First attempt and hello

[Think]

Well, I installed a water rig with two things in mind: appearance and noise reduction.

I chose the Exos external system and am happy with the choice; it's just damn good looking:drinky: ;)

As far as the water blocks are concerned, I decided to go with Danger Den Maze 3 with 1/4 inlets and better clamps from my local hardware store. Not bad temp readings for an XP2700 I suppose; the temps are a steady 32C to 34C in bios and the probe ( which is located at the bottom of the block, so it's not as accurate ) shows temps at 29 to 31C respectively.

The only problem I have encountered was the DangerDen waterblock for the Radeon 9500PRO since it does not sit on the GPU at all, given the glued on shim ATI has placed. I tried initially with some Arctic Silver II but the temps shot through the roof, causing crashes and freezes during the execution of MadOnions 2001. As soon as I removed the video water block, I noticed NO transfer of Arctic Siver II's compound on the underside; when I installed the original HSF, everything runs fine.

The shim is very difficult to remove if at all!! and I would hate to remove that water block and get it grinded to suit. Does anyone have a safe solution to this dilemma?

...and hello once again:cool3:

By the way, my name is Marco and I'm a 36 year old dad with a strange fondness for FSB!:2guns:

[Drake]

'Grats on the walk into the watery side of computing :)

I would invest in a MCW-50 from Swiftech and go from there. That would be the easiest (and probably most expensive) solution. You could also sand down the outer edges of the base of the waterblock on your own.

Dunno :confused:

[Think]

You could also sand down the outer edges of the base of the waterblock on your own.

I think that's the best solution; there's actually not that much to grind down at all and should be relatively easy with a dremel tool.

Thanks

[mdzcpa]

Originally posted by Think


I think that's the best solution; there's actually not that much to grind down at all and should be relatively easy with a dremel tool.




Whoa....be VERY careful when you do this. That shim is there to protect the extremely fragile edges of the GPU where components are very near the surface of the silicon. There have been a good handful of dead R300 reports from those who have tried to remove the shim.

Not impossible, but dangerous. Take extreme care.

BTW, the MCW50 has a block design which fully accomodates the shim and mates perfectly with the GPU surface as drake indicated. It's worth considering.

...and a hearty Welcome the LN:)

[Think]

Thank you MD:)

I looked at that shim and I will tell you that it's impossible to remove without damaging the GPU!

I'll take some measurements to see the amount of gap differential there is within that gap opening and determine how much grinding would be needed to accomodate the DangerDen Radeon water block.

Other then that, I will take a look at your recommendations.

Thanks

:cool3: