Sooo adding heatpipes to my M17x R4....

I am wondering if anyone here has a thorough understanding on heat pipes before i start to dive in and read my brains out. Would this work? Would the heat actually transfer? Would this affect the way the other heatpipes flow and cause more problems? (referring to heat pipe on heat pipe here)

I was thinking about next time i take my R4 apart I will use my IR heat thermometer and see how efficient the cooling system is for the CPU. Would the CPU actually need the heat pipes on it? Or would you be better off to run a heatpipe from each heatsink instead? (assuming space permits) The point is if CPU heatsink base is 80C and heat sink fins are 75C I may be able to get away with heat pipe going from heat sink fins to heat sink fins but i doubt space exists. My biggest concern is soldering heatpipes on top of a heatpipe might ruin their flow hence why heatsink to heatsink via heatpipe would prevent that. Or if somehow space permits heatpipe to GPU heatsink. I could also just remove one heatpipe off my GPU to give myself space. The GPU runs incredibly cool. The fan on the GPU never stay at full speed so i might be able to just run on two pipes or run the third pipe from CPU to GPU to GPU heatsink....i am thinking this is my best option.

I am getting some parts in the mail next month to mess around with and i can order some more if needed. I shouldn't actually have to modify the case if i use the latter option.

So I am thinking removing GPU heat pipe and putting in new heatpipe from CPU-GPU-GPU heatsink would be best but i would love to know others thoughts!!! I would love to get some extra cooling capacity for my CPU. The 55 watt limit blows.

 

In my opinion,that would work *only* if you can ensure adequate contact between the new heatpipe and the CPU/GPU - best results would require soldering/brazing with silver based solder, and you're likely to damage the heatpipe in the process (it may swell up or leak).

Also, the longer the heatpipes, the less effective they are.

An easier and still effective option is to connect the GPU and CPU heatpipes with a copper sheet and thermal paste.

In addition, you can try my heatsink mod, as well.

 

two things:
Would that not mess up the flow of the gas in the heat pipes?
Also IIRC heatpipes transfer heat far better than a solid piece of copper.
Lastly, TIM sucks compared to solder and if i can actually solder it together that would allow much better transfer.

Removing that one heat pipe on the GPU and extending it to the CPU shouldn't be that hard right? It wouldn't be a whole lot longer either. How do they solder the heat pipes than? After assembly? Have a video?

BTW is this really old post? or is this a redisign of someone else's concept? I swear i saw this like 2 years ago or something around here.

 

You could use HeatSpring thermal film instead of TIM, so long as you have the heatpipe machined properly and can get actual pressure. The conductivity is very high and indium bonds to copper at a molecular level over time. That being said, those heatpipes you want to add won't do jack unless you find a way to communicate the heat from the heatpipe into the fins through which cold air is being pushed out.
Additionally, if you plan to transfer heat from the 100+W card into the 55W heatsink, well, I can just tell you that you may be surprised at how much that will ruin your CPU temps.

 

You'll have hard time removing just one heat-pipe from the assembly. I have added couple of heat-pipes to my heat-sink, but no soldering. The disassembly is easy, when you are sacrificing the whole thing that is. Just put it in preheat oven @270ºC for 8~10 mins, lift it here and there with a screw-driver and you're done. No expanded heat-pipes or whatever. The soldering is tricky and you could easily ruin your work, hence why I stayed away from it. Granted you'll have best results with solder, but the second best option is not that bad either - Arctic Silver Thermal Adhesive. Note it's Silver and not Alumina. I got Alumina by mistake, since I didn't have enough Thermal Adhesive for my project, and after reading around it turned out to be not as good. Actually I remembered for third option - while I was digging for my project I found this - NanoFoil. Apply some heat and BAM you have soldered two pieces together. The problem is that you can only buy the solderless NanoFoil for now.

 

AS stated before that diffusion is a bad thing according to Jim at Indium Corp. The diffusion actually reduces thermal transfer plus no where i could get pressure to be adequate. The last sentence i dont understand where you got that from what i said but whatever. I only plan on taking heat from CPU to the GPU heat fins but if i have to merge those two heat fins that would still be irrelevant because as i stated the GPU runs cool. The GPU cooling system is way over the top compared to the CPU side. I found some heat pipes on ebay i might give a try.

CCI 00C93460101 Heat Pipe 0 008K w Copper BGA | eBay
Copper Heat Pipe 200mm Length Flat Profile 2mm Thickness CCI 00C93420101 | eBay

any thoughts on those?

Thanks for the advice! now that nano foil...that is interesting. I saw that before but never gave it much thought. That might work. So it is just aluminum and nickel? Any reports on the mwk? Compared to lead solder?

Also if i recall according to Jim standard lead solder is almost always best for bounding for thermal conditions. It tends to have the highest mwk IIRC....that was like a year ago though.

shesh that nanofoil is expensive :/ I might try checking out one of their dealers to see if a better price is possible.

 

Well to my understanding it's precisely solder (the solder-plated version). It just uses this reactive film to melt the solder. Yeah it comes at a price, sadly.

 

what do you think of those heat pipes i found? Any idea of a place to get better ones or other options

 

The 3mm version is OK. Most notebook pipes are 3mm. The problem is that 20cm could be on the short side if you are going after replacing one pipe with a longer one. It would be fine if you are going to connect both sides (the yellow line). The bending would be tricky. Precisely, the bending without screwing them. They are easy to deform, so you might loose conductivity. A pen or a rod of the same diameter would be useful to bend around it. I don't know other places, sorry.

 

i have a pipe bender so i'll try that...crap...i didn't realize that was 200mm. I was thinking it was a foot or so for some weird reason :/ Any place to get one made? Also it was water filled...does that mean it has a wick with water as the vaper?

Do you think they would work right and transfer if i have a copper heat pipe connecting CPU to the GPU heat pipe?

Also am i reading that right? That is only one heat pipe right in that order?

http://uk.farnell.com/cci/00c93480101/heat-pipe-300mm-8mm-dia/dp/1373311
http://www.newark.com/cci/00c93480101/heat-pipe-300mm-8mm-dia/dp/54M1530
http://www.wattbits.com/00c93480101.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Heatpipe-diy-6mm-chief-300mm-copper-material/723695395.html

300mm but 8 mm wide :/ I would have to flatten it...i wonder how effective it would be

 

It would simply allow heat to dissipate from the CPU and GPU through ALL of the heatpipes. It would be most effective when only one chip is fully loaded, and should not mess anything up when both the CPU and GPU are at full load. The distance between the chips is small enough that a piece of 1mm copper should be effective at transferring the heat.

Desoldering one pipe will be hard - any heat you apply locally will dissipate through the whole heatsink - it's surprisingly good at it . And I'm pretty sure you're not gonna do it with a soldering iron - you'll need a torch.

I unsuccessfully tried brazing a heatsink with a butane torch - you need A LOT of heat for that, and seeing how weaker heatpipes swell up from the heat of the chips themselves, I think damaging them is highly likely.

I don't know how they're assembled - would love to see that myself. I'm guessing they do it in low temperatures or fill them up after soldering. I also think they use lead-free solder (due to regulations), which melts at a higher temperature (~220 degrees Celsius).

Bending the pipe to a large degree may also break the internal structure (it's a porous metal) - which will reduce it's effectiveness, possibly a lot.

Basically, I'd say you should find a spare heatsink to experiment on first if you want to go through with it

 

Good for you then.

It would balance the heat, it would always transfer it from the hotter to the colder part.

This is the right one, also it's lot of 5. The ones we have in our notebooks are made of exactly those 6mm uhmmm stencils (lack of better word). They are made to the according length, bend and then flattened. Notice the order - bend then flattened, since it would make dimpling the other way around. You have to use large diameter pipe for flattening, applying steady pressure while rolling back and forth. You have to measure it frequently since 3mm is where they work best. It wont hurt to flatten it more, but we are seeking the best results, aren't we In the end you'll have to bend it a bit more here and there, since it would stretch from the flattening, but it wont hurt, since it already has the overall shape. Good luck.

 

so much broscience ITT

 

had to google that word...never heard it before. How so is this broscience? Granted some of the things have been stated simple dont work and they were called out. The heat pipe should work if done right...the real question is if the heat pipes would work if stacked.