So I've recently gotten myself into the subzero/extreme OC scene. But before I started pouring ln2, I decided to do a quick dry ice run to get the hang of the basics. One of these basics is the method used for insulating my hardware! After reading several guides at XS (some old, some newer) and another one posted by Sin0822 here on OCN, I decided to use the popular method of Liquid Electrical Tape (LET), kneaded art eraser, and closed-cell foam insulation.
Order of Operations:
The reason I have titled this a "Photo Guide" is because, well, I took a LOT of pictures. As such, each picture should speak for itself
That being said, I did provide a brief explanation of the pictures, along with a few lessons I learned along the way.
First up, we have the Z68XP-UD4 motherboard before any insulation.

My first order of business was to tape off the socket, dimm slots, power connectors, pcie slots, etc. and begin applying a coat of LET.

Once I had a nice coating on the top half of the board, I realized that I would not be able to paint the LET around the MOSFET heatsink. I should have taken off the MOSFET heatsink beforehand. This cost me some time because i had to wait for the LET to dry before I could remove the heatsink.

After removing the heatsink, I cut little squares of tape to cover up the individual ICs


After covering with tape, I just painted the LET all over the top left side of the board.

After that area was dry, I had to remove the little pieces of tape. This wasnt too difficult, but I wish I would have taken more care to avoid the ICs even though they were covered. If youtry to peel up a small square of dry LET, it tends to want to peel off the entire layer. Be careful not to do this.

The LET application step is now complete! Time for eraser!
Start by applying a little at a time

Slowly fill up the area around the socket.

I then closed the socket mechanism on top op the eraser

filled in the gaps between the hold-down and CPU

after the hold-down gaps are filled, I filled in all the gaps between the capacitors

I put a hefty coat of LET on the back of the board (this is when it was wet)

(this is when it was dry)

Next a poked the mounting rods through and threaded them into the backplate of the Gemini CPU pot

Folded blue show-towels (heavy duty paper towels) and made a border around the CPU

cut a square piece of armaflex closed-cell insulation foam, then cut a square out of the middle for the base of the gemini pot

taped the thermometer probe to the gemini pot

slipped the gemini pot into an armaflex insulation foam "sleeve" and mounted to the board

finally, wrapped paper towels around the entire setup and held in place with rubber bands

subzero cooling in action

So now that you have seen the steps and methods i used to insulate my gear for my first subzero experience, I ask myself:
"What would I have done differently?"
1. First and foremost, I would have put down a much thicker layer/coating of LET on the front of the board!! About TWICE as thick as you see in the pictures!! When it was time to remove the LET, it was kind of difficult because it kept breaking off little pieces at a time. If I had made the front layer as thick as the back, it would have been A LOT easier to remove
2. Remove ALL of the motherboard's heatsinks and tape up everything BEFORE you begin applying the LET
3. Buy a smaller (more fine-point) paintbrush to apply the LET around the more sensitive/hard-to-reach areas.. like in-between the individual pwm ICs
4. Tape the DIMM slots on the sides.. from the top of the slot to the bottom where it meets the motherboard, down the length of the slot. This will prevent the LET from getting underneath the DIMM slots. If you tape it, it will coat the board right up to the edge where the DIMM slot meets the PCB, then you can use kneaded eraser to seal the gap instead. If you get LET underneath the dimm slot, you wont be able to get it out, and may compromise RMA possibility.
5. Know that kneaded art eraser is a LOT EASIER to remove from tight spots than it is to remove a thin layer of LET. Keep this in mind!! Especially if you wanna try to RMA the board some day.
FINAL THOUGHTS
In summary, this method worked very well in terms of keeping my hardware safe. However, it's really easy (in my opinion) to get careless and ruin your RMA possibilities by getting LET in places it cant be removed from. Sin0822 has stated before in one of his guides that your coating of LET should be thick enough where you can't see the color of your PCB. I FULLY AGREE with that! I did not do this on the front of my board and learned the hard way.
Will I use this method again? Probably. I've heard some people just use this method on their graphics cards, so I may do the same. Next time I will be using the "silicone grease + paper towels" method. I hope to make another photo guide about it when I'm done, so look for that in the next week or so.
All-in-all this was a great learning experience in terms of general subzero cooling and OCing, insulation, getting used to how slow or fast temperatures change with the 2 different gemini bases, etc..
NOTE: in case you're curious, the benching session was not very successful in terms of OC. I only got the 2600k i was using up to 56x100. Not bad I guess, but since I've benched it at 55x100 on water in the past, I was really hoping for a lot more. I guess this is kind of typical though for the sandy bridge chips.
Order of Operations:
- Liquid Electrical Tape
- Kneaded Art Eraser
- Foam/Shop Towels
The reason I have titled this a "Photo Guide" is because, well, I took a LOT of pictures. As such, each picture should speak for itself
That being said, I did provide a brief explanation of the pictures, along with a few lessons I learned along the way.First up, we have the Z68XP-UD4 motherboard before any insulation.

My first order of business was to tape off the socket, dimm slots, power connectors, pcie slots, etc. and begin applying a coat of LET.

Once I had a nice coating on the top half of the board, I realized that I would not be able to paint the LET around the MOSFET heatsink. I should have taken off the MOSFET heatsink beforehand. This cost me some time because i had to wait for the LET to dry before I could remove the heatsink.

After removing the heatsink, I cut little squares of tape to cover up the individual ICs


After covering with tape, I just painted the LET all over the top left side of the board.

After that area was dry, I had to remove the little pieces of tape. This wasnt too difficult, but I wish I would have taken more care to avoid the ICs even though they were covered. If youtry to peel up a small square of dry LET, it tends to want to peel off the entire layer. Be careful not to do this.

The LET application step is now complete! Time for eraser!
Start by applying a little at a time

Slowly fill up the area around the socket.

I then closed the socket mechanism on top op the eraser

filled in the gaps between the hold-down and CPU

after the hold-down gaps are filled, I filled in all the gaps between the capacitors

I put a hefty coat of LET on the back of the board (this is when it was wet)

(this is when it was dry)

Next a poked the mounting rods through and threaded them into the backplate of the Gemini CPU pot

Folded blue show-towels (heavy duty paper towels) and made a border around the CPU

cut a square piece of armaflex closed-cell insulation foam, then cut a square out of the middle for the base of the gemini pot

taped the thermometer probe to the gemini pot

slipped the gemini pot into an armaflex insulation foam "sleeve" and mounted to the board

finally, wrapped paper towels around the entire setup and held in place with rubber bands

subzero cooling in action

So now that you have seen the steps and methods i used to insulate my gear for my first subzero experience, I ask myself:
"What would I have done differently?"
1. First and foremost, I would have put down a much thicker layer/coating of LET on the front of the board!! About TWICE as thick as you see in the pictures!! When it was time to remove the LET, it was kind of difficult because it kept breaking off little pieces at a time. If I had made the front layer as thick as the back, it would have been A LOT easier to remove
2. Remove ALL of the motherboard's heatsinks and tape up everything BEFORE you begin applying the LET
3. Buy a smaller (more fine-point) paintbrush to apply the LET around the more sensitive/hard-to-reach areas.. like in-between the individual pwm ICs
4. Tape the DIMM slots on the sides.. from the top of the slot to the bottom where it meets the motherboard, down the length of the slot. This will prevent the LET from getting underneath the DIMM slots. If you tape it, it will coat the board right up to the edge where the DIMM slot meets the PCB, then you can use kneaded eraser to seal the gap instead. If you get LET underneath the dimm slot, you wont be able to get it out, and may compromise RMA possibility.
5. Know that kneaded art eraser is a LOT EASIER to remove from tight spots than it is to remove a thin layer of LET. Keep this in mind!! Especially if you wanna try to RMA the board some day.
FINAL THOUGHTS
In summary, this method worked very well in terms of keeping my hardware safe. However, it's really easy (in my opinion) to get careless and ruin your RMA possibilities by getting LET in places it cant be removed from. Sin0822 has stated before in one of his guides that your coating of LET should be thick enough where you can't see the color of your PCB. I FULLY AGREE with that! I did not do this on the front of my board and learned the hard way.
Will I use this method again? Probably. I've heard some people just use this method on their graphics cards, so I may do the same. Next time I will be using the "silicone grease + paper towels" method. I hope to make another photo guide about it when I'm done, so look for that in the next week or so.
All-in-all this was a great learning experience in terms of general subzero cooling and OCing, insulation, getting used to how slow or fast temperatures change with the 2 different gemini bases, etc..
NOTE: in case you're curious, the benching session was not very successful in terms of OC. I only got the 2600k i was using up to 56x100. Not bad I guess, but since I've benched it at 55x100 on water in the past, I was really hoping for a lot more. I guess this is kind of typical though for the sandy bridge chips.




















