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New coolers... first time...

T

That Linux Guy

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 24, 2008
Messages
306
Hey all, this is my first time upgrading my heatsinks. I just got my Xigmatek HDT-S1283 and Scythe Musashi. I'm still waiting for my Xigmatek Porter N881 chipset cooler and S1283 bolt-thru kit to arrive from another etailer.

My question is mainly for the scythe musashi. The base plate of the Musashi featureas a heavily polished nickel-plated bottom, but the other parts also include a copper spacer. The instructions say to install the copper spacer in between the graphics chip and the Musashi.

If I'm supposed to put a copper piece inbetween the cooler and the graphics chip, do I put thermal paste on between the core and copper, and then again in between the copper and cooler? I'm confused. If it wasn't for this copper spacer, everything else would be common sense. Anyone offer any ideas on this? Any fellow Musashi owners?
 
no you should only have to put thermal paste between the copper plate and gpu.. when you bolt it down to the card it will hold everything together.. because you want direct contact with the copper and the heatsink base for the most efficiency..


but if im wrong anyone please correct me because its 6 in the morning and ive been up far to long..
 
First, is the spacer needed for contact/clearance in your case? If so, then YES you need thermal paste on both contact areas, the purpose is still the same.
 
I'll find out in a few hours when I get out of work. I had nothing in the house to clean off the old paste, and nothing to clean the chip with to put new paste on. I guess I'll let every one know. I did the test fit on my 7900 GS with and withou the spacer. It fit fine in bot scenarios. Hopefully my 4870 will work the same.
 
That Linux Guy said:
I'll find out in a few hours when I get out of work. I had nothing in the house to clean off the old paste, and nothing to clean the chip with to put new paste on. I guess I'll let every one know. I did the test fit on my 7900 GS with and withou the spacer. It fit fine in bot scenarios. Hopefully my 4870 will work the same.
Click to expand...

If it fits without it there is no reason to use the spacer, it's just adding more gaps and inefficiency.
 
Well, I got home and started on my project. I did a test cleaning on the GPU core of my 7900GS, since I've never applied thermal paste in my 5+ years of computer experience. This was definitely a first. After using WD40 and a paper towel to remove the old paste, and Isopropyl Alcohol to clean the core, I started dismantling my days-old HD4870.

During test fitting, the Musashi cooler was able to move around a bit. I didn't like this, and I blamed it on the fact that the bolts that go through the card were a smaller diameter than the holes in the card. Also the mounting bracket on the back with the nuts is absolute crap. I didn't like that from the first test fits, and when actually doing it on my HD4870. I got the cooler on just fine. I kept the steel base of the stock cooler with thermal pads for the RAM and VRMs. I've watched their temps through 4 rounds of Furmark and they're just fine.

The first time I applied thermal paste to the core, I didn't put enough on. I was idling and loading at the same temps as my stock cooler. I also wasn't using the copper spacer.After re-applying the thermal paste and cooler again, and using the copper spacer, I was tired of this stupid back plate Scythe sent me. I didn't fix the shifting problem, but I did improve it. What I did was the used the standard ATI backplate and springs. I put the back plate down first, then the springs, then the large thumb-bolts that Scythe provided. It could use some washers, but it definitely helps. Some small spacers over the bolts that attache the backplate to the base would fix the shifting problem.

Another issue was fitting the card+cooler in my case. I have an Antec Solo, and it can be cramped. I'm not trying to cram a ton of hardware into the rig, so the case is fine, but cable management is an issue right now, and, the video card is now an issue thanks to the HD4870 and Musashi. The 4870 is as long as a standard ATX motherbaord is long. My case only gives about half an inch between the drive cages and the edge of the mainbaord. The 4870 fit OK, but the Musashi extends past the card about 5/8 of an inch past the card. It definitley took some finesse, and some cable moving. I had to remove my IDE cable, but not after removing a stick of RAM first. I'll have my computer almost completely disassembled in a couple days, so I'll try to work on cable-gami while I'm at it.

My current temps with the fans on high are 42C idle, 60C load w/ Furmark. On low, I was getting 46C idle, and 73C load. Furmark was at 1680x1050, 8x AA, and in Stability Test mode.

The fans on low are fairly quiet to my tastes, but most would call them silent. The sound signature of the fans isn't overbearing. You only hear a light "whoosh"ing sound of air on high, and it's simply less noticeable on low. The sound the fans make are easily overpowered by any other noisy fan. For instance, running Furmark, I noticed my OEM Intel heatsink more than the Musashi. The OEM Intel cooler has an annoying motor noise that goes up and down constantly thanks to PWM fan technology. My rig is currently running the stock Intel heatsink, (only for a few more days though), a single Nexus 12cm exhaust, and 2x 92mm Nexus intake fans. My computer is relatively quiet all the time. My 4870 is what killed it, but now it's definitely hushed. I was hoping to improve temps, get a decent OC, and still keep it quiet, but I guess I have to get real sometime. Perhaps this idea can be done still with the CPU. I'll definitely let you guys know.

I'm considering still swapping it with the Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 with a nice 12cm fan. I haven't really decided yet. For right, now I'm going to keep the Musashi. It looks sweet. Performance is good on high, and it's quiet on low.

Thanks for all your input, and ideas. I'll be uploading some pics later to show-case the cooler, and what I was talking about with the mounting issues.
 
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