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Can heatpipes stop working?

S

Spare-Flair

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Apr 4, 2003
Messages
7,471
So I purchased an SI-97 and for the last 2 months or so, I've been breezing along happily at 2500MHz to 2625MHz @ 1.825-1.925 Vcore with my mobile 2500+.

Suddenly, temperatures jumped 10 degrees and I can't even run 2400MHz stable without it spiking to 68-74º on load (as measured by my own thermistor taped next to the core), or 56-62º going by what the onboard diode says. I'm idling at 61º right now by external thermistor (55º according to diode)!

Prior to the SI-97, I had a generic heatsink and I ran 2400MHz for more than a year with 1.700 Vcore absolutely stable. Now suddenly, I can't run the higher speeds or volts, and even for 2400MHz, I have to up it to 1.725 V to get stability.

I thought, oh-oh, maybe the AS went bad or somehow the heatsink had dismounted or something was improperly installed. I've now remounted the heatsink with fresh AS and allowed for burn-in time twice this week and the temperatures are still high and stability has crashed.

What's going on? Ambient temperature is the same, I've tried with the case door off. It may have been my imagination but previously, when I touched the heatpipes, they were really hot to the touch and effectively piping the heat from the base into the fins. Now when I touch them, the heatpipes, fins, and the air coming out the otherside are only warm to cool yet the base is BURNING hot. Did something change? Can heatpipes stop working or is this all in my imagination and something else is wrong?
 
Well heat pipes function only if they contain vacum and water inside. If they leek and water goes away and there is no vacum then they act jsut as peace of a copper.

But there are few other things that can influence cooling.
Like dust. Drithy HS will cool less efficient.
Dirthy fan can spin slower. Also bad bearing will slow down a fan.
How tight HSF is fixed to a CPU can make huge difference.
Thermal paste can make difference. To thick or dryed out thermal paste acts as isolator.
Case temps and room temps also influence cooling of CPU.
Like friend was having nice OC on His CPU and then He went for high end grafic card and allthough he has 550 watt PSU CPU OC ain't stable anymore. Grafic card just adds to much heat into a case and then CPU is unstable. Silencer solved a problem btw.

Also every chip has it's life time. If CPU can OC 600 MHz today maybe over a few years it can OC just 200 MHz.

Also if You are using filters on case fans and they get dirhty it will cause problems.




MD
 
perhaps not water, but some fluid/gas is in there, i say you damaged your heat pipe or it did leak out, i sugest talking to thermalright and seeing what they think, they might even replace it for you
 
i dont think its water, but there is a liquid inside, probablly some type of alcohol
 
LionKinG88 said:
Buy a Thermalright SP-94.. best cooler u can get imo ;)
Click to expand...
and where would you buy one i must ask, i spened a month looking for one to buy when i had a athlon-xp about a year ago
 
a second vote in favour of contacting thermalright warrenty dept.

if it was just dirt/dust in your fins or fan, then the fins would be gettign quite hot, and you previously stated that they are cool.

thermalrigth will probably make you jump through some hoops and do some additional testing, but it really sounds to me like one or more of your heatpipes has leaked.
 
T-nm said:
Heatpipes contain water inside?
Source please..
Click to expand...

No - they don't contain water.

They contain a fluid which evaporates at a temperature around that of the base of the HS, and re-condense at a tremp. around that at the top of the HS. I'm not sure what liquid it is, although it will be chosen to behave in the desired way at the pressures inside the pipe.


threadstarter: Have you checked for dust inside the heatsink fins? This is the most common cause of reduced heatsink performance. The only other usual cause of problems is a slightly dislodged heatsink, so that there is only relatively poor contact between the HS base and the CPU. Once you've checked for dust, try reseating the HS.
 
T-nm said:
Heatpipes contain water inside?
Source please..
Click to expand...

Shuttle ICE contain distilled water...Specs are on their website...

Integrated Cooling Engine (ICE) Module from a XPC SN41G2 Small Form Factor computer built by Shuttle.

The Integrated Cooling Engine (ICE) included in the XPC has been purpose designed for whisper quiet operation. The ICE heat-pipe module uses convection cooling to transfer heat away from the processor. Copper tubing, coated in nickel and filled with distilled water provides the conduit through which heat passes to a radiator. Every XPC uses this patented cooling technology to prevent heat damage and deliver some of the quietest computers available.
Click to expand...
 
But has anybody experienced anything like this before? It's frustrating that I can explain or figure out what happened.

Heatpipes from Thermalright should be solidly constructed and soldered together, I doubt they could leak but I can think of no other explanation unless the CPU finally gave out and now requires more volts and heats up faster because it finally burnt out over time.
 
Well, I've e-mailed thermalright, I'll see what they say. CPU temperatures are definetely 10º C above normal now at the same voltage as before.
 
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