Motherboard Heatsinks

[Eufawria]

Would it be safe to paint my mb heatsink. I know it is going to void my warranty but I'm going to make sure everything works then do it (with the heatsink off, of course). The mb is a Gigabyte X79S-UP5-WiFi in which I'm only painting the blue to a gun metal grey.

 

Cheers

[xNeon]

That should be fine, but I would be absolutely sure not to get the paint on anything but the heatsinks. If you get it on an exposed contacts, especially next to the power phases, you could do some damage. Looking forward to seeing the build on the forum when your done

[joelthezombie15]

I might use a outdoor paint though because it will get hot and that is partially what outdoor paint if for. also make sure you only paint the top of it.

[Uberskills]

dont put too much paint 

[Darell3]

Just make sure you sand the heatsink for the paint to stick if you dont, the paint will flake off. And dont use to much paint.

[tabuburn]

I'd remove the heatsink from the motherboard before you start painting it.

[Eufawria]

thanks for the post guys. I'll defenitly post the build log up when I'm done. And I had never plan to paint the heatsink on the motherboard as i also have to mask the motherboard aswell which is well a lot of work hahha. thanks for the help

[Glenwing]

Umm the heatsinks on that board are removable with phillips head screws on the back.  I'd highly suggest you take advantage of that, it makes painting them a lot easier :P

[Quaker]

No, don't paint any heatsinks. Paint would act as a thermal barrier and the chip could overheat. Note that the original "blue" is not paint, but "anodizing".

[CadillacVic]

No, don't paint any heatsinks. Paint would act as a thermal barrier and the chip could overheat. Note that the original "blue" is not paint, but "anodizing".

I have heard this as well.

[Eufawria]

No, don't paint any heatsinks. Paint would act as a thermal barrier and the chip could overheat. Note that the original "blue" is not paint, but "anodizing".

I have read around and was interested in a experiment someone did on OC3D in which shows both before painted and after painted and he used white paint without sanding back or removing the finish of his GigaByte UD5H. His temps shows only a one-two degree increase at idle and -1 to one degree increase when stress tested. As my rig is going to be watercooled, I have two 180mm cooling the heatsink anyways so I'm hoping it won't have any impact.

[IdeaStormer]

No, don't paint any heatsinks. Paint would act as a thermal barrier and the chip could overheat. Note that the original "blue" is not paint, but "anodizing".

 

Depends on the paint. Sure graffiti spray can paint no, but there are thermal paints which would be fine.

[Art Vandelay]

It'll probably hinder the thermal transfer, but you can do it. Make sure not to paint the contact surface.