shims and effect on cooling?!?!?

[MaluMan]

i'm building a system soon and was wondering if anyone could give me some advise on whether or not it is a good idea to use a shim... is the added safety worth it?

the sys will have a xp2400+ on the asus a7n8x ... using the slk-800 w/TT smart fan 2

i do plan on overclocking so any suggestions would be helpful

thanks

 

[Mikewarrior2]

shims do not help cooling unless your cpu isn't resting flat on the cpu core pre-shim.


Mike

 

[MaluMan]

but it doesnt hurt the cooling does it??

 

[adeno]

Nope, it doesn't hurt or help the cooling of the cpu, rather it is just an extra support for the heatsink/fan

 

[Mikewarrior2]

under certain situations, it *Can* hurt cooling. Especially i fyou apply heatsink grease to the shim itself. Note: This is really an issue solely with copper shims.

If you get a non-conductive shim, and verify that it isn't going to "lift" the heatsink, then it should not adversely effect performance.


Mike

 

[vexingv]

depending on how you place the shim it could reduce cooling effects...unless u're really consious/unsure about cracking the core while puttin on the heatsink, dont go w/ a shim...and if you do get one, get a nonconductive one so that you dont short any of the bridges...check out this shim review

 

[Abhoth]

True stories all... little, if any, cooling help. Have been known to hinder same under the right conditions. Read that poor mounting/clearance.....
If you use one it's best to go with non-conductive, as mentioned...
Primary reason for use is as a buffer preventing damage to the cpu.
And, if you'll be using the thermistor on the smart fan on the TT unit... here's my story:
I'm using one... and it's to be mounted on the underside of the cpu. Didn't like that as it didn't quite fit diagonally in the underside cavity and I'm not a trusting soul. So mounted it on the top with the sensor right by the die, don't run it across the top of anything ya know..... But, by doing so I decided NOT to use the shim I had as the thermistor was using that bit of clearance now and didn't want a high spot causing any pressure on the core in that spot... see my point....
Running at 39c under load, mine's a 2400+ A7V8x Volcano 9 mounted with AC3
Anyway, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

 

[NokiaDude]

I found that a shim helps keep your mind keep off of the " Am I going to crack the core!!!!!". There isn't really a temp difference without a shim. I had a TT Dragon Orb 3 with a shim and then switched to a GC68 and took the shim off. I used AS3 with both HSF's. There wasn't really a temp difference. Just that my computer didn't sound like a 747-400 at full throttle anymore! But next time I'll put back on the shim becuase it helps when you transport your computer often, ex. LAN parties, testing different components frequently. The only reason I think a shim would prevent a CPU from booting is because the shim is touching the bridges, supposededly all shims are designed that when you put them on correctly they wont touch any of the bridges or transistor thingies.