SX38P2

[liquibyte]

I just purchased an Shuttle SX38P2-Pro from Newegg not quite a month ago. At the same time I also purchased an Enzotech Sapphire waterblock thinking that at a later time I could do some water cooling. Unfortunately for me the block retention plate is way out of line with the holes on the motherboard. Does anyone know the standard for the holes in the motherboard and/or the ICE module that comes with this thing? I spent quite a bit putting this liquid cooling solution together and am rather disappointed that I purchased an LGA775 barebone and the LGA775 waterblock won't even fit because of a non-standard hole pattern in the motherboard.

Oh, I forgot URL's to pics (not dial-up friendly)...

http://liquibyte.com/image/sx38p2/001.png
http://liquibyte.com/image/sx38p2/002.png
http://liquibyte.com/image/sx38p2/003.png

 

[Maturin]

Thats unfortunate. On my s939 Shuttle, I had to use the mounting hardware for a s478 on my water block. That looks similar to the 478 mounting, though 478 mightve been a bit longer on two sides. Does any of the other mounting hardware that came with that waterblock work perhaps?
If all else fails you could probably fabricate some kind of custom retention mechanism.

 

[liquibyte]

It's not readily apparent even from the pics but the retention plate is symmetrical...

[fixed]|-------------------|
| x x |
| |-----------| |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| |-----------| |
| x x |
|-------------------|[/fixed]

...but any aftermarket solution would look more like the following.
[fixed]|-------------------------|
| x x |
| |-----------| |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| |-----------| |
| x x |
|-------------------------|[/fixed]

 

[Shadow703793]

Looks like your best bet is to do some modding to the block or return it and buy a new one.

 

[liquibyte]

There isn't a waterblock available that fits this motherboard configuration, period. As far as I can tell, this isn't even a standard micro ATX. I think I'm the first to try this and run into this problem. The problem isn't exactly with the waterblock itself though, it's with the retention plate which is a seperate piece altogether. The waterblock and entire package pictures show how the block itself is held down. This waterblock would fit any LGA775 motherboard in production I would bet, with the exception of the one I have actually purchased. I'll probably have to wait some time for any sort of solution to present itself due to the product being as new as it is. Nevertheless, I'd sure appreciate it if anyone else that has had this problem in the past would offer some thoughts.

 

[firemist]

From the installation instructions
http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/sidewindercomputers/sapphirecpu.pdf
it appeares the mounting holes should align with the holes that the 775 HSF would snap into. Are you saying this board would not accept a standard 775 HSF either? If that is the case how is the CPU to be cooled?

 

[liquibyte]

Take a look at this picture and you'll see what I mean. The motherboard won't accept a standard sized 775 cooling solution, only the proprietary ICE module.

For more and better pics and to see how everything goes together, go to http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/Shuttle-SX38P2-Pro,review-30107.html and have a look through the review.

 

[liquibyte]

OK, I've come up with a homebrew solution.

Originally:
[fixed]|-------------------|
| x x |
| |-----------| |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| |-----------| |
| x x |
|-------------------|[/fixed]
The proposed:
[fixed]|-------------------------|
| x x |
| |-----------| |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| |-----------| |
| x x |
|-------------------------|[/fixed]
The solution:
[fixed]|------------------------|
| x x |
| |-----------| |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| |-----------| |
| x x |
|------------------------|[/fixed]

I used a piece of 1/4" aluminum and cut and filed and filed and filed it until I got a nice fit with the holes in the correct configuration. I'll post a few pics as soon as I have it complete.

 

[jrp1]

Hi
i have a sx38p2 fitted with a XFX4870x 2 (powered by a power express 450w unit sitting on top of the case),
did you get your water cooling to work, and could you send some pics to j.pakes@btinternet.com, just waiting for my VGA water block to come before I start converting my pc

cheers Jpakes