BlackOmega

So, I'm setting up my folding rig. And well come to find out the 2 PCIe slots are only 1 slot apart. My GSOs' have this crazy heatsink on top of the PCB. I took one apart, and pulled the top heatsink off so both of the cards will fit on 1 board. It appears that this heatsink sits about 3-4mm above the PCB. While there does appear to be some sort of rubberish TIM that contacts the PCB and the RAM, it is also 3-4mm thick. Is this heatsink really doing anything? I cant see this TIM having good thermodynamic properties just because of the sheer thickness of it.
What do you guys think?

Here are some pics of it. Its the large black heatsink on top.

-Omega.

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Skullzaflare

do you mean the one on the back?
as i recall theres memchips under it

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BlackOmega

There is 6 of them. But directly on the other side they contact the main cooler/fan.

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Mjg1675

If you have enough air being blown over it you should be fine, I would keep and eye on it.

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thenutty1

You could always take it off and see if there is anything under it. If there isn't, then its probably OK to remove permanently. If there is memory under it, then I would leave it on.

tubesaddict

Could replace the pad with either of these two:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/37...t_AATA-5G.html

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/37...m_ASTA-7G.html

But they're pretty permanent.

BlackOmega

Well Im not sure how much air would be blown past them honestly. The card that would have the cooler removed would be the lower card. With the cooler removed I have about 1/4" clearance between the 2 cards. With it on, I can't install 1 of them as it iterferes with the other.
Man I really want to get them both folding.

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Mjg1675

Right, but what if you mounted an 80 or 120 above or behind it?

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BlackOmega

Thanks for the suggestion but that wont work/ The heatsink itself has 4 spacers that are as thick as the TIM, thats why I would either need to grind down the fins or remove it completely.

Hmmm... thats a good idea, I'll have to see how much room I have..

If that doesn twork do you think I could use a crossfire board to fold with 2 GPUs'?

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Afrodisiac

Yes. Anything with multiple PCI-E slots can fold with multiple cards.

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