard itself, and that is why they have the wiring problems because this adds the need for 8-10 extra inches on the 20/24 pin connector to the motherboard.

My mistake! You guys are right, the P180 does not invert the MoBo <slapping forehead>.

Thanks for the repliues!