CosmicGrooves

I am having major problems cooling my DFI RS482 chipset. With the stock cooler, it was idling at 55c. I reapplied thermal compound, and no difference. Fry's had the Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II cooler, so I thought anything would be better. I was hoping for some serious difference in temps. The stock cooler is fairly crappy and no fan.

Well, I installed the cooler and my new idle temps....... (insert drum roll)..... 55c. Still. This cooler made absolutely no difference in temps.


When playing games, the chipset got up to 62c lastnight on stock heatsink. Playing today with the Spirit II it was up to 59c, but I haven't played as long.

Right now is idling at 55c. My CPU is at 48c on stock cooler.

[edit] I just got through playing a custom Warcraft 3 game and it got up past 61c! The temperature monitor alarm sounded. I must admit, i'm a bit disappointed. I've taken the sides off the case to help with some fresh air for now. I will be taking this back to Fry's. I need to get something better.

CosmicGrooves

Ok, I think this is what I'm going to do instead of buying a new chipset cooler.

I started looking around at all the old computer junk I have in boxes to see if I had something that would work. The problem is, space between the CPU and video card is very tight, so no custom giant heatsinks can be used. I looked at an old Asus Nforce2 board I have (is broken... at least last time I checked it was) and the heatsink is a perfect replacement!! It has more surface area and better for use with a small fan.

Well, I just happened to have a small fan laying around. You can easilly see the increased surface area and how it will work better with the fan.

DFI RS482 stock chipset cooler.





Asus Nforce2 stock chipset cooler.





And the fan I will be using.

CosmicGrooves

The Spirit II is still on right now. I haven't had the chance to take it off and I won't be able to make it to Fry's until the weekend. These are my temps as I type this.

[edit] Also, my case is still open and the 80mm fan blowing at the heatsink. It seems to me the only cooling is done by the base of the Spirit II and not by a functional heatpipe.

CosmicGrooves

Ok, the Spirit II has been removed and the custom heatsink has replaced it.

These are my new idle temps. These temps are without the 80mm fan and with a closed case. The temps I posted before were with the case open and the 80mm fan blowing on the Spirit II. As you can see, my system temps are higher, but my chipset temps are much lower. Under these conditions with the Spirit II, my idle chipset temps were 55c.





I thought that maybe the problem with the Spirit II was bad contact, so I checked when I removed it. As you can maybe see from the poor camera phone picture, contact between the die and heatsink was perfect. I could nearly read the imprint of the die on the bottom of the copper heatsink base on the Spirit II. So, the issue was not poor installation. You may say that the die was not centered on the heatsink and that is true, but due to space limitations, this was the only way it would fit between the video card and CPU heatsink. Maybe if the die was on the other side it would be fractionally better, but not worth $25 in my opinion.







This is a picture of the custom heatsink mod I put in. I used some electrical tape to cushion between the bottom of the fan and heatsink to reduce vibration and noise and then used the electrical tape to hold the fan on the heatsink by wrapping it around as you may be able to see in the blury camera phone pic. The tape works well to hold the fan on and funnels the air directly through the heatsink.








In conclusion, the Spirit II does not work and this ghetto-mod is MUCH better and FREE. I'm going to be taking the Thermaltake heatsink back to Fry's on Saturday to get my $25.00 back. For anyone thinking of the Spirit II, I personally wouldn't suggest it. It seems the only cooling was from the base of the heatsink and not by a functional heatpipe.





One more thing, when playing the same Warcraft III custom game for over an hour last night, my under-load temps never got above 55c! Before it was idling at 55c with the stock heatsink and the Spirit II.



This chipset heatsink mod was/is without a doubt an improvement.

wayne_sony

deng, i was thinking about getting this? any1 who has this with a better result?

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Bal3Wolf

Sounds more like your temps in your room are very hot a c2d idleing 48c is pretty warm even on stock cooler.

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3Vantage 21673
3dmark06 22135
3dmark05 24551
3dmark03 80562
3dmark01 53929

MADMAX22

I have it on my dfi and it is working great. I am at 30c right now pushing 450fsb with 3.9ghz on my6600

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E6400@3856E4300@4158E6600@4510,Opti148@3102,opti170@2918,UD3P&9550@4692
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stargate125645

Fill out your system specs for us; it will help us in giving you advice.

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CosmicGrooves

Who knows, maybe mine was faulty. I didn't try exchaning for a new one since the recycled heatsink and fan are working so well.

CosmicGrooves

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