How many of you are using copper spacers???

[AMDnut]

I had this posted in another thread of mine by BladeRunner. I've ordered one from CrazyPC for my Duron [email protected]

How many of you are running your overclocked AMD's using one of these? How effective are they? Do you cover it in thermal grease or leave it bare?

Thanks in advance for the info!

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Duron [email protected]
Abit KT7 RAID

http://members.tripod.com/athlon100/index.htm]AMDnut's Tech Page



[This message has been edited by AMDnut (edited 12-04-2000).]

 

[AMDnut]

Oh yeah, it looks like the copper may touch some of the resistors (transistors???). Is that OK? Or do I need to custom fit this to my CPU?

TIA

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Duron [email protected]
Abit KT7 RAID

http://members.tripod.com/athlon100/index.htm]AMDnut's Tech Page

 

[BladeRunner]

No it should have clearance holes like the one shown in the picture and must lay flat on the slate ceramic part of the CPU. don't put much paste (if any on it) as it might ooze out over the resistors. If it doesn't have the four round holes you will also need to remove the soft foam rubber supports from the CPU base as well.

I've ordered the one shown in the picture so I'll let you know when it gets here how good it is.

 

[xSiLeNtDx]

Yeah.. where can I get one of thoes?

(this thread has been brought back from the dead!)

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[SDS]

Even if it did touch the resistors/capacitors copper isn't a very good electrical conductor so it probably wouldn't matter much anyway.
(C'mon people, don't get all exited that was just a joke... i'm so funny!)

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I²C bus, TO3 case, P4 CPU.

 

[flat-v8]

Over at www.overclockers.com read the article on copper shims, they say your cpu will run cooler without one. I have tried both ways, they seen to work good for FC-PGA Celeron & P-III's, my P-III [email protected] runs very cool with shim, my CUSL2 700E cC0 @960 now runs cooler using a shim, 28*c on startup, 40*c w/100% load. I built a Duron [email protected] & it ran pretty cool without any spacer, just using the rubber feet.

 

[AMDnut]

I picked up mine at www.crazypc.com and they also have them at www.3dcool.com as well.
Mine didn't drop the temp any and it required a little bit of custom fitting to work correctly. All in all, it wasn't worth it IMHO!!!

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Duron [email protected]
Abit KT7 RAID

http://members.tripod.com/athlon100/index.htm]AMDnut's Tech Page

 

[tysidor]

Bladerunner or AMDNUT

Isn't the main purpose of copper spacers to protect your cpu core. When I get my new thunderbird I was going to get a copper spacer for that reason. On the other hand if it doesn't help protect the core and makes your cpu hotter then why in world should I get one.

AMDNUT-How much custom fitting did you have to do?

Thanks for the help.

 

[AMDnut]

Your correct, protecting the core is one reason, the other main reason is to insure your heatsink sits level on the core. This will help keep heat down. If your heatsink is sitting uneven on top of the core, you will have a hot spot or burn up the CPU. I can tell you about that!!! I have a corner of my Duron core that is black from heat!

As for the custom fitting, my spacer was to thick and kept the sink from contacting the core so I had to lap it a little bit. I also had to do a little grinding with a Dremel to insure that the copper spacer did not contact the resistors on the CPU. If you look at the above picture, you can see where the spacer touches the resistors. I had to do some minor work to make sure nothing was touching. It wasn't a big deal, but it was a little pain!

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Duron [email protected]
Abit KT7 RAID

http://members.tripod.com/athlon100/index.htm]AMDnut's Tech Page

 

[tysidor]

Thanks AMDNUT, I think I will still probably get one just for protecting the core, and making sure my heatsink sits evenly. I would rather do a little sanding and lapping then crush my core.

 

[OCit2death]

I've been looking at the picture of the shim, and have been wondering...the shim rests on the ceramic which is, I imagine perfectly flat, so it leaves no gaps for air to circulate. Therefore, wouldn't a heat pocket be created around the core itself? I know the heat that is expelled from the top of the core is given off to the heatsink but what about the sides? I would imagine that a CPU without the shim would run cooler. I'm probably wrong, but it is a thought/concern. Can anyone clear this up for me, or is there a possibility that I'm actually making some reasonable sense.

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ASUS P3V4X
CeleronII [email protected] 1.8v
512MB MICRON PC-133
Matrox G400MAX
WD 20GB 7200RPM HD

 

[Paragon]

the air circulating itself will not draw the heat it will sit there however ( heat just like electricity follows the path of least resistance) it should go out through the heatsink or down into the ceramic part of the chip ( and them possible back out the shim etc ). This is why the shims look bad for cooling @ sub zero temps.. the copper spacer is discharging more cheap ( absorbing more cold? ) due to it larger surface area and lower resistance than the cpu core and thus raises the core temperature slightly.

 

[OCit2death]

well I guess I was making a bit of sense, but after more thought and Paragon's insights, the heat does/should be absorbed by the shim/heatsink/ceramic...however as paragon also stated, it does raise temps slightly. hmmm, I guess if it is ever so slight but it means better contact with the core, then it is worth it. or is there a better alternative to the shim for contact? Golden ORB?

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ASUS P3V4X
CeleronII [email protected] 1.8v
512MB MICRON PC-133
Matrox G400MAX
WD 20GB 7200RPM HD

 

[InsaneFreak666]

Should I get myself one of those? I've ordered a Duron 700 a couple of days ago and without thinking, I also ordered a GlobalWin FOP32-1.
The FOP32-1 is IMO a good heatsink/fan, but installing it is not easy. I tried one of them on my K6-III 450 and I had to use so much force to get the clip in position that I thought I was going to crack the CPU.

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[AMDnut]

The choice is yours!

I have run with and without the shim. Currently I'm running without the shim because I'm running an ALPHA PAL6035 which mounted easily. I've been switching and testing different heatsinks a lot lately and didn't put it back on when I went back to my ALPHA.

I would not mount my FOP32 or FOP38 without using my shim though. The clip is to strong and it's easy to get crooked on the core.
I would say if you are going to run the FOP32/38 heatsink, you should run a shim to prevent possible damage when mounting.

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Duron [email protected]
Abit KT7 RAID

http://members.tripod.com/athlon100/index.htm]AMDnut's Tech Page

 

[tysidor]

Have any of you seen or used this Copper Spacer before?

Here's something else that threw me. They recommend to use thermal compound on both sides of the spacer.


S p e c i f i c a t i o n
Features:

Professionally CNC stamped and rolled, for use with Duron or Thunderbird

--Designed to provide stability and better heat transfer with AMD s462/A
when used with any after market heat sink and water-cooling applications.
--Made from a coil of high-grade copper alloy and stamped twice for uniformity.
The shim will provide a perfect platform to ensure your CPU core will not get broken or cracked by any application you might decide on.
--Be sure to use thermal grease on both sides of the shim

 

[S_Klass]

IMHO that's certainly overkill, the thermal paste you apply on both sides of that shim will probably only serve to stop it from shifting/sliding in transit.

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-=S_Klass=- I tweak... therefore I am.