I just received hardware to mount my Xigmatech S1283 Red Scorpion using a metal brace instead of the LGA775 pins. Xigmatech makes a package called Crossbow part# ACK-17361. All well and good. I've never trusted the pins to give me a unconditional tight seal between the CPU and the cooler. Several questions come up. They are coming up because I have to take the system apart and remove the motherboard to put on the hardware...can hardly wait.
First is the orientation of the cooler. Vertical or horizontal? Does the contents in the heat pipes have a preference, i.e. are they more effective one way or the other?
Second question. Am using Arctic Silver 5. What way is the best way to apply. Now before you send me off to read the Arctic Silver install guide
, remember that guide makes or I presume (hate to assume) that they are referring to a CPU cooler that has a perfectly flat mating surface, thus the tiny bead across the CPU such that putting the cooler in place will ensure that the thermal compound will spread out due to the pressure exerted by the installation of the cooler will squeeze the compound in a manner that will spread out nicely over the cores.
Well the Xigmatech does NOT have a perfectly flat mating surface. It has three pipes that actually contact the cpu surface and strips of the cooling block between the pipes. There is a minute valley between the heat pipe and the cooling block. I would expect that valley to suck up some compound. The interface is hardly perfectly flat. So as I see it I can:
1) Put the bead across the CPU such that it crosses both cores and have the head pipes at a 90 degree angle to this bead. Down side is all three heat pipes do not cross both cores.
2) Put a rice or smaller amount of compound on each heat pipe and run the heat pipes horizontally across the CPU, i.e. 90 degrees different than my #1 and thus all three heat pipes service both cores.
3) use a baggy and lay down a extremely thin layer of compound right on the cpu and again have the heat pipes run horizontally across the CPU such that each pipe runs over both cores.
Now that I have 3 heat pipes perhaps that means they should run such that all pipes run across both cores thus answering my first question on orientation. Now...please educate me with your knowledge and experience and I shall be most grateful.
Oh, my vote is for method #3, however am not limiting the choices to my three ideas.