Slight mod for heavy air coolers

[azraa]

Hey guys, I just bought my Hyper212 EVO (still saving up for my mobo and cpu) and I was watching install guides on Youtube and all that, even when I am handy with this prodecures already (arming pcs for family/friends for about 5 years now)

The thing is that the Evo is heavy(in my opinion), as well as the NH-D14 and the Phanteks I suppose.
Now, I dont have a lot of money you know, and my intended build will be like my freaking treasure, and as so, I want to keep it from any harm.

I live in Chile, which is kinda seismic and my home is in a 12th floor apt.
I know it is unlikely for it to fall from a quake/tremor but I want to consider every little aspect.
Also I will be moving it permanently and this may cause too much tension on the motherboard if a quick motion happens.

What I was thinking was to secure the fin stack with some sort of wire to the top panel of my case (Mine is going to be CM Enforcer). This is possible for most cases with an upper fan grill, so with this wire, make it capture a heatpipe from the cooler, then wire it to the top and secure it in place (yup, as ghetto-mod as it sounds)

So that's it, I kinda need help with your experiences:
Has anyone tried this?
Does the up-pulling force reduce contact/pressure with the cpu?
Is it worth it? Are there any performance losses?

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Try scythe ninja wire as a startpoint but yes ,its a feasible mod and with sufficient care, could even look good,I don't know of anyone using it on Cpu heatsinks, its designed for heavy Gfx cards
As long as you measure the length correctly it shouldn't pull the Hsf up, just tight enough to support the weight will do and won't affect Cpu contact
Moto

 

[azraa]

Yeah thats what I aimed for.
Just nullify the weight of it, not actually pulling it up.

But, as physics would tell us, the force of the weight pushes the bottom half of the cpu more than the upper, so my take on the matter is that, reducing that lower half pressure would reduce overall proximity to the heatspreader+paste, possibly leading to a thermal paste dripping, and/or to a loss in conductivity

Ohh and besides, I dont really know the wire you speak of, but i was thinking of something like a plastic cable tie, a big one. Or maybe a regular metallic wire properly bended. But the questions come to me again: Will a heatpipe be able to melt the plastic cable tie? Or would a metallic wire be an electricAL danger to the cpu in case of a discharge?

Jeez, im so nervous about my components getting damaged X)

 

[inzone]

The concept is good because it has been done with video cards and I can remember doing it with thoes old huge double 3DFX cards that were super long and actually used a wiretie for it.
The tying it to the heat pipe might not be a good idea because thos pipes are super thin and it wouldn't take much to bend one or even crush it some. I would try some sort of loop around the fins where you have so many and you wouldn't be attaching to just one.

 

[smorizio]

a simple fix would be to drill and tap the heat sink..not the fins. and then make or pick up a small metal strap and conenct the strap to the heat sink and the outside of the case. if the pc falls over the heat sink should not move as it would be conencted to the case by the braces.

 

[inzone]

Except fot the base the whole heatsink is just fins and heat pipe so where are you drilling and taping?The OP is a young boy I doubt that he has knowledge of how to drill and tap. I'm not even sure how this strap is attached to the outside of the case?

 

[inzone]

A better simpler idea would be to use the screw hole in the fan to attach a wire so as to not mess up the fins or the heat pipe.

 

[4Ryan6]

Hey guys, I just bought my Hyper212 EVO (still saving up for my mobo and cpu) and I was watching install guides on Youtube and all that, even when I am handy with this prodecures already (arming pcs for family/friends for about 5 years now)

The thing is that the Evo is heavy(in my opinion), as well as the NH-D14 and the Phanteks I suppose.
Now, I dont have a lot of money you know, and my intended build will be like my freaking treasure, and as so, I want to keep it from any harm.

I live in Chile, which is kinda seismic and my home is in a 12th floor apt.
I know it is unlikely for it to fall from a quake/tremor but I want to consider every little aspect.
Also I will be moving it permanently and this may cause too much tension on the motherboard if a quick motion happens.

What I was thinking was to secure the fin stack with some sort of wire to the top panel of my case (Mine is going to be CM Enforcer). This is possible for most cases with an upper fan grill, so with this wire, make it capture a heatpipe from the cooler, then wire it to the top and secure it in place (yup, as ghetto-mod as it sounds)

So that's it, I kinda need help with your experiences:
Has anyone tried this?
Does the up-pulling force reduce contact/pressure with the cpu?
Is it worth it? Are there any performance losses?

Yeah thats what I aimed for.
Just nullify the weight of it, not actually pulling it up.

But, as physics would tell us, the force of the weight pushes the bottom half of the cpu more than the upper, so my take on the matter is that, reducing that lower half pressure would reduce overall proximity to the heatspreader+paste, possibly leading to a thermal paste dripping, and/or to a loss in conductivity

Ohh and besides, I dont really know the wire you speak of, but i was thinking of something like a plastic cable tie, a big one. Or maybe a regular metallic wire properly bended. But the questions come to me again: Will a heatpipe be able to melt the plastic cable tie? Or would a metallic wire be an electricAL danger to the cpu in case of a discharge?

Jeez, im so nervous about my components getting damaged X)

The EVO has a supporting steel motherboard back plate and bolts through the motherboard you do not need a safety wire!

All the heavies including the Noctua NH-D14, etc. all have motherboard back plates to keep from damaging the motherboard from the weight of the cooler.

Now if your cooler was clipped on, or push pinned in, I could see your concern, but the coolers you've mentioned are designed to be mounted to supplied motherboard back plates without hurting the motherboard, so you're wasting your time and effort even being concerned about it.

 

[azraa]

Yes Ryan, I am aware of that backplate.
And also I see how well it prevents damages, it provides 4 points of very secure and sturdy nature. But I don trust the retention bracket, the x-shaped metal thingie. I know it can hold it just fine in a regular static condition, but as I said before, when moving it might move around and crush the socket.

Except fot the base the whole heatsink is just fins and heat pipe so where are you drilling and taping?The OP is a young boy I doubt that he has knowledge of how to drill and tap. I'm not even sure how this strap is attached to the outside of the case?

I may be 21yo but come on, I've been reading tech/hardware/basic IT for years, arming pcs for years, and besides I study engineering, I know how to use my tools.

Now drill the fins or the heatsink is just ridiculous. I wouldn't even consider that.
An entire loop around is less stressful to a heatpipe, distributing the force made to one pipe, into many, reducing its magnitude per pipe.

Whatever.
Should just shut it and be careful with the whole thing when moving it and stop bothering you and myself about this?
Or the wiretie idea is reasonable if done carefully?

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Reasonable if done carefully although in most scenarios unneccesary,
its only the potential tremor damage you're trying to foresee and pre-act to so I say why not, its certainly not going to hurt the Hsf to be a little more supported
Moto

 

[azraa]

Best answer selected by azraa.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Thank you for B.a. man, post pics when you are done?
Moto

 

[4Ryan6]

Yes Ryan, I am aware of that backplate.
And also I see how well it prevents damages, it provides 4 points of very secure and sturdy nature. But I don trust the retention bracket, the x-shaped metal thingie. I know it can hold it just fine in a regular static condition, but as I said before, when moving it might move around and crush the socket.

Your fears are completely unwarranted, no one has ever reported a crushed socket, from moving the computer around, and many take theirs to lans everyday and bump them around severely.

The x-shaped metal thingie is a very strong retention bracket, and if you have a problem extreme enough to crush a motherboards socket in the first place, the last of your concerns will be your computer!

Since you cannot seem to get past those fears your best option would be water cooling anyway, much less socket pressure!

Of course then you'll have to be concerned with water boiling in the radiators, Oh Well? Back to Fear 101! :lol:

 

[Motopsychojdn]

/Agree on W/c being better,
both as a cooling solution and as relieving potential pressure on the Cpu socket in an earthquake,
but yeah, if the ground my house is built on starts rumbling, the last thing I'd think of is my Pc lol,
if it got damaged its just a reason to build a new one hehe
Moto