[Build Log] Passively Cooled 400W/300W TDP System Under 100$

[iamdarkyoshi]

Update: Thermal paste EVERYWHERE

Spoiler

Got one heatsink panel made and I have made mounting hardware for the GPU heatpipe squid.

 

Here is the heatsink panel:

 

And here is the GPU heatsquid:

 

I have not mounted the heatsquid to the heatsink panel yet, nor have I made any temporary cooling solution for the VRMs and videoram on the 8800gts, which will be my test card. I have also not added thermal paste to the heatsquid as I will need to be taking it apart quite a bit.

 

@Stefan1024 When I go to test the 8800GTS which has a TDP of roughly half of the 390x and I want the 390x to reach a max of 80 degrees, what temp should I hope for on the 8800gts with an ambient temp of 25 degrees?

 

Hopefully I can do some testing tomorrow. Note that the heatsquid side of the GPU heatsink will also have heatinks on it, so a 2 sided heatsink with a GPU in the middle. Or rather in the corner...

 

 

 

 

So of course, the person who inspired me to POSSIBLY do this is @Stefan1024 and his insane dual GPU passive PC, and of course, that crazy guy is making another one, but with Xeon CPUs and OIL.

 

Anyway, I do not have the money to shell out on spendy heatsinks, so @thekeemo and I had the idea of melting down all of my spare heatsinks, which are assorted heatsinks of different sizes and condition (probably have around 50 pounds of aluminum in there) but then I had a much better idea (or possibly a terrible idea)

 

What if I were to mount a crapload of old CPU heatsinks on a plate of copper or aluminum to make one large heatsink? So I remembered a PC warehouse where I live that has refurb PCs, so I called them asking if they had heatsinks. They said that they most certainly do, they have plenty of matching heatsinks from some of the older or dead towers. And I aint jokin' when I say that this place has a TON of PCs.

 

So I asked him what I could get matching heatsinks for, and he said I could probably get them for A DOLLAR A PIECE. That is insane. And as I currently have no job, maybe I could work part time to get paid in heatsinks

 

So I would probably do something like this, in the silliest "CAD" software ever (probaboy should have used MS Paint):

 

H = Heatsink

P = Metal Plate

G = GPU

M = Motherboard

B = Metal Block

A= Air

 

HPAMAHPH

HPBMAHPH

HPBMAGPH

HPBMAGPH

HPAMAGPH

HPBMAGPH

HPBMAHPH

HPAMAHPH

 

As you can see, the GPU plate is not completely covered, so I have room for heatsinks on both sides, which is nice. The PSU would be mounted underneath it and the SSD and *sigh* HDD would go underneath as well. I would use my existing setup, probably one of the worst combos for heat output  Mouting the GPU will be interesting though.

 

But I honestly have no idea how feasible this would be, or if it would even be possible... Do you guys think I should do it? I think it is possible and the price of those heatsinks is a MAJOR help.

[iHardware Shelden]

I am liking this....  

[Aytex]

i wish i had stores like that where i lived

[thekeemo]

Hey I gave you the melting down idea. AND the stacking idea (grrr)

[iamdarkyoshi]

Just now, thekeemo said:

Hey I gave you the melting down idea.

I had the idea long before you did  But fine, I will make an edit  

[0ld_Chicken]

7 minutes ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

What if I were to mount a crapload of old CPU heatsinks on a plate of copper or aluminum to make one large heatsink? So I remembered a PC warehouse where I live

Just... start tagging me in everything you post haha

 

I think it sounds like an awesome idea and I definitely want to see it come along

[iamdarkyoshi]

Just now, 0ld_Chicken said:

Just... start tagging me in everything you post haha

 

I think it sounds like an awesome idea and I definitely want to see it come along

I think you can now be notified every time I post something (which would get annoying)

[pagani123]

not sure if you have the ability to solder copper or not? but why not just create your own heat sinks out of sheets of copper and solder them directly to the metal plate  they would probably be more effective than sticking heat sinks on a plate of copper as there is one less thermal barrier.

[iamdarkyoshi]

1 minute ago, Maybach123 said:

not sure if you have the ability to solder copper or not? but why not just create your own heat sinks out of sheets of copper and solder them directly to the metal plate  they would probably be more effective than sticking heat sinks on a plate of copper as there is one less thermal barrier.

I thought about it but think of the amount of heat required to solder something like that. If it is designed to keep an AMD card cool, then heating it up to solder is NOT going to be easy.

[thekeemo]

1 minute ago, Maybach123 said:

not sure if you have the ability to solder copper or not? but why not just create your own heat sinks out of sheets of copper and solder them directly to the metal plate  they would probably be more effective than sticking heat sinks on a plate of copper as there is one less thermal barrier.

I think he means putting solder between the metal plates

[iamdarkyoshi]

1 minute ago, thekeemo said:

I think he means putting solder between the metal plates

First, I am not sure if the plates will be aluminum or copper, probably aluminum as I already have a 3/4in ally plate.

[0ld_Chicken]

5 minutes ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

I think you can now be notified every time I post something (which would get annoying)

Really?  I dont know that I would want that haha.  It just seems like a third of the threads that catch my eye are somehow yours. 

1 minute ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

I thought about it but think of the amount of heat required to solder something like that. If it is designed to keep an AMD card cool, then heating it up to solder is NOT going to be easy.

I dont think it would be too hard to solder onto a thick copper plate as long as you've got oxy acetylene, mapp might even be able too.  AMD ain't THAT hot

[iamdarkyoshi]

1 minute ago, 0ld_Chicken said:

Really?  I dont know that I would want that haha.  It just seems like a third of the threads that catch my eye are somehow yours. 

I dont think it would be too hard to solder onto a thick copper plate as long as you've got oxy acetylene, mapp might even be able too.  AMD ain't THAT hot

Soldering my previous "squid heatsink" which had four heatsinks on the heatpipes of another was challanging enough

 

Had to have someone else do it and even they struggled

[pagani123]

3 minutes ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

I thought about it but think of the amount of heat required to solder something like that. If it is designed to keep an AMD card cool, then heating it up to solder is NOT going to be easy.

this is the kind of soldering i am talking about you use a propane torch.

3 minutes ago, thekeemo said:

I think he means putting solder between the metal plates

yes i do 

[iamdarkyoshi]

Just now, Maybach123 said:

this is the kind of soldering i am talking about you use a propane torch.

 

yes i do 

Ya it would be FAR too much metal to heat up and solder. 

[thekeemo]

Just now, Maybach123 said:

this is the kind of soldering i am talking about you use a propane torch.

 

yes i do 

I don't think thats what he meant but its possible

[0ld_Chicken]

2 minutes ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Soldering my previous "squid heatsink" which had four heatsinks on the heatpipes of another was challanging enough

 

Had to have someone else do it and even they struggled

I guess I haven't really done much soldering other than tons of copper tubing at work.  It does take a lot more heat when you get more metal in the mix, 1" pipe takes a good amount of heat compared to 3/4".  AND those are all hollow pipes

[iamdarkyoshi]

1 minute ago, 0ld_Chicken said:

I guess I haven't really done much soldering other than tons of copper tubing at work.  It does take a lot more heat when you get more metal in the mix, 1" pipe takes a good amount of heat compared to 3/4".  AND those are all hollow pipes

Putting the flame into the fins helps heat up the core.... Heatsinks doing their job

[pagani123]

2 minutes ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Ya it would be FAR too much metal to heat up and solder. 

 

now i am getting really confused arnt you  mounting a plate of metal to the gpu than mounting heat sinks ontop of that

[0ld_Chicken]

1 minute ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Putting the flame into the fins helps heat up the core.... Heatsinks doing their job

I've been thinking about rigging up a circular ring of heatsink to put onto pipe before I weld on it at work.  I'm currently using wet rags and that is no fun outside when it is 15°f

[iamdarkyoshi]

1 minute ago, Maybach123 said:

 

now i am getting really confused arnt you  mounting a plate of metal to the gpu than mounting heat sinks ontop of that

Yes. But if I were to use copper sheets on the copper plate to form a massive heatsink, it would take more flame than I have access to

[pagani123]

1 minute ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Yes. But if I were to use copper sheets on the copper plate to form a massive heatsink, it would take more flame than I have access to

why you just solder at the seam of the plate and where the copper sheet intersect you just need to heat up the seams you start from the small fins and work your way down to the copper base it wont disperse such high localized heat that much.

the red is the gpu metal plate black is the copper sheets that you cut up and solder together than solder on to the plate 

[iamdarkyoshi]

Just now, Maybach123 said:

why you just solder at the seam of the plate and where the copper sheet intersect you just need to heat up the seams you start from the small fins and work your way down to the copper base it wont disperse such high localized heat that much.

 

the red is the gpu metal plate black is the copper sheets that you cut up and solder together than solder on to the plate 

Soldering the bigger fins means basically heating up most of the plate. It will suck the heat away from the centralized point into the rest of the plate

[pagani123]

12 minutes ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Soldering the bigger fins means basically heating up most of the plate. It will suck the heat away from the centralized point into the rest of the plate

how big of a plate are we talking. 

[iamdarkbowser]

1 hour ago, 0ld_Chicken said:

Really?  I dont know that I would want that haha.  It just seems like a third of the threads that catch my eye are somehow yours. 

I dont think it would be too hard to solder onto a thick copper plate as long as you've got oxy acetylene, mapp might even be able too.  AMD ain't THAT hot

Hmm, well @iamdarkyoshi had Heaven Benchmark record temps about that of the sun before so I think so