Re: Micro ATX / water cooled question

Wonderman wrote:
I have a Sony Desktop water cooled case that is running a Pentium D dual
core 2.8 - pretty high temp chip. The chip has no fan just an alum. plate
and four copper tubes running to a heat sink with a fan about 120MM. I am
not certain how the alum. plate is adhered to the MB other than there are
four posts at each corner with a tall Philips head screw. The chip position
appears to be the same as I have a micro ATX MB and will replace it with the
same.

I'd like to upgrade the MB to a quad chip and from what I understand newer
chips are running cooler than the one I have. And I'd like to keep the case
and the rest of the components. I need to avoid the expense of a new
machine.

Will my water cooled system handle the heat from a quad ? Are these two
chips the same height off the MB ?

You can look up processors on processorfinder.intel.com . The Pentium D 2.8GHz
models, seem to be 95 watt.

http://processorfinder.intel.com/List.aspx?ParentRadio=All&ProcFam=2112&SearchKey=

You can check some Core2 Quads here. Some of them are 95W. Intel recently
came out with some, which are lower power (and more expensive).

http://processorfinder.intel.com/List.aspx?ParentRadio=All&ProcFam=2774&SearchKey=

A 65W quad.
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLGAE

Your cooler could be a heatpipe type, rather than water. The block is clamped
to the CPU. The fins up high, generally are oriented on the back of the computer
case, such that an exhaust fan can blow air through them. The exhaust fan
then does double duty, exhausting hot case air, as well as cooling down the
CPU.

http://www.dansdata.com/images/xpcs/cooler280.jpg

Heat pipes are infinitely better than water. They conduct heat better than solid
copper of the same diameter. A small amount of liquid is inside the pipe (a drop or
two). The CPU end (heat source), boils the liquid and turns it into vapor. The cool end
condenses the vapor. The liquid runs back by capillary action (if the inside of the
tube is sintered). A sintered tube helps resist gravity, so that the
orientation is less important. A plain smooth tube, would have to be oriented
so the liquid flows back via gravity.

There are no moving parts on a heatpipe assembly (except the fan of course).
But a heatpipe can still fail, if the seal breaks and the tiny amount of
fluid inside evaporates. Having four pipes gives you some resistance to a
pipe failure.

There is a limit to how much heat a heatpipe can handle. If the entire
assembly is hotter than the condensation temperature of the fluid, then
there is no longer "transport" of heat from one end to the other. The
heatpipe is saturated at that point, and quite ineffective.

Now, your biggest issue with this motherboard upgrade, will be the position
of the motherboard socket on the new board. It would have to be in
exactly the same location as the old motherboard. That might not be
so easy to arrange. And retrofitting an aftermarket cooler would not
be that easy either, since space in a small computer case is limited.
A tall heatsink wouldn't fit, and a squat heatsink might be
too loud, due to the much higher fan speed.

Just so you know what you're up against.

So somehow, you have to verify the position of the LGA775 socket with
respect to the rest of the motherboard. Not the easiest thing to do
with the crappy pictures on the Internet. If the socket is moved, the
heatpipe assembly might no longer line up with the case mounting bits.

Paul
.

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