Buckeye prepping up and getting ready for the first run

[Buckeye]

The newbie starting to prep for LN2

Check it out and let me know what you guys think, anything that I need to redo, or things I could do a better job at. Thanks

to Vince on his great pots, these things are a work of art !
Vince's service is second to none and provides the highest quality items that you can find

First a look at the equipment on the Dimas Bench table setup for stock cooling. I have installed Vista Ultimate 32 and all benching programs. Tweaked it all out as best as I could, taken the OC up to 3.5 and the GPU to 631/1531/1022 and ran it for most of the day with a load and everything was pretty stable, no crashes etc so I figured I was good to go to start prepping for some LN2 action.. WAAHHOO !!

I do need a better camera and lighting

So here is the Bench before


And some equipment laid out


Ok I have the MB & GPU all clear finger nail polished up with 2 layers, pretty hard to see pictures of all that.

I will now start with the GPU Pot.

First I needed to drill a hole for the temp probe. It fits just inside the hole and deep enough to get right to the insulation.



Here I have filled the hole with Ceramique, inserted the probe and taped down everything to secure it.


And now starting to make the tape wrap around the pot.


And now the whole pot is taped


Ok so Blue Painters tape has been applied to the Pot. That was a tip from Philly, as the Armaflex adhesive is pretty much a pain to get off and using the tape first will make it much easier to remove the Armaflex if I ever have to.

So here I have applied the first end cap layer of Armaflex


Now it’s fully covered with Armaflex, 2 layers thick


Mounting bracket applied and sitting next to the BFG 8800GTX OC


Oh did someone say close up please ?


And now I have a layer of shop towel wrapped around the pot and taped up.


Now I have applied 2 layers of Frost King around the GPU


Here is when I started running into a few problems.

With the screw set that came with the pot there was a spacer that the screws would screw into and give a lift off space from the PCB board about the thickness of the Frost King. However when I used these spacers and the longest screws it simply was not long enough to go all the way to the Pot on the other side to mount it.

I did have two layers of Frost King on the back side of the PCB board, I cut holes into that for the spacer to fit into but it still would not reach. I will post a picture of the screws with spacer tomorrow so you guys can see what I mean.

So taking the spacer off, the short screws fit just fine and I will go with that. I do have some ½” think foam coming that I will make a seal between the pot and PCB so I might need to go with the longer screws. I stopped here for the night as I found that I need to redo the Frost King stuff.

Armaflex and Frost King are kind of a pain to use, very sticky stuff that Armaflex is. Having to cut through the layer of foil on the Frost King and then peel it off is also a big pain. So my first trys at this stuff was a bit crude but I feel I can deal with the Frost King better now after I have cut a few pieces to fit now.

I figured out that I was doing the assembly wrong and that’s why the screws where not long enough. So here it is the correct way.


And you can see that they are now long enough to reach through the mount and screw into the thumb screw spacer the correct way.


So now I will hold off on the GPU pots until the foam arrives.

On to the CPU pot.

First I have to drill a hole for the temp probe. Kind of scary drilling a hole into these pots


Next installing the probe and taping it up.


Now onto the Motherboard
First thing I did was make a template of the cutout I wanted, using that I first made a layer of shop towel and positioned that on the board.
Next was a layer of Frost King


And then the second layer of Frost King. Havening a template made cutting all 3 of these layers much easier.


Next was the back plate. For this I drilled holes into the rubber plate for the rods to go through. Pushed the rods through and screwed them into the back plate.


Then placed 2 layers of Frost King on the back side of the motherboard and punched 4 holes through all the layers so the screw rods could go through the motherboard.


And last shot for the night is the back plate installed and the rods installed through the layers of insulation and the motherboard holes.


Over all that will be another layer of shop towel, then the foam that goes around the CPU block.

Still a little bit of clean up work to finish up, more Frost King to be placed inbetween the caps and what not, and replace the pieces that got messed up when I was punching the rods through. Shop towel strips need to be placed under the other sides of the NB heat sink for added protection. But all in all I think it came out ok.

So far this has been a rather fun experience, though there is much involved and it is not as easy as it looks. I am not sure how these guys can do all this stuff so fast, but I guess after doing it as often as they do it becomes easy as they know what they can get away with. For me this is my first attempt at this and I am pretty much only using guides that I have found, most on XS so I am doing the best that I can to make sure that everything will work fine when the LN2 hits the pots.

The socket all greased up. I did this several times and added grease until it covered real good. I would pull the CPU off to double check how it was all filling up.


Layer of blue shop towel added


And now the ½ think layer of foam I had been waiting for.


Double check to see how everything fits, seems ok.
MickyMouse Rev 3 pot & Northbridge pot in the background that I picked up from BlueAqua.
BlueAqua is a very cool guy
I was looking for information on who made that poy, anyone know ?


Just checking to see how the new MickMouse Rev 3 Pot fits. It’s goes right on with no problem. The Foam would need to be redone to use it tho., as the F1 needs a bit bigger hole.


F1 all wrapped up in insulation


Ceramique now applied. I double checked several times after I would put the pot on to see how it covers.


Now the F1 is seated in it’s new home. All tightened down real good, seals all around all seem ok.


I thought I would check out how the new Northbridge pot looks. Sucker is tall !! :blink:


F1 all wrapped up in it’s final layer of blue shop towel and ready to go.


Let’s finish up the GPU

Foam gasket cut and in place for the GPU pot to be mounted.


GPU all mounted up and sitting in it’s new home ready to go.


Next I have to mount everything on the Dimas Bench, will do that tomorrow.

Looks like I will be ready for LN2 this weekend for my first run. WAAAHHHOOO !!!

[HDCHOPPER]

shot 26 with the square pot looks like a gap at the bottom .. but next shot of pot with the pot wraped looks sealed at the bottom
guess thats allright ? only asking because eyem going for dice for the first time

& hopeing to get BlueAuqua's chilly too

all looks great to me ! nice clean cuts & work !

[massman]

One of the best insulation jobs I've seen, so clean. Enjoy benching ln², mate !!

[Stapler]

Damn dude, that was thorough, but I think you'll be happy with all the prep work once you get benching. I would definately bench the GX2 though, rather than the GTX, besides, if it's you first time, I think watching one pot will be time consuming enough. Surprised to see you picked up the rev 3 mousepot, cool to have two pots, and it was a great price.

I would've skipped the grease though, it's just so messy.

[Solarfall]

man ! i gotto say that your preparation work your done is top notch
BUT 1 thing i would do differently next time when you prepare your mobo.. personally i've never filled the cpu socked with diellectric grease or white vaseline.. i've found out that even after 7-8 hours of constant benching with my cascade even in humid summer days there is very little condensation that may form inside the cpus socket.. what i would however do is to put some of that diellectric grease to the other side of the cpu it self.. i've done so menytimes already and havent lost any valuable hardware

anyways i hope your first benching session with LN2 goes well

[Nosfer@tu]

Yes i have filled the socket many times 2 and recommended it my self....

You only geet problems in the socket after MONTHS.....

I would add a bit of insulation on the backside og the mounting plate... they tend to get cold and somtimes water accumilates on them

[Nanometer]

Awesome on the setup. Can't wait for more

[Solarfall]

Yes i have filled the socket many times 2 and recommended it my self....

You only geet problems in the socket after MONTHS.....

I would add a bit of insulation on the backside og the mounting plate... they tend to get cold and somtimes water accumilates on them

1+ for the back insulation Buckeye you dont wanna loose your prechious hardware

[Buckeye]

Yup I will add that on the back, thanks for the tip
Oh and I did add 2 layers of frost king on the back of the GPU, forgot to post that while I was figuring out the mounting for the GPU pot.

Thanks all for the input

This is my first time so I just wanted to be sure I had all based covered as I do not know what to expect after it gets chilly. Sure I have seen plenty of pictures, but never my own.

This equipment is nothing special and rather old. I figured it would be good stuff for a first try and would not lose much if things turned nasty. The CPU can be RMA'd so no problem there.

The plan is I will use my other BFG 8800gtx for the first run so I only running the F1 to get the feel of things. Then I can swap it out for the second BFG 8800gtx OC thats all prepped up and give that a shot.

I thought about the grease also and went back to better safe than sorry for the first run.

Later I can throw the Northbridge pot on, try the MickyMouse etc. but I would have to pull off all the heat pipes on the board and reprep it, so I will do that next round.

I do like these pots, evaps and all that good stuff. Collectables they are

As far as the Cascades and Phase cooling go I simply cannot wait for that to, just having a bump in the road atm, hopefully that will all get worked out soon. I have been looking at benching setups for Cascades and Phase for awhile now, it's just not easy getting that stuff, some day While LN2/Dice was much easyer to get into and rolling.

[k|ngp|n]

Top job on the insulation and probe placement man...thats how it's done
Good luck with your benching and definitely use the old HW first to get the feel for things.

[BlueAqua]

I was looking for information on who made that poy, anyone know ?

The MickeyMouse pot was made by MickeyMouse. He's a cool guy that unfortunately isn't a member of this forum anymore. Check out HWbot for some of his latest scores.

The northbridge pot I made. It's ghetto. Just a steel rod from a ceiling fan extension that I stuck in an older copper Aqua Computer chipset water block. I wouldn't think you'll see many gains with it on the x38, but it did help me get from 624FSB to 644FSB on my P965 Commando. I wouldn't use it unless you see some kind of FSB limit. It's definitely not in the same class of quality like the rest of your gear, but it works.

I too stopped using di-electric grease a while ago, it just gets messy and haven't had any issues with condensation in the socket.

Keep us updated, glad to see you enjoy your new stuff.

[Buckeye]

Thanks Kingpin and Blue and everyone else

LOL for a getto NB pot I think its pretty cool, it's actually pretty nicely done

[TheKarmakazi]

excellent prep work man! you shouldnt have any condensation problems at all. take it fro me, its all about that prep work. I spent alot of time on mine and still killed a e2160, Gigabyte P35-DQ6 and Asus P5B-Dlx before I got things ironed out perfectly. Good luck on your first sub zero benches!

[Buckeye]

LD50 all filled up

[BlueAqua]

LD50 all filled up

Be careful, don't freeze yourself.

[RADCOM]

Well I always wondered what this LN cooling was about. Thanks for the detailed description. We really need video streaming to see you in action.

[Buckeye]

Be careful, don't freeze yourself.

I will try not to HA !

So I have this thing full, the guys at Air Gas took off the top, filled it up and reseated the top, it's on tight, I watch them do it. So now I have had it at home for a few hours and I can get nothing to come out

Both valves are laying in the horizontal position, position. If I lift the Vent hand valve up I will get a small amount of gas that comes out. If I do the same with the liquid valve I get nothing.

They said it would take a bit to pressurize. It’s been sitting here for a few hours, how long should it take ?
Or is there some other adjustment needed. The meter on it says 0 psi and hasn’t changed.

Well I always wondered what this LN cooling was about. Thanks for the detailed description. We really need video streaming to see you in action.

HAHA That just might scare everyone off

[[XC] gomeler]

You either have a leak in the pressure seal or one of the ports. It doesn't take too long for a small dewar to pressurize if it's full as there is very little space in there for gas expansion.

[Buckeye]

You either have a leak in the pressure seal or one of the ports. It doesn't take too long for a small dewar to pressurize if it's full as there is very little space in there for gas expansion.

Yeah it's sounds that way. I was just talking with the guy at Air Gas about it.
We can't remember if there was on O-Ring on the flange, I don't think there was.

So ordering one now.

[[XC] gomeler]

Yeah it's sounds that way. I was just talking with the guy at Air Gas about it.
We can't remember if there was on O-Ring on the flange, I don't think there was.

So ordering one now.

Could temporarily lay an o-ring of frost king, should compress enough to form a seal that'll hold 14 psi or whatever the valve is rated at.

[BlueAqua]

Just take the top off, tip it over and pour it out. Your container is probably too big for that though.

[Buckeye]

Could temporarily lay an o-ring of frost king, should compress enough to form a seal that'll hold 14 psi or whatever the valve is rated at.

I looked at the ring, not sure if a layer of frost king would work, it might be to thick to get the ring back on.

Just take the top off, tip it over and pour it out. Your container is probably too big for that though.

LOL yeah it's a bit to big for doing that

I have parts on order and should be here in a few days, no biggie. Should be up and running by the weekend.

[Stapler]

No way he's tipping over and pouring out of a fifty litre dewar, just to big. It's to bad after all the prep work and paying for the LN2 that you've run into problems, but I think you'll find, quite often that's the way benching goes, it can be frustrating.

Speaking of Jason, check out HWBot, he was pretty quiet for a while, but he's absolutely tearin it up right now. He's jumped into the top five a couple days ago and now he's two points from overtaking joe_cool, for the number two spot. I wander what pots he's benching with.

[BlueAqua]

Looks like MM just took the #2 spot. He's absolutely tearing it up. He uses the F1 now along with KingPin's gpu pots. I don't know if he even owns one of his own pots anymore. It's too bad he quit making them, always a work of art. KingPin's pots too are amazing and in their own league.

[Buckeye]

Looks like MM just took the #2 spot. He's absolutely tearing it up. He uses the F1 now along with KingPin's gpu pots. I don't know if he even owns one of his own pots anymore. It's too bad he quit making them, always a work of art. KingPin's pots too are amazing and in their own league.

Yeah they are nice !

Well I took off the top and it does have an O-Ring there, everything seems in order. Maybe a little vasuline on the O-Ring or something is needed ?

ah saw this in the doc's for the pressure fitting.

NOTE: Be sure flanges surfaces are warm, clean and
dry. The O-ring must be cleaned and lightly lubricated
before installing the LWD.

What do they use for lubrication on the O-Ring... Now keep it clean

DOH right before it

Clean the flange O-ring and apply a thin layer of silicone
grease before placing it on the grooved flange.

Dielectric Grease maybe ?