Will Welding of Blue Orb make a difference to temps?

[markedmundb]

Got my BlOrb for my Vid Card today.

The base plate doesn't have full contact with the fin part tho, so I was wondering about asking an engineer mate of mine if he would weld it properly for me & possibly make the base plate bigger (I'd lap it after of course...). I'm wondering about the difference in temps (i.e. would it make that much of a difference) between full-on welding and just the spot welding at the moment...

I read somewhere there's an article at {h}ardocp, but I can't find it. Wondering if anyone has found it on their travels?

BTW, Yes, I know It's aluminium, but this mate of mine used to be a welder by trade, and can weld most stuff... At least he says he can :¬)}

[Shadow ÒÓ]

if it's only spot welded then the only cooling points would be at the welds. Full welds would allow a larger area to be taken advantage of, hence better cooling. I couldn't tell you the difference, but depending on the area of the weld vs the area of contact with a full weld, I'd think it could be considerable.

[markedmundb]

That's what I thought. Me mate's gonna owe us this weekend. He's buying a new car, and he needs someone to take him to pick it up... Guess who said he'd take him, before he even got the BlOrb?

Anyone seen the article...?

[cjtune]

...and be careful. I take it that he's gonna use a acetylene torch and not one of those arc welding torches? If you can get that aluminium BLOrb welded, there's a chance that it may warp permanently due to the heat. This is bad as you would want a flat baseplate to make contact with the CPU core.

[Shadow ÒÓ]

welding alum, you can't use gas. He'll probably tig weld it.

[Nathan Detroit]

This might be easier, and the copper base ought to be more effective than aluminum: Copperfoot Blorb (http://www.overclockers.com/tips465)

[Betty]

Hey, that a neat little article....I imagine the same can be applied to any of the orb family?

[markedmundb]

Had a chat to me mate about welding it, he said welding aluminium is a bit tricky (aparently you've got to put the tip under the top layer to stop it from oxidising), he hasn't got the right type of flux, and that it'd probly bow so much it'd stop the fan spinning...

So I've scrapped that plan. Back to the drawing board.... :¬(}

Although the (reported) article at {h}ardocp (or wherever it was) would be an interesting read, just to see how they overcame the problems stated above.

Compuwife, I'm not too sure about removing the bottoms from Solid Orbs (e.g. Golden) as i think it'd a different job from just prying apart the base and fins with a screwdriver.

[cool_hand_joe13]

:mad: Why would you want to weld it? I weld often and doesn't make muck sense to me to weld it.