Ghetto DFI Ultra-D PWMIC cooling mod - that worked!

Since moving to water cooling and the Lian Li PC-V2000 I was seeing some rather high PWMIC temperatures. Load was pushing 50+ deg C. So I set out to remedy this looking through old things that we had reviewed.

I located the Evercool Neon Crab. It was quiet and had dual 40MM fans on it. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to get this mounted to provide the much needed airflow over the PWM area of the DFI Ultra-D motherboard.

Here is the product in its retail package. These can be found online for under $20.

http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/PWMIC%...roducts_07.jpg

I didn't expect this to work so well so I did not take pictures as I went.

http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/PWMIC%...roducts_15.jpg

I unscrewed the plate with the 2 x 40 MM fans and cut it with some tin snips to fit.

http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/PWMIC%...roducts_17.jpg


Using a single Case Fan screw, I screwed it into one of the heatsinks on the sinks of the mosfets of the DFI Ultra-D.

http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/PWMIC%20MOD/IMG_2923.jpg

Here is what it looks like running, I haven't bothered to snip the LED wires yet.

http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/PWMIC%20MOD/IMG_2924.jpg

What resulted was a load temp of 35 deg C on the PWMIC sensor while under load! I dropped 15 deg C by this little ghetto mod. It doesn't even look all that bad once it was installed and it's better than just sticking a 120mm fan over the area. Idle the PWMIC now shows 28C, same as my CPU and internal case temperature.

Here is what the final product looks like installed in the case and running.

http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/PWMIC%20MOD/IMG_2930.jpg

If anyone is interested you can buy the Neon Crab at Xoxide for $12.99.

http://www.xoxide.com/neon-crab-memory-cooler.html

Not bad, not bad at all...I might try this out now when going to a 170'er..:clap:

Nice looking mod, that was a great idea, exept for the blue leds

I'm bothered by how much I like that. I was looking at just pointing some random 120mm fan of mine at them once I changed cases, but now I think I'll have to spend a little more than I already have on cooling this month and get one of those...

:clap: I'd not call it a ghetto mod - nice work !!!

:toast:

Thanks guys!!

The LED seems to be embedded into the fan so I can't get rid of it. I can live with it like that, it works too good to complain about something so trife.

/me likes... for some reason it looks better then my vf700 mod.... :)

NC™

haha just wait until you see what ive done to my grouper, then youll see ghetto.

double post sry

This is how i did it

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...l/3aee9161.jpg

But i have to say Dean, that your way looks MUCH better! That's a nifty little double fan thing you've got. Those PWMIC temps of yours are terrific BTW.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dnottis

Since moving to water cooling and the Lian Li PC-V2000 I was seeing some rather high PWMIC temperatures. Load was pushing 50+ deg C. So I set out to remedy this looking through old things that we had reviewed.

I located the Evercool Neon Crab. It was quiet and had dual 40MM fans on it. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to get this mounted to provide the much needed airflow over the PWM area of the DFI Ultra-D motherboard.

Here is the product in its retail package. These can be found online for under $20.

http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/PWMIC%...roducts_07.jpg

I didn't expect this to work so well so I did not take pictures as I went.

http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/PWMIC%...roducts_15.jpg

I unscrewed the plate with the 2 x 40 MM fans and cut it with some tin snips to fit.

http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/PWMIC%...roducts_17.jpg


Using a single Case Fan screw, I screwed it into one of the heatsinks on the sinks of the mosfets of the DFI Ultra-D.

http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/PWMIC%20MOD/IMG_2923.jpg

Here is what it looks like running, I haven't bothered to snip the LED wires yet.

http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/PWMIC%20MOD/IMG_2924.jpg

What resulted was a load temp of 35 deg C on the PWMIC sensor while under load! I dropped 15 deg C by this little ghetto mod. It doesn't even look all that bad once it was installed and it's better than just sticking a 120mm fan over the area. Idle the PWMIC now shows 28C, same as my CPU and internal case temperature.

Here is what the final product looks like installed in the case and running.

http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/PWMIC%20MOD/IMG_2930.jpg

If anyone is interested you can buy the Neon Crab at Xoxide for $12.99.

http://www.xoxide.com/neon-crab-memory-cooler.html

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couple of questions:
1.were you able to overclock anymore?
2.what is your northbridge hsf? looks like this:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835110103
3.what exactly did you snip?

liked your mod so much just ordered same setup...I will need to know what all you did as far as sniping and what not.....way yo go man! :woot:

How loud is it or what is the dB rating of those fans? Being that they are small fans I would assume that they are running a default high rpm, which could be quite loud?

Looks like you got your "classic" Vantec Iceberg chipset cooler from Xiode too. Crab doesn't look ghetto btw. Wondering if its a little loud though?

a Ghetto Fab mod man...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dnottis

Thanks guys!!

The LED seems to be embedded into the fan so I can't get rid of it. I can live with it like that, it works too good to complain about something so trife.

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Remove the screws to gain access to the bottom side of the fans. There are a couple SMD resistors around the exterior of the sandwitched PCB. You don't even need to take anything apart. Using a very small flathead screw driver simply "push" one of the resistors off the board, this breaks the circuit (you can do this with one of the actual SMD LEDs also). Done. No more blue light. Repeat for other fan. Re-assemble. Total time: 5 mins or less. Skill level required: none.

-FCG

Great mod! :clap:

But are you saying that you gained 15C VS a 120mm fan or VS no fan?

I probably do the mod, my PMW temp are not that high (40C load) but the 120mm took a lot of place.

Ok...

- The crab - It's silent. DBA is really low cause I tested outside the case and couldn't even hear it. CFM is probably like 4 - 5 CFM.

My chipset cooler IS in fact this one - http://www.xoxide.com/iceberq.html

"But are you saying that you gained 15C VS a 120mm fan or VS no fan?"
I wasn't using any cooling over the PWMIC currently, but was going to zip tie a 120MM and completely destroy the look of the PC-V2000 by doing it :p:

I only snipped the wires to the top LED thing in order to remove it from the bracket. I unscrewed the bottom plate which is 4 small screws and snapped off the top thing (LED that holds it together). This releases the bottom which is just a plate and 2x40MM fans. However it was too long to mount it so I took tin snips and cut the bottom plastic plate so that it would sit on the heatsinks of the mosfets on the board. Its easy once you see it.

If you look here (http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/PWMIC%20MOD/IMG_2923.jpg) you can see that the back plate was probably 3 inches by 1, however I snipped off the ends so that it would fit within that space on the board.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dnottis

Ok...

- The crab - It's silent. DBA is really low cause I tested outside the case and couldn't even hear it. CFM is probably like 4 - 5 CFM.

My chipset cooler IS in fact this one - http://www.xoxide.com/iceberq.html

"But are you saying that you gained 15C VS a 120mm fan or VS no fan?"
I wasn't using any cooling over the PWMIC currently, but was going to zip tie a 120MM and completely destroy the look of the PC-V2000 by doing it :p:

I only snipped the wires to the top LED thing in order to remove it from the bracket. I unscrewed the bottom plate which is 4 small screws and snapped off the top thing (LED that holds it together). This releases the bottom which is just a plate and 2x40MM fans. However it was too long to mount it so I took tin snips and cut the bottom plastic plate so that it would sit on the heatsinks of the mosfets on the board. Its easy once you see it.

If you look here (http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/PWMIC%20MOD/IMG_2923.jpg) you can see that the back plate was probably 3 inches by 1, however I snipped off the ends so that it would fit within that space on the board.

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awesome...how do you like the vantec on northbridge? did your temps go down? also read that it does not have the ability to measure rpms etc...thought about...http://www.jab-tech.com/Evercool-VC-...r-pr-2291.html

The Vantec Iceberq is the loudest thing in my case at full speed!! :) Im always looking for more CFM @ lower DBA that will cool better though ;)

Wow, that's a nice little mod. I might try it myself, good work! :)

very nice might have to do this myself

I'd like to see some pics once you guys set yours up!

I havent had time to see about the LEDs again yet

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dnottis

I'd like to see some pics once you guys set yours up!

I havent had time to see about the LEDs again yet

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here is 1 as of right now:

http://www.badongo.net/pic.php?file=...de.jpg&s=black

got crab cooler:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...crabmemory.jpg


what I have noticed over my current cooling setup is goes to about 102F vs 114F under load! And temps drop fast!

I found these products. What do you think? Will these cool the PWMIC and CHIPSET

http://www.fragtek.com/sxram_expert.html

http://www.fragtek.com/sxram_expert_ram.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaiser_Sose

I found these products. What do you think? Will these cool the PWMIC and CHIPSET

http://www.fragtek.com/sxram_expert.html

http://www.fragtek.com/sxram_expert_ram.html

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Those look cool, I wonder if they make a big difference.

For water coolers yes. For active coolers, not as much.

Dnottis ..I did this mod thanks..my idle temps look like they have dropped 3-4C

I did not cut the fan bracket as much as you did ..do you think that is restricting airflow?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nealh

Dnottis ..I did this mod thanks..my idle temps look like they have dropped 3-4C

I did not cut the fan bracket as much as you did ..do you think that is restricting airflow?

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I did it so that it would fit.

I punched out the LEDs now...

http://www.3dxtreme.net/other/ontap/mods/IMG_3074.jpg

actually as follow my I cut my up more like yours and temps are about 10C lower under load

Interested in this mod but I dont have the DFi board that has the sinks right there. Got an Asus premium, has the heatpipe cooler. Any ideas?

If you put a 120 mm fan in the area, it will be quiter and will cool other components as well.

How would you suggest putting the 120mm in that area? I see some ppl suspending them with zip tiez but I dont really see anywhere I could zip them up to....hmm. Watercooling in a Tsunami case BTW. I have a 90mm side panel fan that blows in but its a little too far to the right to cool the pmwic which is why I was interested in the mod.

It would be nice if I could mod a 120mm in place of the 90mm on the side window and move it over a bit but unfortunately I dont have the tools.

What I want to know is HOW you screwed it into the heatsink?

A case fan screw is pretty short, did it just screw right in there ?

It looks like he screwed it straight down the middle of a gap in the heatsink fin.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by couppi

It looks like he screwed it straight down the middle of a gap in the heatsink fin.

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That's what I though, but would that be enough to hold it? and does it stay firmly in place?

So I'm just supposed to screw into the heatsink like that? Do I have to pinch any fins or anything? Or does it just screw right down in there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by winston856

So I'm just supposed to screw into the heatsink like that? Do I have to pinch any fins or anything? Or does it just screw right down in there.

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depends on the screw size.

you need a screw that fills the gap. if not youll have to pinch the fins.

fans screws should do the trick

Alright so I got this thing and when I try to separate the plate from the 'crab' looking part, there's wires connecting it to the two 'eye' LEDs on the top. Should I just snip those wires?

DO THIS MOD!!!

I just finished putting the case door back on my computer and I'm shocked!

My PWM IC's used to idle around 52-54C, now I'm in windows and they're at 40C!!!

That's a 12-14C drop!! :eek: OMG


I'm about to go load up some BF2 and play. With no fans they loaded around 65C and got to 70C when I was overclocking. Now I can't wait to see what they hit!

I'm sooo excited!! Thank you SO MUCH for this idea!

don't get to excited you might pee on yourself :p: