Asus P5W64-WS Pro & JingTing Forcetake cooler

[Durzel]

I started to mod my board getting it ready for phase and because I'm a perfectionist I really like to take my time on things, and I figured some people might be interested in the board and this heatsink, so here goes...

Removing the SB heatsink
1st things first, I removed the SB heatsink. Straight away I noticed the thermal paste used is a much better quality and contact than my P5W-DH was, it completely covered the chip and was a more sticky substance. It just looked "better", more like Ceramique than generic crappy budget TIM you get on the P5W-DH.

It took only a couple of wipes with a tissue dipped in isopropyl to clean the chip, whereas on the P5W-DH you have to scrub away at it. You can see from the underside of the heatsink that a nice full contact was made.



Fitting the JingTing Forcetake cooler
I was surprised at the quality of this - it is pretty heavy and the bottom was already lapped to a highish standard considering its a mass produced item. I debated about lapping it a bit more but decided against it, as it would be quite a fiddly thing to work on.

The only mod I made to this was that instead of using the supplied grease to add as a thermal interface between heatpipe and copper plate (the bit that attaches to the motherboard) I used AS5 instead. I also fitted a 20mm fan in place of the standard 10mm that is supplied, just because I felt like it

The only real issue I had fitting this was that I had to allow enough room by repositioning the heatpipe to fit my 2nd X1900, which I will come to in a minute.

The only problem I had with this - but I don't think it's going to be a problem - is that the bracket on the right sits on top of a capacitor, and screwing the heatsink down so its flat on the chip means the bracket is touching the top of it. I don't quite know if the capacitor is stopping me screwing it any further, or whether its dead flat on the chip. I'll find out soon enough when I power it on I guess



Crossfire pains
Now we reach the principal reason I bought this cooler in the first place - X1900 Crossfire




As you can see it is a very tight fit a with HIS IceQ3 card. The heatsink is not actually touching the fan, and there is enough room around the X1900 fan for air to get in. All in all I'm very happy with how it turned out!

The bad points:
The only real bad point I can think of is that having the heatpipe this extended means that to use the SATA ports at the bottom I would have to use right-angled connectors. This problem isn't the end of the World though because I'm going to be using the Intel ICH7R controller anyway, and am only connecting 3 drives..

Unfortunately for me using an X1900 in the 4th PCI-e slot on this motherboard also partially obstructs the Intel SATA ports, so I'm going to have to use right angled connectors regardless! Doh!

Next up: Fitting my Swiftech MCX-159-CU to the Northbridge

If anyone has any questions I'll be happy to try and answer them.

[[XC] leviathan18]

great post great board too i guess if you use water cooling you wont have problems with the video card and the jingting cooler (im going to buy same board but im going water)

[Durzel]

Indeed.

I've run into my first problem, one I wasn't expecting.. I now can't fit the motherboard back into the case!

Looks like I'll have to remove the 20mm fan and just leave it as a heatsink. Either way it'll still be better than the stock cooler.

[Volnhar]

Indeed.

I've run into my first problem, one I wasn't expecting.. I now can't fit the motherboard back into the case!

Looks like I'll have to remove the 20mm fan and just leave it as a heatsink. Either way it'll still be better than the stock cooler.

I was wondering how that would be going back in to the case with the fins right at the edge of the board and the fan extending further out.

My board should be with me in 2 days can't wait.

[TheReds]

Good job Durzel!! I am really getting anxious after seeing all these threads about how good this mobo is. I just got mine in and hooked it all up but am waiting for my Raptor to come in so i can start with a clean and brand new installation of XP Pro. Probably will come in monday, but in the mean time i am enjoying turning the beast on and venturing into the bios, day dreaming of all the fun i will have soon. lol, no joke i just leave the computer on with the bios up just because im sooo excited....


peace

[mykeos]

Durzel:what about removing the stupid ASUS cap on the NB an give it a chill breeze with a decent vent?

[Durzel]

Durzel:what about removing the stupid ASUS cap on the NB an give it a chill breeze with a decent vent?

I'm replacing the whole thing with the Swiftech MCX-159-CU later today

[Exedy]

I'm replacing the whole thing with the Swiftech MCX-159-CU later today

do you know if microcool northpole XE perform well as mcx159 cu?

[mouawad]

i think a fan on top of the heatsink + some AS5 should do a decent enough job.

[Dumo]

Heres with waterblocks...DD on NB and Swiftech on SB...

[fhpchris]

Get a 40mm or 60mm fan and some zipties



My southbrdige does not even get warm enough to put a fan on, but I have seen people superglue 40mm fans on it.

[Durzel]

SB gets very warm imo, both on this board and on the P5W-DH - at least with stock cooling anyway.

Been doing some more work on the board...

Removing the NB heatsink
Same principal as on the P5W-DH really, and like the P5W-DH the cooler on the P5W64 seems to have the same TIM and thermal tape. Came off very easily.

Here's the NB after I gave it a quick clean:



Fitting Swiftech MCX-159-CU
Annoyingly like the retail P5W-DH this board only has two hooks instead of 4 as seen on pre-release boards. Whilst this doesn't make a huge difference, having more pressure on the cooler would've been better. The MCX-159-CU is as heavy as the JingTing, and it's a lot of weight to be supported by two hooks.

Ah well. It went on easily enough, I made sure I used a little bit more AS5 then I would normally just to account for it wiggling around when I was hooking it under.



The finished board! (almost...)



VRM cooling
Since I removed the stock heatpipe, and was going to be using phase anyway, I decided to put some heatsinks on the VRMs. On the ASUS board only one set are covered, and they don't seem to get very hot anyway - but better safe than sorry I guess..

And that's it!

Any comments/questions feel free to ask.

[zbogorgon]

where did you get those heat sinks, they look fantastic

[Durzel]

where did you get those heat sinks, they look fantastic

They're the "Swiftech MC14 Copper Pin VGA cooler HeatSinks". You get 8 in the pack which is a perfect amount for doing what I've done, plus they come with thermal tape (decent stuff) already attached so you can just pop them straight on.

[syne_24]

nice prep work

I'm doing the same thing but I'm actually going to find an old heat pipe and cut it to use on the mosfet. I wanna keep the fan on there.

[Revv23]

edit - too slow

[Exedy]

wow very good looking ...i want this swiftechs too

ps: where did you buy this 40mm led?

[fhpchris]

They're the "Swiftech MC14 Copper Pin VGA cooler HeatSinks". You get 8 in the pack which is a perfect amount for doing what I've done, plus they come with thermal tape (decent stuff) already attached so you can just pop them straight on.

IMO the tape that comes with the sinks sucks ass.

[zbogorgon]

They're the "Swiftech MC14 Copper Pin VGA cooler HeatSinks". You get 8 in the pack which is a perfect amount for doing what I've done, plus they come with thermal tape (decent stuff) already attached so you can just pop them straight on.

thx, i'll order them asap

[Durzel]

wow very good looking ...i want this swiftechs too

ps: where did you buy this 40mm led?

Overclockers UK, it's just a regular Akasa 40mm x 20mm fan - you can get them on eBay too I think.

IMO the tape that comes with the sinks sucks ass.

Damn really? Is that from a thermal conductivity or "staying stuck on" perspective? I'll have to keep an eye on it then...

[aamsel]

How about Arctic Silver adhesive instead?

Andrew

IMO the tape that comes with the sinks sucks ass.

[aamsel]

One question:
Why not just use TWO of the Swiftech MCX-159-CU's, one for sorthbridge and one for southbridge? The southbridge one could be passive, and then use a fan on the northbridge one. I don't really see the merit to the JingTing???

Andrew

[Durzel]

One question:
Why not just use TWO of the Swiftech MCX-159-CU's, one for sorthbridge and one for southbridge? The southbridge one could be passive, and then use a fan on the northbridge one. I don't really see the merit to the JingTing???

Andrew

Did you not see the pictures and me explaining exactly why I went with a JingTing for the SB?



Look at the clearance between the bottom of the card and the heatsink below. I don't think you're going to be able to fit the Swiftech on there somehow! Even with watercooling instead of the IceQ3 cooler the actual PCB would still be in the way.

If you go Crossfire on this board with an X1900/X1950 then there would be about 5mm space above the stock heatsink. There's no way you could fit the Swiftech on the SB and be able to use the 3rd or 4th PCI-e slot for a long card.

How about Arctic Silver adhesive instead?

Andrew

I didn't want to do anything permanent to this board just in case I ever wanted to sell it.

[fhpchris]

Overclockers UK, it's just a regular Akasa 40mm x 20mm fan - you can get them on eBay too I think.

Damn really? Is that from a thermal conductivity or "staying stuck on" perspective? I'll have to keep an eye on it then...

"staying stuck on" perspective

So far they are ok, but I had to heat them up for a long time with a hairdrier

Even then, they took a night or so to set.

[ShoNuff]

Durzel...nice pics and this is a great idea. I just decided to do it and did a search for the Swiftech NB cooler and found this thread. Did you see any improvement in performance as a result?

I doubt I will do your SB mod but I am definitely going to mod the NB as it gets H-O-T ! ! !