Hi All,
Lately I've seen a lot of Sandybridge builds using Corsair coolers. These are some great quality closed loop coolers.
However the included documentation, leaves too much out of the installation instructions to be really useful if you're a first time user of these systems. I thought I'd post some of the key considerations of the installation to avoid some the more common mistakes one can make using them.
I've seen many photos/images of what some of the other build/club/help sites offer and really.. they miss the mark on the most common issues.
I'll try to put these in the order I've seen most often, to be installed incorrectly.
Installer Issues:
1) Improper radiator mounting position in orientation:
Mount the radiator in the vertical position, ports bottom side as the best position.
If you want to mount it horizontally, ensure the intake/exit ports are at the bottom-most orientation to avoid sucking air through the pump and thereby losing all or most cooling effiecency. Also add a slight angle (w washers) at the two port position screws to make these the lower portion of side seen vertical. This also helps to avoid sucking air into the pump and actually works best for this type of orientation.
This is less critical on the larger 2 fan radiators because they are thicker in profile and less prone (higher) to sucking air into the pump.
2) Improper backside bracket orientation:
The bottom mounting bracket if you look closely.. has on one side, a small cutout area for extra clearance of the boards CPU mounting screws.
This bracket should be oriented with this "cutout" facing the board mount screws. If not, an angle will be established which will make adding the pump mounting post very difficult to insert and to tighten down. This also puts "misalignment stress" on the copper contact plate on the CPU.
The result is uneven cooling of the CPU and a big loss in the cooling area aspect.
3) Difficulty inserting backside holding bracket and tightening vertical mount screws.
The reason is number 2 above. Also many people do not realize the bracket holes themselves are "adjustable". They slide in the slots where they are machined - to best match the mainboard alignments of the various AMD & Intel CPU types. It does take effort because there is a clear plastic insulator sandwiched with the bracket. This prevents vibration shorting of any trace runs under its surface when properly mounted against the mainboard. Before attaching the topside posts, ensure the bottom bracket fits flush with the backside of the mainboard.
4) Removing the thermal cooling paste.
The cooling paste Corsair uses is quite good and exceeds the recommended norm for this in thermal value.
Removing the paste to get better value, is just adding more work to your build. To get the best cooling possible, smear a tiny amount across the entire raised cooling surface of the CPU itself. Then remove excess so as to leave a "footprint smear" of damp paste on the CPU. Be sure to work fairly quickly to avoid drying the paste smear out. If it does you've added to your problem by putting a dry barrier in place to the contact surface cooling. If it remains damp then the contact is assured to be the "best possible" between the CPU and the copper contact plate of the pump with the stock paste in place.
5) Assuring proper clearances between the pump and the mainboard components (caps, mounts, sockets, ram, etc)
Be sure to check that once you've mounted the pump onto the CPU, that there is some clearance to adjoining components. Usually you will have at least two other clocking positions which may provide a greater clearance between these to avoid causing damage to them, and to avoid crushing them when you tighten down the pump mounting screws. Also that condition will not allow the copper contact plate to sit evenly across and in proper direct contact with the CPU raised cooling surface.
I hope this helps many of those people new to closed loop water cooling.
Cheers!
Lately I've seen a lot of Sandybridge builds using Corsair coolers. These are some great quality closed loop coolers.
However the included documentation, leaves too much out of the installation instructions to be really useful if you're a first time user of these systems. I thought I'd post some of the key considerations of the installation to avoid some the more common mistakes one can make using them.
I've seen many photos/images of what some of the other build/club/help sites offer and really.. they miss the mark on the most common issues.
I'll try to put these in the order I've seen most often, to be installed incorrectly.
Installer Issues:
1) Improper radiator mounting position in orientation:
Mount the radiator in the vertical position, ports bottom side as the best position.
If you want to mount it horizontally, ensure the intake/exit ports are at the bottom-most orientation to avoid sucking air through the pump and thereby losing all or most cooling effiecency. Also add a slight angle (w washers) at the two port position screws to make these the lower portion of side seen vertical. This also helps to avoid sucking air into the pump and actually works best for this type of orientation.
This is less critical on the larger 2 fan radiators because they are thicker in profile and less prone (higher) to sucking air into the pump.
2) Improper backside bracket orientation:
The bottom mounting bracket if you look closely.. has on one side, a small cutout area for extra clearance of the boards CPU mounting screws.
This bracket should be oriented with this "cutout" facing the board mount screws. If not, an angle will be established which will make adding the pump mounting post very difficult to insert and to tighten down. This also puts "misalignment stress" on the copper contact plate on the CPU.
The result is uneven cooling of the CPU and a big loss in the cooling area aspect.
3) Difficulty inserting backside holding bracket and tightening vertical mount screws.
The reason is number 2 above. Also many people do not realize the bracket holes themselves are "adjustable". They slide in the slots where they are machined - to best match the mainboard alignments of the various AMD & Intel CPU types. It does take effort because there is a clear plastic insulator sandwiched with the bracket. This prevents vibration shorting of any trace runs under its surface when properly mounted against the mainboard. Before attaching the topside posts, ensure the bottom bracket fits flush with the backside of the mainboard.
4) Removing the thermal cooling paste.
The cooling paste Corsair uses is quite good and exceeds the recommended norm for this in thermal value.
Removing the paste to get better value, is just adding more work to your build. To get the best cooling possible, smear a tiny amount across the entire raised cooling surface of the CPU itself. Then remove excess so as to leave a "footprint smear" of damp paste on the CPU. Be sure to work fairly quickly to avoid drying the paste smear out. If it does you've added to your problem by putting a dry barrier in place to the contact surface cooling. If it remains damp then the contact is assured to be the "best possible" between the CPU and the copper contact plate of the pump with the stock paste in place.
5) Assuring proper clearances between the pump and the mainboard components (caps, mounts, sockets, ram, etc)
Be sure to check that once you've mounted the pump onto the CPU, that there is some clearance to adjoining components. Usually you will have at least two other clocking positions which may provide a greater clearance between these to avoid causing damage to them, and to avoid crushing them when you tighten down the pump mounting screws. Also that condition will not allow the copper contact plate to sit evenly across and in proper direct contact with the CPU raised cooling surface.
I hope this helps many of those people new to closed loop water cooling.
Cheers!
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